Kitty Spirit

Mindlovemisery prompts us to choose a spirit animal.

“The cat, as a symbol, carries double meanings mostly. It balances two opposite things always – for instance, light and dark, rest and action, outer and inner, up and down, good or bad, etc.” ~ Spiritual Unite

That’s how I am, a balance of extremes, struggling to reconcile opposing desires and philosophies, and hovering in the middle. People think they understand me, but they don’t; like a cat, I’m predictable until I’m suddenly not.

Continuing the prompt, now we are to pick a destination. I choose home sweet home. Like a kitty, I’m fond of warmth and small, cozy spaces. I don’t enjoy loud crowds and bright lights. I crave my familiar foods and comforts, my soft blankets and white noise fans. If I play music or a television show, the volume is low. I don’t mind guests, but only a few at a time, not a giant party.

Now I’m to pick an activity. I would love to curl up with a good book on my Kindle tonight and maybe a few delicious cookies (how did my phone know to say cookies?!), but I suspect that, much like my spirit cat, I will soon be off in the Land of Nod because I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night.

Next I’m to include an obstacle (physical or psychological) that must be overcome. One of my goals in progress is to actually learn to trust my “animal instincts” in regards to boundaries that other people transgress. I am doing better, but I still have a way to go, especially with reaction time. A cat has a lightning-fast reactions, and when I have that uncomfortable psychological feeling, I need to know it’s time to physically move away/leave a situation, not dawdle because of fears of hurting someone else’s feelings.

“Eff this” ~ is what a cat says, basically. And it’s what I need to say too.

Now, to finish up, I include a lesson learned on my journey. I’ve learned that I do really well alone! Cats are independent, though some can be cuddly and affectionate with humans, and some do pal around together, but they don’t need a pack leader the way dogs do… and neither do I. It took me a long time to understand that not only am I perfectly capable of living alone, but in fact I thrive alone. Being partnered was stifling to me in so many ways. I suppose it’s not out of the realm of possibility that I might find a partner someday who celebrates my unique spirit (and vice versa) without smothering it in the process, but the hour is getting late. In the meantime, I’m doing quite well, TYVM.

Cat photos all from Pixabay.

“Thou art a worry to thy friends” [SOCS]

Linda told us to grab the closest book, open it, and put our finger on a page ~ this would be our Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Mine is the quote in the title, which is on page 64 of Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, a used paperback I picked up at an exchange a while back but haven’t read yet.

Honestly, I’m not really inclined to read the book now, given the annoying dialog on this page, and the names of the characters (Pilon and Pirate). I feel it well within my rights to make such an arbitrary and snap judgment because I have an enormous pile of books to read, and more come in all the time. I’ll never get through them all before I die, so why not cull them in any manner whatsoever?

May sucked as far as reading. I began a few books and lost interest, played games on my phone, read a lot of blogs and news, and was basically a scatterbrain. I need to get more focused now. Today I deleted my phone solitaire games that I play when I can’t sleep, and which probably keep me from sleeping too. Duh. I could spend that time reading. It’s less stimulating as far as keeping me awake like a game. But to be fair, I have dozed off in the middle of a card game, though not often. Maybe once.

I don’t think I’m a worry to my friends. I’m very sensible and predictable, at least that’s how I’m perceived. Reliable. Dependable. I can be counted on to do a thing if I say… which is also a curse, you know? Because unreliable people always get a break. Hey, no biggie if Joe didn’t show up… we know how he is. And oh there goes Janet again, such a wild and crazy gal! But me? If I mess up or don’t show, everyone is all but you said!!!

Eff that. Why can’t I be the wild one once in a while? But it’s not me, I know. I like plans. I schedule everything. I’m on time, or early. I reply. I’m considerate. Bla bla bla. Boring! I’ve even tried to plan my own funeral. I want one of those I Dream of Jeannie urns. I want to have coconut cupcakes and a song list. Hotel California, of course. New Kid in Town. Those Shoes. Tequila Sunrise. End of the Innocence. And a lot of Neil Diamond. Jimmy Buffett. Fleetwood Mac. Supremes. Sheryl Crow. Gordon Lightfoot. Johnny Cash and Rosanne Cash. But that’s a bit too planny.

Maybe.

One-Liner Wednesday

I’ve been neglecting my reading. May has been a zero-book month. How sad. I’ve been super busy with projects outside of work, including my own writing, and I’ve simply been exhausted at night. I need to make reading a priority again. Writers should read more than blogs and twitter. I miss books!

The great thing is that they’re all still there waiting for me.📚✨

~*~

One-Liner Wednesday

Prompts Gone Mad!

These are just for today!

My God.

And every one of them is great, of course. I want to do them all. I realize they don’t all have to be done today, but my own “rain” inspirational thingie is already 4 days old and goes well with blustery fog during the fervent breakup over the kitchen remodel, or whatever.

Ack. Wasting time! Off to search my photos for a colorful square circle…

Gloomily Yours

Sadly, I haven’t been very creative this week. Every time a prompt appears in my feed, I diligently save it in my folder with the intention to write something later. But night after night, later has faded into sleep. Also, I’ve been stressed about some stuff, but I gently remind myself… it’s not that important. Family (including Mr. Gatsby), health, work: those are hugely important. Everything else? Less so. Much less. The news can get me feeling hopeless about the future too, but I at least I only read it and don’t watch it obsessively on TV like many do. That would drive me more nuts. Doubly depressing this week was the weather, turning cold and rainy again, triggering a bunch of migraines. Or one long migraine rather, broken up with meds. Hopefully I’ll get back on schedule soon and be able to tackle the items on my writing to-to list. 😐

One-Line Wednesday

This is one of those dumb sayings we should mock relentlessly. I find worrying to be a very relaxing hobby actually. Allow me to explain.

Most terrible things are shocks. Just like in a movie, they come sailing in out of the blue. You slip and fall in flat shoes while walking to the elevator. A boyfriend breaks up with you because you didn’t bake him some goddamn cookies. An earthquake hits while you’re in the shower. A wacko debt collector pops up to harass you about your ex. A rattlesnake decides to take a nap in your car.

Who can predict these things, amirite? But the stuff you spent hours stressing over didn’t happen, did it? Nope. Tests came back negative. Plane landed smoothly. Boss didn’t freak out about the mistake. Etc.

So, here’s my theory. Bad things enjoy shock value. Deprive them of it! Spend time imagining bad things and pop their balloon of surprise one by one. It’s like a game. You won’t have time to get them all, so try to attack the worst ones first.

And if one happens anyway? Well then, you can just shrug and say you knew it would.

Win win! 😀

~*~

One-Liner Wednesday

An Immodest Proposal

Let your writing take center stage! You work hard on your fiction and poetry, so don’t bury it down the screen after posting 27 lines of copypasta text from a prompt host. Why do people do this? Habit?

Stop. 😀

This is the order your fiction or poetry post should take.

1. Title (obviously).

2. Picture.

3. Your original writing (including any linked words going back to a prompt host).

4. A marker showing your piece has ended if you’re going to say something else. Write “The End” or put “***” or similar.

5. If needed, a short phrase linking back to one or more prompt hosts (for example, “Tuesday Monster Prompts”).

That’s it! There’s no reason to copypasta the prompt host’s entire post into your writing. It clutters up your post and takes away from your new work. Why should readers scroll past a huge pile of rules to get to your poem or story? By that time, the mood between the picture and your words has been broken. Even if you post the picture later, why bore your readers with this gobble upfront? Your writing is the star attraction!

If your work has inspired another blogger to try the prompt, great! They can then click through your linked word or phrase to the prompt host and read the rules there, download the pic, and copy the link. Then the host gets a visit. You don’t need to de facto become the new prompt host by reposting everything.

I realize I’m being bossy, but this is actually the right way, so. 🙂👍🏻🎉

Spring Cleaning!

I’ve been periodically unfollowing people this past month. 😱

I have a huge number of blogs in my follow list, and while a vast number are inactive (especially those I followed way back when), my feed is getting unwieldy. Now that I’m doing two prompts, I’d like to focus on certain groups of bloggers. Ooh, rude! I know, I know. But I only have 24 hours in each day and have recently rediscovered the joys of a good night’s sleep. 💤

These are the bloggers I’ll be focusing on:

1. Those who comment here.

2. Those who participate in my prompts.

3. Those who inspire me to write more by posting their own great prompts, poetry, discussions, etc.

If I’ve mistakenly unfollowed you, please speak up. I did hastily unfollow a few folks earlier in the month, but then I saw they were participating, so I refollowed them. Oopsy! 😜

Thanks for understanding. 😀💖👍🏻

Thursday Thoughts

It’s no secret that I’ve been getting tons of writing inspiration from the incredibly talented Teresa of The Haunted Wordsmith. She’s been so generous with her time in contributing wonderful prompts to the WP community. Starting next week, she plans to cut back on some of that however and focus her blog toward more of her own writing, which I look forward to reading.

There are a lot of prompts around, which is great, but I find that I’m most drawn to the ones that inspire me to write poetry. These are usually pictures or words and phrases. I do enjoy writing the occasional flash fiction, particularly fantasy and sci-fi, or humor, but on the whole, I’d rather write more poetry. And, not to be critical, I don’t feel terribly motivated by the handcuff type requirements… I just want to write what the spirit moves me, without regard to any word count or structure. I like my series of 100-word pieces, but I feel I’m done with that phase of writing (note to self: add tab). Every so often, I’m in the mood to do some haiku.

Anyway, my “prompt week” looks like this:

Saturday: Linda’s SOCS
Sunday: Jim’s Song Lyrics
Monday: Laura’s Music Challenge; The Weekly Smile
Tuesday: Fandango’s Provocative Question
Wednesday: Patricia’s “In Other Words;” Linda’s One-Liner
Thursday: ???
Friday: ???

Of course, things pop up randomly in my feed throughout the week from various sources that I may or may not feel like using as motivation. I sometimes answer lists of questions about myself or relate an event. Be that as it may, I’m thinking that Thursday could be be a good day for me to post something to inspire myself to write a poem or flash piece and why not share?

What if I begin a weekly Thursday prompt to motivate myself along with any others who may feel adrift without a creativity nudge? My idea is to post a picture from a free photo library along with a line from a song. People can do whatever they wish with it… poem, flash fiction, combo prompt, nothing, anything. It’s not about me visiting and commenting, though I will try as time allows, but about creative inspiration.

On a semi-related note, I’ve looked up the two names I like to use online and I see they have not been used as hashtags, as far as I can tell. So, I’m going to start using them, here and there, and it’d be cool if people who play along with the prompt do too. It’s pretty meaningless, but whatever.

#lightm0tifs

#p0eticlicense

I’m going to do a test post tonight after this one goes, but unless someone violently objects, starting next Thursday I’ll have the prompts scheduled at 4:00AM Pacific time, same as I have my alphablog posts, which end Tuesday. 🎉

Comments?

A2Z Observations

We’re 10 days into April now, marking a third of the journey through my first A2Z bloggery challenge. Now, to be honest, I didn’t join in to get motivated to blog daily, since I do that already. I joined because I thought it would be fun to have a daily themed post.

Well, it’s not. 😱

Yes. Sacrilege. Allow me to pontificate. It’s a burden to write the posts that I’ve planned out on my list. It feels like work, bleh. It’s not fun like the other posts are, the genre challenges, the impulsive poetry, etc.

Another issue is that people aren’t responding to the romance novel reviews much, except to drop likes. I thought I had more romance readers here who would be interested in these books. Guess not. Maybe if I reviewed something “rapey” like The Flame and the Flower I’d get a conversation going haha.

But people are responding to the romantic comedy movie reviews, so I’m modifying my list to include more movies and fewer books, except for the reviews I’ve already scheduled. I’d rather go for the reliable over the uncertain, and it makes me a little sad to have a post with likes and no comments. Dunno why people can’t extrapolate things I say about romance novels into general discussions about other books and writing too, but like whatever. We’ll just focus on movies. 🙄

Further, with my regular newsfeed still overflowing with favorite bloggers posting great stuff, I don’t have time to wander to the A2Z page and check out new peeps. I’m already much too busy with blogging and working and everything else. That “make connections” part of A2Z is a bust for me, unfortunately. I don’t know how I used to have any spare time. Where did it go?

I think in the future if I do A2Z again it will be with a much more casual approach, not a theme/list. This feels way too much like actual work. 😝