Tumbled Words

So you want balance in your life?

Then make it. Go ahead, change something, now, this very second.

Reading too much? Stop reading this.

(Thank goodness that wasn’t your unbalanced area - or you were too curious to stop reading.)

Balance is a variable and always will be, and to find it, we need to set up our definitions - and our own comfort level on that scale.

1. Now we can cheat and weight one side of the scale with low self-esteem or the other side with lack of caring. Why not skew it with caring too much or not enough? Then there is obsession we must not admit to — so we have to cheat those scale readings a bit more. If we were the dishonest types, we would have already done that and declared our lives balanced. Did you?

I thought not.

2. We have to recognize that balance is Math! Not New Math nor calculus, but plain old fashioned addition and subtraction: the math we can do if we are not falling asleep at our desks after blogging or playing all night. Only one rule to remember: It is not just 50/50. It can be 70/30 or 20/80. In fact, it can be 129 and a negative 29. Oops, that’s it, that is the problem isn’t it?

We feel tipped to the 129 and negative 29 side of this. And the reason it isn’t considered balance is why? Oh yeah, because that 129 is something we are choosing to feel guilty about. We say it is expectations that we were taught or adopted unconsciously or chose because we chose to believe what they said. And we would not be lying. But where we are lying to ourselves, perhaps, is in thinking we really believe it, when all the evidence in our heart and our physical body shouts at us almost daily, “KNOCK IT OFF! Other things need to go in this mix. How come they get all your time, attention, money, nightmares, and dreams today?”

Well, guess what? It may they needed all your attention today, but it is your choice to give it to another thing another time or continue giving it all to one. You are already balanced, look at it as simply rearranging the weights one moment at a time. Make new choices - just for today, you can make different ones tomorrow and you will still live a balanced life.

NOTE:

This was a somewhat flippant, but sincere response to Shelly’s quest for understanding balance in her life. I think I kind of flitted right past her underlying question, though.

If you understood this, congratulations… ’cause sometimes I feel so strongly about something, the emotions block my intended words - and well, I go off on tangents. Now, go write about your balance, but first you may just want to read Shelly’s post so you write about the true subject! Do so by May 9th!

If you didn’t understand a word of this, I am so sorry you took the time to read it. Don’t read my next one, that should balance it out. So, now go write one that makes sense so we can all learn from it — PLEASE. Do so by May 9th.

Results from the 4×4 Sources of Writing Inspiration Group Writing Project

I have not done that many Group Writing Projects, but the few I have participated in have been a joy to do. You just never know what subject another blogger will broach. The one whose results are linked above was one I shoved aside the first time I read the challenge, it seemed like something I had no reply to. Days later it clicked and I wrote on the subject. I have read a few of the other responses and plan to read more as I follow that link. I will most likely find another source of inspiration, so might you.

But I wanted to point out that Group Writing Projects by Jacob Share is a an awesome source of inspiration. The number and variety of opportunities to participate are really quite incredible. Whether you are a a loss one day for a post or just looking for something different to write about, this site is a source of inspiration - and challenge to rise to an occasion. And the man is organized to the point he even has a list of upcoming deadlines. I’m adding it to my feed reader, I cannot believe I didn’t think to do it before.

However, though previous months had several choices, this month is a bit depressing, nothing that has not already been closed. Come on, all you more organized people than I, issue a project challenge, though until you do, I suppose I could catch up on reading - or work.

4 x 4 Sources Of Writing Inspiration: Group Writing Project by Joanna Young at Confident Writing. It ends at midnight your time tonight, March 28th, and as I told Shelly, I was not going to do it because I don’t have inspiration… but as soon as I wrote it in her comments, the word challenge jumped out and smacked me upside my head, and tired as I am, well, I tried to come up with something!

First the rules, and we know I have a hard time with certain rules, so for me, this was a bit hard this time:

Share 4 lots of 4 things on the theme of writing and inspiration
You don’t need to follow these headings: there are zillions of possibilities (4 blogs, 4 books, 4 authors, 4 people, 4 teachers, 4 pieces of music, 4 paintings and so on)
But please stick to the format of 4 x 4 and the theme of writing and inspiration
Post your contribution by 28th March (midnight, your time)
Let me know you’ve written your piece, by linking to this post, leaving a comment on the post, or contacting me

So, here goes!

4 things that inspire me to write:

• word prompts
• photo prompts
• a challenge, be it word choice, number of lines, number of words
• EMOTIONS, mine or yours - or his - or hers - or theirs

4 things that my muse or self-preservation insist I not do not use with or for inspiration:

• All structured poetry (except Fibs, Pleiades, Abecedarians)
• Non-fiction other than in poetry
• Memoirs that would include stories that would harm another person
• Anything that requires research (Quickest way to squash my inspiration.)

4 things that interfere with my writing/inspiration/mood:

• No furniture comfortable enough to sit in for as many hours as I would write
• Computer drying out my eyes so much I have to stop writing
• Inability to concentrate at times, want to see and hear everything, or can’t block out noise
• The necessity to eat, sleep, and exercise - among other things

4 memorable inspirational moments:

• During mother-in-law’s terminal illness, I created sympathy cards for each family member and her best friends - tailored to them, they were more appreciated than I dared expect and I realized more than ever that words written with emotion and by instinct could make a difference.
• Reading my first few memoirs out loud to my husband, Leon. I read them in pieces during commercials for American Idol. He objected as I read something negative about him, then hushed once I said, “Wait until I finish it, you came out looking like the good guy and me the bad guy.” Those first few attempts brought a lot of laughter to our American Idol “date nights”. (Could be because I don’t read well out loud.) Laughter just “inspired” me to write more.
• NaNoWriMo - Making the decision to try writing my first novel when I had only written a handful of stories. I wrote strictly by instinct - no plan. Have yet to go back and finish it, but it was the most remarkable feeling every day of those 30 days I have ever had, and each time I pick it up, the feeling returns.
• Creating a blog - in the middle of my first NaNoWriMo. My first entry. I had no idea how to start a blog and my instincts took over. I believe my family would label it obsession, but it sure beats a few other obsessions I could have come up with.