Letting Go

(A Blog Every Day in May 2013 Challenge Entry)

*5/31/13 - For some reason I wasn’t able to log into Blogger yesterday, or this morning. In fact, only a few sites were working. At first I thought it was maybe my connection at a friend’s house, but the issue continued once returning home. I am a bit worried that the laptop is acting up. That will be Bad News Bears. I don’t personally view this as failing to complete the prompt as it was complete (yesterday’s being very short), but merely a delay due to technical difficulties. I’m just happy I’ve been able to log in this afternoon... if it continues to allow me to be. Which, so far, it isn’t allowing me more than 3 tabs open and Blogger isn’t loading again. GAH! So today will be another double-feature, or so I hope.*

I can’t seem to load the site to nab today’s prompt, but I know it deals with letting go, and my reaction to the statement. Currently there are some crazy conversations going on and it’s made it hard to focus on this post. I won’t go into details, but all guilty members that happen to read this will know who you are!

*Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go

This Is Water

So letting go? After reading this prompt I kept thinking about a video I just came across the other night. This video highlights letting go of your own self-centeredness/importance over others and letting go of the petty annoyances in life that drag you down in a tailspin of negativity. Either way, I found the message(s) within to be profound and well portrayed.



What do you think?

*So, I found out the issue seemed to be that my old (and I thought dead) antivirus became jealous I had uploaded a new antivirus program. So it became... sentient... I will say... and reactivated itself outside of it’s already expired date. It was fighting for dominance over my system against Avast and it was blocking me from accessing the interwebs. Really weird.*

On that note, however... I had to let go of my issues with missing yet another daily posting for this challenge. It wasn’t the first, but it will definitely be the last (for 2013 anyhow). I get really anxiety-bound that I am missing a post, but this wasn’t so bad being it was a bit out of my control. Eventually I was 100% okay with it, as shit happens, and that’s okay.

Let’s move on to the next, and final, prompt:

Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

That’s not too bad. I will even try to pull one from my childhood, which is time and again noted as a strenuous task.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

You may think this is another juicy tale about a haunting, but you’d be mistaken. This is just a brief glimpse into a vivid memory I have about an injury.

As a child — around the same time frame I stole a bunch of Christmas Lights off the neighbor’s trees and windows — I, along with my brother and friends, would play Ghostbusters. It was pretty much like tag. One of us was a Ghostbuster and the others were ghosts.

I remember the Ghostbuster would carry around a steering wheel from some broken toy and pretend to drive the car around catching up to the ghosts. This is what I was doing, laughing and being joyous, when I suddenly tripped and fell. I got back up to continue the chase, but I couldn’t; my knee was in pain. I never knew if I fell on a branch or on the toy steering wheel, but whatever it was messed my knee up.

My mother’s boyfriend at the time called me over just then to help him, as he worked on the car. He wanted me to push on the gas pedal so he could assess the issues the car was having. I tried explaining to him that I had hurt my knee, but he blew it off. So I got into the driver’s seat and tried to do what he asked. Pushing on the pedal, though, caused extreme pain and I just started crying. All the while he was yelling at me to give it more gas and push harder. I tried...

Eventually he came around to the door — still ajar — about to yell at me, but then he saw I was crying. I showed him my bleeding knee and he apologized for thinking my injury was minor. Soon after, he brought me to the doctor.

I just remember it looking weird, that flap of skin cut in a half moon on my knee. I had to get stitches, and I believe that is the only time I’ve ever had to do so. My life has been pretty much injury free. For a long time you could see the scar, but it has since faded and is now barely visible.

Another One Bites the Dust

May is over (er... ending...) and another challenge down! I think I can do with some down time now. Maybe get to that fiction I was supposed to be doing. I have a piece I hope to finish, which was meant for the Paper Darts fiction contest, but came up short. Starting it two hours before the deadline was not a good game plan. I will have to remind myself of that next time. Need to hit up some more After Armageddon too.

This was a fun challenge and met even more people for which I am very thankful for! The prompts were a little all over the place (and picture heavy), but I managed. I wonder if the host plans to continue it next year. I think this was their first go at hosting the challenge, which may explain some of the randomness. Maybe not.

Thanks to everyone following along and/or participating. Congrats to you all! May our June be more relaxing! I’ve a lot of catching up to do.

What did you think of the This Is Water video? Do you agree with the content? Can you recall a vivid memory? Have you ever broken anything (bodily) or needed stitches? Any June challenges that anyone is aware of? >.>
Last week my family said goodbye to my uncle. Things seem calmer, but it's likely because everyone is going about their grieving in different ways. That and the fact I am not in close proximity of most of my family anymore. We aren’t talking states away, but I have a very small radius of travel; something I want to change sooner than later.

I spoke of another loss, one hopefully salvageable. It pales in comparison to a death in the family, but it's an important matter, nonetheless.

Before getting to that, though, I will start on a lighter note...

Your You’re the Writer

Yesterday was my review for the new company I work for. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. With everything going on the last few weeks, I had fallen a bit behind. The company uses a Self-Assessment form, where you critique your own work/skills/strengths/weaknesses/etc. It was interesting. Similar to some of the questions asked in the interview I had with the company.

Questions like: What are five strengths you possess?

Could you believe I could only think of four during my interview? It happened! Granted I was on thirty minutes of sleep, but still. I never really think about those kinds of things. What I’m good at, strengths, positive traits/skills. It was a bit easier this time around, thankfully.

I couldn’t print out the form, so I ended up writing my answers on index cards. I was excited when my manager seemed interested I used them. I may be obsessed, I use them for many things. She let me start the review.

“You’re the writer...” she began.

I must have told her I wanted to write and forgot. I think I got flustered, maybe embarrassed, and tried explaining I hadn’t written much in a while. It was, however, encouraging to make sure I do a little writing each day; especially my fiction.

The review went really well. Things were in order and we spoke about advancement opportunities, so I will be playing it by ear. It would be nice to shift into a new role, learn some new skills. Overall it turned out to be a good day, with a clearer outlook on the work front.

Wildflower

In a previous post, THE BRIDGE, I mentioned a Wildcard associated with NaNoWriMo.  This individual played an important role in inspiring my writing, encouraging me to complete NaNo, and fueling various other projects thereafter. Looking back, I apparently wasn’t completely aware of just how influential the individual had been to my work.

Now the part that some may find hard to believe, is that I had specifically asked for a Muse months ago. Asked the Universe, for all those new age spiritualists out there. So, I got what I asked for, but unfortunately not at the most opportune time, at least in terms of being able to explore it to a desired capacity. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. I just wanted to write again.

So this Muse came into my life and that’s what happened. I began to write again. More expansive than outlines and ideas. Spending time with them somehow created a surge of inspiration and desire to create. I couldn’t explain it and still can’t. It just was. It scared me; still does. It played a factor in, to some extent, the breakdown discussed in that earlier post linked above.

While things were exciting for a time, eventually due to circumstances, the connection had to be momentarily released. I hope it’s a very temporary situation. It was important to myself to be realistic and honest about the situation, rather than pretend I was okay with it or that things would change. Continuing down that path would have bode negative for both myself and them. Different people at different places, but perhaps down the road the friendship will resume more fully.

Since the severance, I have coincidentally been lacking in my fiction. I’m sure a lot of it is in my head, but unless someone has known someone that created this effect, I can’t explain it. It comes off as magical. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t contemplated sacrificing some happiness in attempts to assure I could at least have access to just a taste now and again. It can be very euphoric.

Music plays a large role in my writing, and fuels a lot of my fiction. Not as fleshed out, but little blips of scenes. I’m hoping it will suffice, and that I can unlock that part of me that was unleashed when in the presence of a Muse. The belief is, naturally, that the source is within you and I agree (or so I will tell myself). The trouble comes in accessing it freely.

Wildflower is the name of a Smashing Pumpkins song I dedicated to this situation. To me, the song is about someone chasing another who is always out of reach. In doing so, eventually it becomes too much and they need to let go, or risk the task consuming them. That is the simplistic explanation.

The song took on a slightly different meaning when listening to it live, where the singer had changed a line of lyrics from "When it's far too gone, I'd move on" to "When it's all too much, I've had enough." Originally, in context, it sounded like he was giving permission to the other to move on once he became unmanageable. To go and be free and live without him. With the change, it is more giving himself permission and letting go (and how the original line was meant to be taken - at least in my theory). Either way, give it a listen. I love it!

Flash Fiction

I decided to try my hand at Flash Fiction. Essentially it is a piece consisting of fewer words than a short story. I believe under a thousand (or maybe three thousand?) words is common. There was a contest held a few weeks ago and the rules specified for a piece of fiction of 250 words or less. Writing within these confines is sometimes referred to as Micro Fiction. Also, as a fun twist, you had to use at least four of ten pre-selected words.

The words:

EVENING-QUARRY-ACCENT-ROSE-TEAR-MINUTE-GRAVE-CLOSE-ENTRANCE-BOW

It was a lot of fun and very challenging. I’d like to do more Flash Fiction. I feel it will help me in terms of brevity with my fiction. This past weekend I received the dreaded email stating my story didn’t make it to the next round of judging. That is unfortunate, but was expected. It was more for the experience of it. I don’t think I’ve submitted anything into a contest since high school; maybe first grade.

The piece was inspired by the circumstances involving the Muse, and also a song I was inspired to write during the period we were in touch. For that reason, it is a very personal story, but would love to share it.

I’m currently placing all of my fiction on a blog specifically designed for my writing. You can read my Flash Fiction contest entry there:

Dreams in the Shade of Ink: Fireflies

Feel free to check it out, comment, and explore the other writing projects I am working on! Any constructive feedback is always welcomed; both here and there.

Until then, I will endure the only thing standing between that fleeting inspiration and myself. Those words that wish to be written, but enjoy a good game of hide-and-seek.

Time.

Have you ever had a Muse? For those out there inspired by music, what song(s) or band(s) really gets your mojo flowing? Have you ever written any Flash Fiction? I'd love to read some from others!