BACK IN THE WRITING GROOVE AGAIN

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Sometimes writing becomes a struggle between ‘will I’ or ‘will I not’. Yet it really doesn't take much (as anybody would know that) if a bit of passion goes along with the writing. It comes easy when you love what you’re doing. As in other things whether that be cooking, singing, dancing, acting, playing an instrument, traveling, reading, teaching, painting, and many more. Not even a hundred horses or a thousand can take you away from that, right?

Yet sometimes too I can think of three good reasons NOT to write….

Top on that list ----- the absence of an idea for writing or in more romantic terms – an inspiration. Some call that the writer’s block. There may be dozens of ideas churning inside my head but nothing seems to stay still long enough to make some sense of it. That’s why inspiration does play a great role (to my mind at least) because it is able to sort out things and knit them together to form a better-understood-whole.

Secondly ----- the excruciatingly hot weather makes it impossible to sit on the chair longer than I can say the word ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. And I don't even know if I spelled that correctly. My butt’s on fire more often than I want it.

Thirdly ----- there’s something I’d like to do too. Have you an old pair of jeans lying somewhere inside your closet? I do. So why not sew a bag out of an old pair of denim pants. Yup an idea that caught my mind when one day I saw that I had about 3 or 4 worn out denims lying inside the closet for ages now. Since ‘tote bags’ is another passion, I decided to put the denims to better use and at the same time find out if Mom's creative sewing talents rubbed off on me. Been toiling at it on certain days... the measuring, cutting, and the final sewing – by hand and not with a sewing machine. I have a portable sewing machine here but I prefer not to work it. You see, I'm bad with machines although I have managed to drive a car before. I hope that counts. Well, the bag is now ready with only the zipper and the handle to attach. Now I'm figuring out how to do the zipper because it looks like a tricky thing to do on a bag. Or maybe use Velcro instead of a zipper...... hmmmmm... (Took the photos below of the finished items for you, ladies, to see that you can do it too.) 😃

But there's a fourth one ----- Oh well, it's got something to do with great movies and TV shows – if there's a good one in town my family and I go see it. Too on television there's The Voice, CSI, NCIS, The Good Doctor, Hawaii 5O, MacGyver, CNN Philippines (and our local news too), Discovery channel, How'd They Do That, Amazing Race, Ellen DeGeneres .. And all those other interesting stuff like reruns of great movies (old and new) which gets your eyes glued to the box. And along with that perhaps a nice cup of coffee, or maybe iced tea, then again a lemonade, or some ice cream and chocolate cake while sitting on a nice comfy couch.... and too have your family around you.

And a fifth one ----- read a book! Oh never mind if it’s an old one, if it’s good I will take it down from my tiny library and read it again. And again if need be. There’s The Purpose Driven Life, 1000 Stories, Tuesdays with Morris, Dare To Fail, Laugh Again, All I Really Need To Know I learned In Kindergarten, Jacob the Baker, The Alchemist, The Aladdin Factor, Traveling Light, and other books too that didn't make the best seller list but are just as engaging to read.

 

So maybe what I'm trying to say is there's life outside the writing and blogging. And truthfully, I'm saying that I'm having the best of both worlds. The writing gives me so much pleasure indulging in such a rewarding activity with the added bonus of wonderful friendships found in that journey. It’s a good life and creates my greatest of blessings. Huge thanks to the Big Guy upstairs.

I guess it would be alright to say that with this post I'm back into the writing groove again after a brief hiatus. Love to be here with you again, lovely people. Sending you big hugs and generous blessings from the heart of God. ❤️🌹

BOOKS, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS

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A rainy weather doesn't give you much to do if you plan for outdoor activities. But indoors, that's a different thing. I have about a few things lined up for this kind of weather i.e. arrange my closet (which I have been doing for the __th time because I mess it up just as quickly as I arrange it)..... sort through old clothes and move it to the donation box (the kids do the same)..... sew the frazzled seams of my favorite maong shorts..... scrub the bath tub (baking soda is a good cleaner) but I think I will dish this for another time because it's too much effort, so then na-ah to this one..... do some Tai Chi moves in lieu of the regular morning walks...... or clean up the shelves of my small personal library of selected treasured books. All three shelves filled with books I keep coming back to again and again.
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The last item on that list won over the rest, for obvious reasons.
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I love books. Mom's words and my favorite line from her was..... 'You don't stop learning just because you're done with school. Books, more than anything else, are your best friends. It won't let you down.'
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It never has. What classrooms didn't teach me I have learned from books. What teachers failed to expound upon, books gave me its better explanation or version. Confusion, fuzzy principles, insufficient insights were eased up or resolved by the right books on that subject or subjects. And if I wanted to delve deeper into the secrets of the universe certain books easily would take me there. If the what-why-where-when-and-how-or-who of life and living seem like a huge puzzle to me, books would gladly lead me to its understanding and clarity. If I wanted to know my God better to grow my faith, the bible would gently take me there. And if all I ever wanted was to be entertained, there were the word puzzles... adult coloring books... Sudoku... humor books... travel books.. hobby books... and DIY (do it yourself) books.
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Through the ups-and-downs of life's journey books have always kept me company. Mom was right.... "Books, more than anything else, are your best friends. It won't let you down."
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How did I get to be this way? Credit goes to Mom, a teacher by profession; she started us young. Mom would buy us books, picture books when we were kids. We could easily say 'railroad track' and point to its picture while the other kids in nursery were just learning their A-B-C's. (Even before we got into nursery.) As students, we would hie off to the school library at the slightest chance we could get. That love affair with books continued in and through our adult years.
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One love affair that is forever.
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May God bless you with all things good .... and great books to last you a lifetime. 

 

 

 

MUST LOVE BOOKS

 

Got this from Mr. Quote Man today..... to quote:

Readers may be divided into four classes:

1. Sponges, who absorb all that they read and return it in nearly the same state, only a little dirtied.
2. Sand-glasses, who retain nothing and are content to get through a book for the sake of getting through the time.
3. Strain-bags, who retain merely the dregs of what they read. (Dregs - residue, remains, sludge)
4. Mogul diamonds, equally rare and valuable, who profit by what they read, and enable others to profit by it also.

--Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Unquote.

I remember mom saying this about people.....  'Different strokes for different folks'. An expression meaning that everyone has their own way of doing things or approaching life.

It's the same way with books...  reading books. Anyone of us can be one or the other on that list..... or maybe even all of the above at different times in our lives. But as human nature is always wanting something beneficial or meritorious or advantageous to the self, I would say a good number of us are #4 on that list.

Here at home for lack of sufficient storage space, the books I have acquired through the years are all stored inside a huge storage plastic bin. I go back to it every now and then to be reminded once more of good book experiences. Yes, you guessed it right... I don't throw away good books. I don't borrow books either because if I happen to like it very much, I would keep it. Just fortunate that the ones kept (about two of them and three years long now) weren't even missed by its owners. :-D But I think that's absurd --- books are like family... you'll miss them if you don't see them.

There's this book I keep returning to and miss a lot when I fail my regular reading date with it. 'Good Morning.... God' by Pamela Steinke, bought in 1995. Only 8x5inches in size, about less than a hundred pages, and It's heavily lined with a green pencil marker. Sometimes it gets a ride in my tote bag on Starbucks dates with daughter. Yes, I read it while sipping my green tea frappe. :-)

Remember that movie "Must Love Dogs"? Let's tweak that a bit to ---"Must Love Books".

BOOKS CONNECT US WITH ALL OF CREATION

One day a cousin of a friend came up to me at a gathering with friends and said in jest... 'ang lalim ng mga sinusulat mo' (translated...'it's hard reading you').

I looked at her and replied... 'try it from here' (pointing to her heart) in jest too. 

'Baliw ka talaga!' (translated....'you're crazy') she replied with a laugh. 

To which I countered....'O diba, nasa puso ang kabaliwan' (translated.... 'yup, crazy is right there in the heart'). 

Don't worry when among friends, close friends, you get the privilege of being crazily straightforward and funny and come out of it in one piece. In our group we do it all the time.

Books fall in different categories, don't we know that. Correspondingly we either read with the mind or with the heart. In most of my reading I lean towards those which tug gently or fiercely at any of the strings in my heart. Stories which tell of human struggles, heartaches, foolishness or sometimes stupidity, passion, inspiration, spiritual growth and everything else which resonates with my own in my tiny niche of life and the world. I want to be reminded that I am not alone in my humanity - that out there in the big wide world there is or are other souls going through the same things I do. I want to feel this connection, this oneness with the rest of creation. So I read. And, so I write.

May God pour out blessings upon you today and in the week up ahead. God bless.