Category: writing

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Nothing

erte-nNothing.

Writers know a little bit about this. When we’re blocked, nothing comes and the page fills and fills with…nothing.

I’m not a fan of it.

But sometimes, nothing is what the situation calls for. As in, I have nothing relevant or healthy or positive to contribute to a conversation.

I feel like that a little today.

Other times, nothing is essential. It’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean, to clear one’s mind, to survey a blank canvas full of possibility.

I like that kind of nothingness. With a little creativity and conviction, it fills up with somethingness. And isn’t somethingness what we aspire to as artists? To look at nothing and see something? To take emptiness and fill it?

I’d like to do that today.

I’d like to take this empty space and fill it with positive words.

love*joy*happy*birdsong*hugs*peace*sunrise*laughter*puppies*kisses*chocolate*

friend*smile*warmth*daisy*dance*mountains*shade*walk*grass*blue*sing*giggle*

play*gaze*ponder*share*jump*roses*tea*conversation*sigh*celebrate*create*pray

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Music

letter_m_erteMusic.

It soothes the wild beast, and it soothes me.

I like so many kinds of music…I like jazz, country, salsa, classical, top 40, classic rock, and good churchy stuff.

I don’t like screaming and cussing.

Otherwise, I’ll give it a listen — probably, I’m gonna like it. At least I’ll listen politely.

It lifts my mood or calms me down, depending on what I need. It inspires me, and makes me move, especially if it’s salsa. There nothing better to play while cleaning, that’s for sure!

I grew up with music in our home, and thank my parents for that gift. I even had guitar lessons when I was a kid though I can’t explain why reading music is still such a mystery to me. Let’s just say…me and time signatures don’t get along.

Anyway, music. I love it.

Here are a few songs that I really dig:

and this:

and finally:

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Laughter

letter_l_erteLaughter.

It’s one of my favorite things.

I love to laugh, and I love people who laugh…loudly, robustly, from all the way inside their souls.

Yeah. That’s the right way to laugh.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to laugh, and boy, it was abundant.

We had a work in-service day, and I attended a drumming therapy session. I was pretty skeptical about it. I thought it was going to be one of those sharing circles, you know what I’m talking about — getting close to nature and all that bunk.

Well, let me take it back —  I don’t really think it’s bunk. That kind of deep sharing has a place in our lives. I’m just not sure the workplace environment is the place for it. At least, not for me.

But I went anyway, on the advice of a colleague with a fun spirit and a good sense of humor. At least if we were going to suffer, it was going to be entertaining.

Boy was I wrong. That was the most fun I’d had at work. Ever.

Here’s me, trying out a pretty djembe drum:

551545_10151603459655953_1188751669_n

There’s nothing like laughter to generate laughter. I don’t know if it was the physical act of drumming that was therapeutic, or the joy that came from having a good time, but I think today, the day after, I’m still enjoying the benefits of spending an hour beating on a drumhead and laughing.

What makes you laugh from all the way inside your soul?

 

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