Category: writing

Today’s prompt is Connection. Use this word as your jumping off point or simply as a word within your post. Write about connections. You might choose the connection of physical things, humans, or animals. Or you might examine connections of intangible ideas. Connection—where does the word lead you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

It’s easy to get lost amid the everyday clamor and chaos that fills our lives. There is a constant need to do, to produce, to improve, to churn out whatever it is we do—words, students, products, profits, etc. When did we become a society so connected to data and measurement and profit that we forgot to connect with humanity? We’ve forgotten to build connections with other humans. Life should not be a constant battle to improve our numbers and our output. It should be about connection, relationships, and what we are doing to better ourselves, our lives, and the lives of those around us.

Four days into my blogging challenge and I am trying to maintain a connection between where I started and where I am going. My purpose is to write, to get back to writing regularly, perhaps surpassing my previous one-to-two times per week, to bring joy back to my creative process. My purpose is to break free of the writers’ block that has held me back for too long. And my purpose is to help others do the same.

And so, I am seeking to build the connection between myself and my Muse. I want to connect with my ideas, nature, words, readers, and other writers. I want to build a community of readers and writers and join others in their community. By building a community, we can forge some much needed connections—connections we have forgotten along the way.

Today’s prompt is Optimism. Use this word as your jumping off point or simply as a word within your post. I always like to approach my life with optimism—perhaps too much sometimes. What is your overall mindset? Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty person? What does optimism mean for you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please link to your blog in the comments and provide a pingback to this prompt.

The year always starts out in a tumultuous way. Seriously. Every year, for whatever reason, I expect a smooth transition from one year to the next. And every year, without fail, I spend January reeling from the challenges that come, one after another from the moment the clock strikes midnight on January first. It’s never a smooth transition. I don’t know why I expect one.

But with ever-present optimism, I know that things will get better. The year will settle into a rhythm—smoother than the turbulent beginnings might indicate. Projects will get done. New routines will be established, and peace will be found like a treasure that’s been lost.

2023 holds much promise. But just like any other year, it will surprise, it will disappoint, it will challenge (in good ways and bad), and it will march ahead, day-by-day, one day after another. May the surprises you encounter be wonderful, the disappointments be few, and the peace be a treasure you carry with you through the challenges you face.

Today’s prompt is Letting go. Use this phrase as the subject or simply as words within your post. We can’t walk into a new year with new goals if we are holding on to old habits or patterns that have been holding us back. Is there something—a ritual, a memory, an item, a person—that you have been holding on to? Would it do you good to let it go? What are you letting go of today, or what will you continue to carry with you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please link to your blog in the comments and provide a pingback to this prompt.

This year, I’m letting go of the things that hold me back. To start with, the things I own (material possessions) have multiplied in my life over the past many years as I have focused on raising my children. The things I have acquired fill my home in a way that no longer suits me. How much of this “stuff” is truly important? How much brings me joy? What do I really need? I have begun the process of donating, giving away, and otherwise letting go of all of the things that clutter up my home with no purpose. It is, in fact, a process, one that I have decided to approach as if I am moving out and would have to pack up and lug all this stuff with me. That way, if I actually do move, packing will be.

This year, I am letting go of as much negative energy as possible, which is a challenge with the negativity that infuses our society. But I am determined. Whether it’s ideas, attitudes, or people in my life, I am letting negativity go. It will roll off me as if I have a negative-proof coating. The fact is, life is short, and I’d rather focus on the good, on the positive, on the areas where I can make a difference.

Most importantly, I am letting go of others’ expectations. Society has this way of imposing on us what we should be. Should be according to whom?? According to celebrity reality show involving people who have never actually navigated what most of us consider reality? No thank you. Many days, my own expectations are hard enough to reach. This year, my expectations will be enough.

By letting go of the negative, I will make 2023 a most salubrious year!