Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with or contains ‘cel.’” Find a word that begins with or contains “cel” and use it in your post any way you’d like. Have fun!
The more tired I am, the more I forget where I put my cell phone. It’s been a strange couple of days out of the ordinary with back spasms, a visit from my son and granddaughter and our church artisan fair scheduled for Saturday. My cell phone got lost at least five times in the past week. It’s always in the house, and sometimes hiding in my purse, except for last week when I left it at choir practice. It always turns up eventually. Doctor/nurse practitioner wrote me a rx for a muscle relaxer and said it’s okay to take four ibuprofen, just not on an empty stomach. Maybe that will be enough to get me through the artisan fair for which I have reserved a table to share my wares and creations. We shall see…..
I wrote the above Friday. Made it through the artisan fair. My back pain was manageable. We had a good turnout, and I sold several pieces of art. Now it’s Saturday evening, and all I want to do is sleep after watching some easy TV.
There’s a meditation that a reiki practitioner gave me a few years ago. There were four steps which I don’t entirely recall, but the first line was, “I am open at the cellular level.” The rest of it included, expanding and then releasing, probably with some deep breathing along the way. Looking forward to some rest, cellular healing and releasing the tension in my back. I might not even make it to church tomorrow. Who knows? Was the push through worth it? I think so.
I’ll probably be slow in responding here on WP. It will take a while to catch up, but I could not, not do SoCS.
One of the pieces I sold today was a print I’ve had for a while. It was a zoom and crop of a bigger piece painted on wood.
Guardian Angel
I also sold some mermaids and mimosa angel ornaments like these:
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For more streams of the cel kind, along with SoCS rules
I know the photo looks like I might have a cup of Joy dishwashing detergent, bleh. It’s really a couple things that bring me joy. The handle broke off the cup, but I keep it for paint brushes. Blue is my favorite color, so I did my kitchen in blue and white, but it was too cold. Yellow brings me peaceful joy, so I’m constantly adding splashes of yellow. As time goes on, I have come to appreciate the little splashes of peaceful joy more than the jump up and down clap your hands joy, but those are nice, too.
Here’s to wishing you many joyful moments!
Daffodils at my parents old houseFrom my front pathMy Art. Alcohol ink on tileMarley and DaveCow from my parents. I made the curtans.Photo by my granddaughter
Thanks to theindieshe for this joyful prompt and to Linda Hill for Just Jot it January!
Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “close eyes and point.” Grab the closest printed material to you when you sit down to write your post, open it up (if it’s a book, flyer, etc.), close your eyes, and point. Whatever your finger lands on, use that as your prompt. Have fun!
Thanks Linda!
It’s Friday morning, earlier than I usually write my post for SoCSaturday. I’ve got a busy day getting ready for tomorrow’s artisan fair at my church. It’s a big deal to me. The forecast is for a lot of rain, but it’s an indoor event, so I hope they don’t cancel it. This afternoon will be clear skies, or at least not much chance for rain, so that will be good for the set up. I’ll share some more later about that if the stream takes me there.
So, sitting at the table which doubles as my desk, there is a pile of papers to my left. The one on top is a green piece of scrap paper that I’ve written notes on from one of my organizations – Northside Food Co-op. I live near the northside of town which is part of a large food desert that includes my neighborhood. We’re starting with a Saturday farmers market and the plan is to have an affordable grocery store in the area. I signed up to be on the community engagement committee. (This was after telling myself not to sign up for anything new.) Anyway, there was a zoom meeting and a guest who is a former resident of the northside. The young African American woman talked to the committee about growing up without regular access to food, the poverty of not knowing, watching her mother struggle, and some personal trauma that she experienced. I asked her what helped her get through these things, and she said she just did – she got through it. She shared a spiritual awakening as an adult that has given her enthusiasm to go back and help those in the old neighborhood.
I didn’t point with my eyes closed, because when I looked at the green piece of scrap paper trying to decipher my notes, I was pulled to the word, “gratitude” in the middle of the paper. The young woman who grew up on the northside said,
“I have a purpose. Gratitude is a big fire inside.”
That would make a nice one-liner for Wednesday. But here it is in the stream. A big fire inside makes me think of heartburn, so I don’t normally think that way. But for some people, a fire inside is a motivator for enthusiasm, a warm glow that gets things going. I could use some of that. I’m pretty busy right now, but I need more exercise as I get older. There is a tendency to want to be a couch potato which is okay sometimes. Good thing I have all these ideas that get me off the couch and nice weather of the autumnal kind to get me walking outside.
This morning David texted me that he has known me for 50 years. The party where we met in 1971 was on November 6th. That was so cool that he remembered, even if he remembered it a day early. He is the farthest thing from a couch potato. It’s interesting how partners compliment each other. I’m a night owl and he’s a morning person…….
I am filled with gratitude that God brought David back to me when the time was perfect. I’m also grateful that I have the flexibility in retirement to be busy, when ignited by the fire inside, or to sit on the couch and watch the Lord of the Rings or whatever I want to watch.
Here’s my favorite recent piece I’m taking to the artisan fair Saturday. I believe I already have a buyer!
“Blessing the Whales” ~ Acrylic on Wood Panel
Here are some other projects I’ve been working on for the artisan fair. David drilled holes in the mimosa cookies so they can be ornaments. We had to cut the mimosa way back when we had the roof redone. It grew back well.
Angel on Mimosa Cookie
Angel with Golden Dog – acrylic on canvas
Fun with shells – a work in progress
Maybe this is my way of thanking the angels for all these years of protection and nudges.
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For more streams of consciousness, rules, etc. visit our host Linda Hill by clicking here.
Today’s prompt is from Dan who’s filling in for Linda. You can visit both of them over at the virtual bar at Dan’s blog today. Here’s what Dan came up with:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “inspire/aspire/expire.” Use them in any form you like. Use one, use two or use them all if you want. If you use two, you get bonus points! If you use all three, Cheryl will put your next drink on David’s tab. Enjoy!
I hope to inspire, but more naturally than in the past. Because I like to be inspired, too. In my art folder here on my laptop, I have a folder named, “inspiration.” It has ideas from nature and other people’s art that I want to, not copy, but be inspired by, taking my own spin on them. Clouds inspire me, like this one:
If you know a lot about clouds, you might be able to tell I turned this upside down. Originally it looked like a bird or angel diving down to earth. Turning it upside down makes it a rising mermaid or angel or something. I like rising better than diving, though I do love diving under water. So I’m going to paint it rising, whatever it turns out to be. The head will be different. We’ll see what happens. Do you notice the face near the very top a little to the right of center? It’s kinda eerie/cool. The face seems to be looking over a shoulder or wing.
Aspire. I have aspired to be and do many things. Maybe the best is to aspire to be ourselves. Our true selves, not what others expect. I think of myself as an aspiring vegan, inching closer and inspired by the vegans at the farm where I volunteer. Been doing better on not eating fish. Gave up chicken a couple years ago (the chickens on the farm reinforce that) and stopped eating mammals in my early twenties. Cheese though is sneaky. Dairy productus show up unexpectedly in granola bars or veggie burritoes. Anyway, I’m not perfect, never have been, never will be.
Expiration dates are subjective. My husband will eat (almost) anything that smells okay even if it’s expired. I might go a couple months out from when something was said to expire. Maybe six months. A lot of food is wasted because it’s expired or looks funny, but it’s still good to eat. I’m glad people are starting to rescue and redistribute some of that. I got some free almond butter that had expired at the new food co-op down the road. Almond butter is something I don’t usually buy, because peanut butter is so much less expensive, and there’s something about almonds production that’s a problem, maybe with bees. I don’t remember. But it was a nice gift, the expired almond butter.
My energy level expired Saturday when David drove home from southeastern Connecticut to southeastern NC. He’s a tough guy. Just riding in the truck all those hours was hard on my body. We took the scenic route close to the eastern shore, because it was less traffic and less stress, though more time (15 hours with our stops.) We had considered stopping for the night halfway, but David seems to have an amazing ability to keep going which only inspires me to take a nap or take pictures. Oh, the reason for the trip – we had gone to visit David’s mother who is 86 and doing very well except for some vision problems. (We have all been vaccinated.) She was very happy to see us after five years and told me all about her volunteer work at the elementary school when her kids were little. I’m going to write another post about that sometime – about how she helped start a kindergarten, school library, and got things done as a mama bear back in the 1960s. But that’s enough for now. Here are some photos from our trip. I hope to stay home for a while.
Windmills in NC
Somewhere on the east coast
Abandoned house in Rhode Island
Nice view in Connecticut
Chesapeake Bay Bridge
Chesapeake Bay
Same windmills heading home
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Happy October!
For more streams of consciousness visit Linda’s blog HERE. Be sure to look for Dan’s contribution at “No Facilities” in the comments.
Here’s our prompt: “the last photo you took.” Take the last photo you snapped. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you look at it? That word is your prompt. Enjoy!
The last photo I took was…. No wait. What’s the word? It’s a toss up between, Fairy, and What, as in What is the title of this piece of art that I’ve been working on for the past year and a half?
It all started when David was making a cabinet to store more canned goods at the start of COVID. He brought home the door of the cabinet, and I said, “Wait a minute! Look at those angel wings!”
Here’s one section
Unfortunately, it’s a bit heavy, but I couldn’t let it just be a cabinet door. Here are some enhancements below inspired by the wood grain. I was looking at caladiums a lot. Then the owl just showed up.
This was maybe a year ago.
Well, it’s closer to being finished. It might even be finished. I don’t know. And I don’t know what to call it. Tree fairies and friends? Caladium Angels, Fairies and Friends? Any ideas? Here’s where it is now:
What’s the first word that comes to your mind?
I didn’t plan the painting much. Some things just emerged, like my Golden Boy, Jesse who’s in heaven. Maybe he’s hanging out with fairies and owls.
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For more streams of consciousness and rules, visit our host, Linda Hill at:
I might have shared this before, but when I saw Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday topic of art, I couldn’t resist. Not that we have to stick to a topic. I just like the idea of being “dangerous” through art and mixing with all classes. I have seen this quote attributed to Queen Victoria.
For more one-liners and guidelines, visit Linda Hill at:
…..“more than a hundred.” Write your post inspired by something you have more than a hundred of in your home right now. Enjoy!
Clothes: The first thing that came to mind was items of clothing. Shopping at thrift stores is not good for minimalizing my stuff. It’s hard to resist a pretty skirt that only costs three dollars. I know the tricks of backward hangers and all that. It’s been a while since I culled my clothing. Yuck, I don’t like the word culled…. oh well – the stream….. Let’s move on.
Bottle Caps: I collect plastic bottle caps for some art project. I guess I might have at least 200, maybe more. I played around with making a turtle a while back. Some day, I’ll really make something out of them. Oh, yeah, and the melted marbles…
Ants: I probably have more than 100 ants hiding in my house. But I don’t want to think about that. I will only deal with the ones I see. When I am my best and highest self, I scoop them up and take them outside as gently as I can, when I am at my best and highest self. That’s all I’m going to say about that. The key is cleaning up after making a peanut butter and jelly wrap, dear husband, by wiping the counter. Even if you don’t see that tiny spot of jelly, the ants will know it’s there. Okay, enough about ants already.
Pennies: Somewhere in a corner I have a big old wine bottle or two full of pennies. Why? I don’t know. But there must be well over 100 pennies. Way more.
Magazines: Some belong to my husband and some I’m saving for yet another art project – collages to be precise. This prompt is making me realize what I have to declutter.
Angels: I don’t know if I have more than 100. But my mother did. I gave away many of her angels, but I’ve kept a lot, too. If you include the angels I have on cards and artwork along with the knickknacks, there could be over 100. I’m not counting. Angels are everywhere, but you don’t always see them.
I had cards made with this ocean angel.
Mimosa Angels
There are always some of my mimosa angel ornaments lying around, so yeah, there’s over 100. With angels, that’s okay. You can’t have too many angels.
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For more streams of consciousness, visit our host, Linda Hill at:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Today’s prompt is …brush.” Use it as a noun, a verb, or an idiom. Have fun!
“Brushstrokes” keeps coming to me. Oh there’s brushing my hair, brushing the dog, don’t brush too much under the rug, or you’ll trip over it…. I could brush up on my yoga and do more than just stretch and warrior poses…..
But brushstrokes keep coming back to me. I like painting whether it’s painting a wall, a painting, or a cabinet. Just one cabinet, not all of them. Did that years ago. I’d rather paint a painting.
Sometimes, I’ll plan something I’m going to paint in great detail and then it turns out differently. So, I’ve learned to go with the flow. Just start with a general idea and see what happens. It’s not easy for me to do that until I get in the zone. It’s good to have a clear idea of what you want, but even though God listens, God might have something even better in mind.
I wonder if God, our Creator, knew exactly what she or he or both, whoever, whatever – God – wanted to create in the beginning. Was there an outline? A blueprint? I don’t think so. I bet creating earth and fish, trees, animals, and human beings was more organic, like a great experiment, flowing from one adventure to the next.
Does God ever wish there had been a blueprint? Does God shake her head and think, maybe that free will business wasn’t such a good idea after all?
But here we are with our free will. Making messes that hopefully we can fix. I don’t know. I think I’d rather paint. Brush strokes, or dabbing like Bob Ross. He used brushes in different ways. I’ve been meaning to watch one of his videos just for fun. Maybe I can find one now! If I do this in a real SoCS way, I might pick one at random.
I have a plan to paint a bridge, so that’s the one I picked. I have not always been a big fan of Bob Ross, but my how relaxing it is to watch him. It’s an ASMR thing. Can I remember what that stands for? Autonomic Sensory Meridian Response. Soft, repetitive… I could get hooked…..
Watching Bob, I’m all relaxed now. Forgot what I was writing about. Seems like I remember reading Bob Ross was in the military before he became a sweet, painter. I bet he had another side, cause we ALL do.
Here’s the photo of the idea I have for a painting.
Wait. Where’s the bridge?
There’s’ the bridge in the distance.
Except I’m going to make it one of those stone bridges with an arch. But who knows….. Anything is possible.
Thanks for letting me ramble around getting ready to paint. It’s actually a little scary, because I have a BIG canvas for this one, and I’m not used to painting on a big canvas. I have to get psyched up for it. Bob will help. I’m going to start before the end of the year. I’ve already done a very simple sketch. One step at a time.
I have a lot of art on my Redbubblepage if you’re interested. 🙂 If you go there, you’ll see my artist name which is also my married name. My author name is my maiden name. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone.
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For more brushes with the Stream of Consciousness, visit our host, Linda Hill at:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
Indigenous Rainforest People Win Long Court Battle Against Illegal Loggers
It started in 1980 when mature cedar and mahogany trees were cut down illegally in the Kampa do Rio Amônia Indigenous Reserve of the Amazon. After a decades long court battle, the Ashaninka people of Brazil were given a public apology and awarded three million dollars in compensation. The settlement will be paid over five years and will be used mostly for reforestation projects.
“The case will define hundreds of thousands of cases on massive environmental crimes in Brazil.” ___Antonio Rodrigo, Attorney for the Ashaninka people
Decrease in Rate of US Imprisonment of African Americans
One of the challenges of doing “Good News Tuesday” is finding a story of interest but with my own, “Yes, buts….” attached to it. My “Yes, buts,” to this story are that African Americans in the US are still imprisoned at clearly disproportionate rates and that African Americans are still in danger as evidenced by continued wrongful deaths. Law enforcement officers still need more training in sensitivity, compassion, and strategic alternatives to firing a weapon or use of unnecessary force. My country still has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
The report from the Pew Research Center provides graphs showing the decrease in overall US crime and the declines in imprisonment rates of African Americans and Hispanics, though they explain, “The increase in Hispanic prisoners…. was slower than the increase in the overall Hispanic population in the U.S., which is why the Hispanic imprisonment rate decreased.” The statistics do not include inmates held in local jails and those sentenced to less than a year. I still think these trends are worth considering as we search for ways to do better.
Captain Thomas Moore who raised over $40 million for health care in England has been given the honorary promotion of colonel. Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth has approved his knighthood. In this article from ABC News, he wonders if the Queen will give him a hand up from kneeling when knighted.
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Art is Her Superpower
Ten-year-old Chelsea Phaire has given away over 1000 boxes of art supplies to kids in shelters, foster care, and those dealing with trauma. For her last birthday, she asked for art supplies to donate and sent these out in her first 40 boxes. Her charity started after a beloved teacher was killed by gun violence and art went from being Chelsea’s hobby to becoming her therapy. You can read more about Chelsea’s Charity in this CNN article, and please watch her short video!
Today’s prompt for SOCS is; “practice/practise.” We get to use it any way we’d like and “Have fun!”
What we practice, we get better at. Whether it’s typing, dancing, thinking good thoughts, thinking negative thoughts, or not touching our faces, we get better at what we practice.
So what do you want to get better at? What do you want to practice?
I no longer like the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” I’ve let go of perfection. Mostly. Now and then, it rears its ugly head and tries to boss me around. But I’ve gotten better at telling perfection to go take a hike, because of practice.
When I was in first grade, I practiced cursive writing, because my teacher said I wasn’t good at it and needed better “penmanship.” I remember her as a mean teacher with heavy eyebrow pencil. Maybe she was perfectionistic. But I practiced my penmanship, because I was into being obedient back then. Now I have very good penmanship when I want to. Artistic even. My artistic skills come naturally. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m better than average at art. Not as good as I wanna be, but that’s where the practice comes in.
What if that mean teacher who criticized my cursive handwriting in first grade nudged me (unknowingly) in an artistic direction? My favorite art to do is flowy and curvy, like cursive writing. Well, I suppose I should thank her, though she’s probably long gone by now. Still, sigh, okay, Thank you, Miss Todd wherever you are. I think that was her name. Every teacher I can think of was easier than her after first grade.
My plan is to continue to practice physical social distancing even after restrictions are lifted. Oh, I’ll do some hugging, but no handshakes. I’ve always found handshakes to be awkward in varying degrees anyway. It’s weird going to the grocery store and watching people for distance, like a dance in reverse.
Plenty of lessons come from hard times. We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to be anything. We don’t have to practice anything we don’t want to. But we can practice what we love and what is good for all of us if we choose. Be safe, be well. Practice compassion for yourself and others. It will get better.
Here’s some of my flowy, curvy art on upcycled wood:
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For more streams of consciousness flowing from the prompt of practice, visit Linda Hill:
Here are the rules:
1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.
2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.
3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.
4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.
5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.
6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!
7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.
8. Have fun!
Anything is Possible! 