SoCS: No One Person has a Monopoly on the Entire Truth, but Together….

Today’s prompt: “starts with mono.” Find a word that starts with “mono” and use it in your post. Enjoy!

It’s very unlikely that I have mono. I have been fighting a virus for almost a week. Thankfully my immune system is working along with the vaporizer I used last night since I feel better tonight (Friday pm) than Thursday. Vaporizer sounds like a weapon from Star Trek/Wars. Maybe it’s a humidifier, but it’s small like the vaporizer my parents had when I was little. Anyway, it helps. Maybe taking an intentional break from Facebook has helped, too.

The mono prompt has many other possible streams. ~~~ It’s okay to be single. Having a dog helps. Or a cat. Being married now is like icing on the cake. But my life was good cake with or without the icing. I’m glad I decided to trust God’s plan and to trust the timing of that plan.

Monotheism is an interesting topic. Most people would probably say that Christianity is a monotheistic religion, in spite of the holy Trinity – three in one. Personally, I believe there are many paths and manifestations of one most high God. This is illustrated by the story of “The Blind Men and the Elephant” which I recently mentioned to another blogger. There are multiple versions of this story. Each man experiences the elephant from a different perspective, and each thinks his experience is the whole elephant.

I like how the narrator concludes that the only thing the blind men were entirely wrong about was that each thought he was entirely right.

What might happen if this story was about six blind women and the elephant? Do you think the outcome would be different? Do you think they might have listened to each other better? Maybe one woman would say, “Hey, Flo, come over here and feel this part!”

That would change the story, but not necessarily the message. Maybe they would start to argue, but then investigate further. The message is as important today as ever. No one has a monopoly on the entire truth. We have different experiences. Let’s listen to each other and learn from each other’s experiences. Maybe we won’t change our minds every time, but we might have a better understanding.

Some of the photos in today’s gallery can be interpreted various ways. For example, the fallen monkey toy is a good sign that Mama Cat, normally a cave dweller, played with the monkey I put on the top of her cat tree at bedtime. Most mornings, it’s on the floor. This time, it was on her window seat.

fallen monkey

Dragon or brontosaurus cloud

on our last trip, I forgot the forks

Rat snake in the barn

Underground shark?

Or cypress knob?

An painting by Joannaoftheforest

The painting above was done on a piece of bare wood in the kitchen. I did not plan on it being so strange. I started by following the grain in the wood, but guess I ended up following the stream of consciousness.

~~~

For more streams and info on SoCS,

visit out wonderful host,

Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: Angel Wings, Caladiums, Fairies, an Owl, and my Old Dog

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.

…

For more streams of consciousness and rules, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS July 31, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)

SoCS: Brushstrokes

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 Redbubble page 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.

…

For more brushes with the Stream of Consciousness, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Aug. 22/2020

Here are the rules:

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!

SoCS: Not Going Nuts, Art, and Almond Milk

Today’s prompt is, “nuts.”

I’m trying not to go nuts about getting ready for our church’s annual artisan fair. Both David and I are vendors, and as I write this Friday afternoon, there’s a lot to do before set up tonight and the fair tomorrow (Saturday.) Taking a deep breath. I want this to be fun. It will be fun. I need to relax and be thankful that I can do this without having to go work in an office at a stressful job.

Just goes to show you that even if you are doing the job of your dreams and have the man of your dreams, your life can still have some stress in it, especially if you let your anxiety or perfectionist gremlins infiltrate your peace, JoAnna.

It’s a beautiful day, and I really like the peace, ha, I meant to type piece, I worked on last night that I started in the laundromat while washing my old dog’s bed for the 20th time and finished (the painting) last night.

Flying Over the Ocean: acrylic on up-cycled wood

I’m still in love with it since I did it last night, and because it reminded me that my favorite kind of art to do is to see what the grain and knots in the wood want to be.

More on nuts: Being a vegetarian (mostly) nuts are a big part of my diet. I do love them and have walnuts every morning in my oatmeal. Thank God I’m not allergic to nuts. A good smoothie to make is just banana, peanut butter, and almond milk. Sometimes I add oatmeal or some other fruit. My son makes tacos with a blending of walnuts and broccoli as the filler/meat substitute. It’s really rather good. Rather. That’s an odd word to use.

I’d rather be a nut than a mean person. A funny nut is much more fun to be around than a sane meanie.  Now I’m just rambling along the stream of consciousness. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. I would not be at all surprised if John at The Sound of One Hand Typing shares that commercial for Almond Joy and Mounds. But just in case he doesn’t, here it is.

Nope. I’m going to be honest. I just spent at least ten minutes looking for a commercial I liked and didn’t find one. That was way too much planning and editing for SoCS. So, I’ll share my favorite funny commercial which IS about nuts. I don’t like violence, but I have this other side to me, like we all do… that got tickled by this commercial which came out when I was still single. Whatever that means.

…

Sorry I haven’t been around much. Will catch up soon!  Maybe that extra hour will help as we “fall back.”

…

For more nutty streams of consciousness, visit Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/11/01/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-2-19/

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!

 

 

The Fairies Made Me Write This, and I’m Not Sorry.

Today’s Stream of Consciousness post is: “picture.” Write about, or theme your post on the first picture you see when you sit down to start writing. You don’t need to describe the picture necessarily–you can even put yourself in it if you’re not already there. Enjoy!

This is the dominant picture, the one I see first in my bedroom . That’s where I usually write my Saturday SOC posts – the night before Saturday because I’m a night owl, not a morning person.

I painted this picture in high school, copying a photo from National Geographic. Is that legal? Oh, well. But when I painted it way back then in the 70s, it did not have the white flowing over into the foreground. That was not in the photo.

Several years ago, no, many years ago, I think it was an ex boyfriend, who said the painting had too much dark at the bottom. Well, that’s what the photo was like, #*@x …..  Then a few years later, I decided to add the white. Not because I cared what he thought, but because it was fun. What did I add? I don’t know, but they are something like fairies – unidentified floating objects flowing from the mountain mist.

I like adding on to paintings years later when it feels right. It reminds me that we can add to our lives. Add layers, add magic. The painting might seem finished, but life is not finished. Not yet. Maybe when my life, this life, is finished, I’ll go to that place overlooking the misty mountains and dance with the fairies. I’ll stand at the edge and laugh. Then I’ll leap into the air and soar across the opening into the next great adventure!

Until then, there’s plenty of adventure still to be discovered, right here… or out there….

I have a busy day ahead. Wish me luck! 😉

Wait a minute. (I can’t edit, but I can add.) I don’t have to wait until this life is finished to dance with the mountain fairies. Or my backyard fairies. It’s getting late. I must dance soon.

For more adventures in the Stream of Consciousness, visit:

https://lindaghill.com/2018/03/23/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-march-24-18/

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. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on 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 simply a single word to get your 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 everyone’s! 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 right 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!

Love Beyond Time

As I paint the energy circles

Floating down, down, down

From the point of re-connection

To the point of separation

It hits me

Like an angel wing

Upside the head.

I’m going back, back, back

In time

With each brush stroke

To plant a seed of hope,

To tell myself at 16,

It’s going to be okay.

You’ll see.

And if I go down (and back)

Just beyond a decade,

And travel sideways,

To the me who was floored

By unfathomable divorce,

I can send the message again,

It’s going to be okay.

Better than okay.

You’ll see!

Trust the Timing.

…

I started this painting about four years ago. It was supposed to be for the cover of my book. But I didn’t like it. Imagine the painting without the angels and without the energy circles. That’s when I put it aside.

It wasn’t until this month of February that I came back to it and added the angels and the energy circles. As I was painting the circles descending from the top of the heart (the point where my high school sweetheart found me again in 2011) down to the V where the two trees separate (where my high school sweetheart moved away in 1972) that’s when it hit me that I could send this message of hope back in time. Maybe not so much in words, but in whatever way these things happen. Maybe even as I was painting the circles.

As I write this now, I know it sounds weird. But when I was in the painting zone, it was crystal clear.

…

You can enter my Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win a Kindle version of Trust the Timing by clicking here.

Flowing with Synchronicity

Obstructed for years,

Creative juices now flow

Finding their way home.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked if my husband and I wanted some of the left over wood from the construction of her new house. She wondered they could sell it at the thrift store my husband manages. We loaded his truck with scrap wood of various shapes and sizes. With my friend’s blessing, I saved the pieces that wanted me to paint on them. I like to use the knots in the wood as faces or halos and to look for wings and things in the grain.

Close up of an angel I painted a few years ago.

The following week, I had just left the local bookstore in a shopping village downtown, when I was drawn into a new store that only sells locally made arts and crafts. Entering this store for the first time, I felt good vibes. Much of the art hanging on soft yellow walls was painted on or cut out of wood. I showed the manager photos of my art from my phone. We scheduled a time to bring in my work to show the owner.

Then, on that same morning, I went to a yoga class I had not been to in two weeks. After the class, my book came up in conversation with one the studio owners who happened to be there. She asked me to do a book signing there this summer, maybe along with a workshop.

The next week, I met with the owner of the local art store. She  liked my work and agreed to hang it. I just needed to set prices – not an easy task.

This morning, I dropped off 24 pieces of my art ready to find new homes. It was like sending little pieces of me out into the world – uncomfortable, yet exciting. It helps to remind myself that they weren’t doing anybody any good collecting dust in my spare bedroom studio.

I call her Umbrella Angel

Now, I seem to be finding all kinds of things to paint on at the thrift store – wooden trays, boxes, and wood cut outs to be re-purposed into “canvas.”

All of these opportunities are things I did not consciously plan. They were not on my list of strategies to build my creative new life.

Yet, at the end of last year, I made the decision to quit my long time counseling career to focus on art and writing full time.

I believe the universe is conspiring, as commissioned by God, to work on my behalf. At the same time, I’m going with the flow: walking into that gallery I had not planned to go to, going to the yoga class on that particular day and time….

(It’s the same flow my high school sweetheart was going with when he found me 39 years later.)

Sometimes these things take a while. I loved art and writing as a teenager, but chose a different career path. Now, at the age of 61, I’m finally coming back home to my art.

 

“The Gift,” which I painted on an old wooden box top two years ago, has been waiting patiently.

If it can happen to me, it  can happen to everyone.

Never

give

up

on

your

dreams!

Angel Signs in a Brick (Or Am I Just Seeing Things?)

It started with this brick.

My mission was to paint an angel on the brick to be added to the legacy walkway at the Forest of Dreams. Knowing that I sometimes see angels in wood, trees, and clouds, I peered at the brick for angel signs. Over the next hour, all kinds of things emerged in the brick. I penciled in the wings of the head angel and started a sketch of what I saw. It was an emotional experience bordering on mania. I have a reputation for calmness, so my mania could be another person’s normal. Who knows? But when I get in a drawing or painting zone, it feels kinda manic to me. I often talk to myself in this zone. When I was almost finished with the sketch, I started crying. I’m not entirely sure why, but it has to do with beginning to understand what was happening, even though I’m not sure what was happening.  But I can tell you that working on this project definitely had a supernatural feel to it.

When I do this kind of work, it doesn’t matter that the house needs painting, or that I “need” a new kitchen floor, or that my house is cluttered, or that parts of the bathroom floor feel slightly soft when I step on them. When I am lost in this process of discovery with art, it doesn’t matter that gravity is slowly drawing my body parts closer to the earth and that my thighs are lumpy. When I’m in the zone, none of this matters. As long as I can keep my vision and hold a pencil or a paintbrush for another 20 or 30 years, I’m happy.

The image in the brick was too complicated for the purpose of the legacy walkway, so once I got the sketch done, I painted this angel on the brick.

 

A few weeks later, motivated by the local Silver Arts competition (part of Senior Games – omg that must mean I’m a senior), I started the painting. It’s not unusual for me to feel tired after a couple of hours in the zone. While painting the images from the brick, I felt more than tired. I had a lot of trouble with the faces, but I kept at it. Waves of exhaustion and subtle nausea passed through me. Maybe it was just low blood sugar. The first time I noticed this, I grabbed a snack, drank some water and kept painting. A little while later, even drinking water and listening to James Taylor didn’t help anymore, so I stopped for the day. The next day, the painting started to come together, and I was on top of the world. Good to remember how those feelings can change.

 I wonder about the energy of the creative process. Have other artists experienced unusual exhaustion or surprising emotion while or after doing creative work?

Of course, the finished painting wasn’t exactly like the sketch. It took on a life of it’s own.

“Welcome Home” by JoAnna of the Forest/JoAnne Macco

 

I am so thankful God, the universe, and my husband have made it possible for me to stay home to re-discover my creative soul, work on the passions of my heart, and look for signs of angels.

 

 

 

All (or Nothing) Up in My Head

Linda’s prompt for today’s Stream of Consciousness is “all or nothing.” We get bonus points if we start and end our post with one (or each) of them.

All or nothing thinking is one of my pet peeves. There are so many possibilities between all and nothing. Just like there are so many beautiful colors between black and white.

As a counselor (and a parent) I encouraged people to watch out for words like always and never because they usually mean someone is not thinking accurately. But it does seem like I always have something to do. I guess that’s better than having nothing to do. But it’s nice to have moments of nothing to do but take a nap or watch the sunset.

Here’s one of my gazillion sunset photos.

I’ve had a busy week getting ready for the Silver Arts competition (part of Senior Games) which includes literary, visual, and performing arts categories. I entered a poem and an essay, and I’m finishing one of two paintings I need to turn in on Monday. All this is happening as my book is getting finished up. There was one final glitch in the typsetting. I say final with some eye rolling because I’ve thought I had a my “final” book cover and “final” PDF to upload more than once.

Gah! When it rains is pours.

Today, working on the painting of angels, which I will share with you next week when it’s done, I got keyed up. I feel emotionally tired after painting for a couple of hours. I want to relax more. But I talk to myself while painting, making comments on whether something is working or not. I spent about an hour on two angel faces trying to get them right.

Do any other artists feel emotionally drained after working on a painting? I don’t feel this from writing, unless I’m writing about something emotional. Which sure did happen writing my memoir.

I asked my gynecologist last week if it’s normal to feel mood swings after menopause that feel hormonal. She said it’s normal, but it’s not necessarily hormonal. She said it’s maturation. I think that’s the word she used. She said as we age, our nervous system doesn’t work quite as well as it used to, so some people get more easily frustrated and some, like me, get weepy. But then the next day, or the next hour, I’m fine. Or better than fine! Plus I realize that I have more time to think now that I’m not working that intense job I did for 30 plus years. Sometimes I have too much time to think, too many conversations in my head. It’s better when I talk to the dog.

So today, I used some mindfulness techniques and rode the old Schwinn I bought for $10 at a yard sale. I rode around my neighborhood with the wind in my hair and finding all the hills I didn’t know existed with my 61 year old knees getting a reminder of the old days. It was a good balance after all that painting and being all up in my head. Balance is something I will continue to seek to stay away from the all or nothing.

 

I just had to share my “new” bike (and my old dog)

 

 

Here are the rules for the Saturday Stream of Consciousness Post:

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. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on 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 simply a single word to get your 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 everyone’s! 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 right 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!

We’ll Always Have Projects

 

I project that I will always have a project. A work in progress. I can’t remember a time, though there may have been one, long, long ago, when I was finished with one project and did not have another one waiting in the wings. Having an old house ensures that we will always have projects. Good thing I like to paint. Not scrape and sand the outside of our wooden house, no, that gets old. But I do like to paint.

I painted my bedroom by myself. After I won a free room painting in a raffle, the guy wouldn’t return my calls, and I finally decided, I can paint it myself! It’s light aquamarine.  That project took a while. But it inspired me, over the years, to paint my living room (a tad darker than my blog background) and the other bedroom (light plumb) myself. Come to think of it, I’ve painted every room of my house-except for the kitchen which has paneling, but I did put the economy class vinyl? tiles on the kitchen floor a very long time ago. That’s another project that needs doing.

There have been times when a person was my project, though I don’t like to admit that, because the only person I really need to focus on changing is me. I’ll always be a work in progress, as we all are, but I don’t want to spend a lot of time, or any time really, projecting what I want someone else to change about him or herself. But don’t we all have those thoughts?  Like wishing someone would….

I think I will stop here before I get myself in trouble.

Except that I want to have some fun projects soon. For me, that means art, painting, puttering. I’ve put off doing several painting projects until I get my manuscript off to be formatted. My book has been one of the longest lasting projects of my life, besides my life, and maybe my daughter’s life. But like I said, I should stop now. Because my daughter has her own life. Yep. I’m done. Getting her through high school was a project. Now I’m done.

Ha! Not really.

I wonder if I’ll have projects after I’m dead. I hope I get to choose. Which reminds me that I am SOOOOO thankful to have time to work on the projects of my choosing, now.

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt, “project,” is brought to us by Linda G. Hill.

I’m not linking back to her prompt post today because….well, I broke the rules. I edited a wee bit. Then I edited a wee bit more. So this post is mostly Stream of Consciousness, with a little editing.  Yep. Now I’m a rule breaker. It’s because I retired from my 30 year job as a substance abuse counselor. I was always so compliant! Now all hell’s gonna to break loose. Nah. Not really. I’ll follow the rules next week. I promise. But I did follow rule #8.

Please visit Linda’s blog, and enjoy the many streams of consciousness at

https://lindaghill.com/

Here are the rules for SoCS:

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. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on 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 simply a single word to get your 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 everyone’s! 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 right 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!