Sunday 23 April 2017

Live in Balance: On finishing what I started

Last night I scrolled through my unpublished writing projects. And there are many of them. I got disheartened when I saw how many of them are still unfinished first drafts. Some may never be finished. I only let a story go if I don't like it anymore.
I have, however, several first drafts that are finished. They need editing, for sure, but the story is done. So why did I feel so negative when I saw the list of files of projects not yet done? Time seems to be the answer. I explore a little of the history of time in tomorrow's post, in the A to Z Challenge.
Time, yes, the one limited resource over which we have no control. But we can control how we spend it, yes? When I read about an English Premier League soccer player who died last week at the age of 44, I felt sad even though I have never met the man. He was so incredibly young. I am in no position to judge how he lived his life, but it again made me think about the way I am spending my limited resource. Am I using all of it without regret and waste?
We will explore the Value of life (and time) in this last week of the A to Z Challenge. And I have to say that through my research into exploring Happiness through Journal Writing, maybe it is time for a change in direction in my own journey to happiness.
I hope you have enjoyed exploring journal writing on this journey of Happiness with me this month.
Next month I will be back to my usual posting schedule (once or twice a week) and I look forward to your company then.
Until next time!

Linzé

The A-to-Z Challenge letters for the coming week are as follows:
Monday: Letter T…for Time
Tuesday: Letter U…for Unique
Wednesday: Letter V…for Value
Thursday: Letter W…for Weapon
Friday: Letter X…for Cross Out
Saturday: Letter Y…for You (art prompt)
Sunday: Letter Z...for Zero

If you missed any of the previous letters, here is a quick recap (just click the letter!)
A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I        K    L    M
N   O    P    Q    R    S

Saturday 22 April 2017

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - S is for...

Share what you learn
Yesterday, Friday, I had a migraine and didn't get to do everything that I wanted to. Since I am on leave, my todo list is flexible, but I also have a few things that I want to do. The migraine put me in bed for a few unplanned hours. While the pain wasn't so bad this time, I usually try not to think too hard. So I let my mind drift in whatever directions it wanted to go without pausing to explore any thought that might occur.
Until I fell asleep, thankfully, I realised that I have been reading a lot of non-fiction books recently. It is not unusual to do that when doing research for a new book or blog series, but somehow my research turned into more - I was reading for me.
quoted text, Negotiating the Maze, author Linzé Brandon, non-fiction, writer's life

Why read non-fiction in the first place
In my book, Negotiating the Maze, there is a section on reading and reviewing books, and how doing that for fiction differs from reading and reviewing non-fiction books.
What struck me in particular, was the way the recent books made me think. After almost every chapter, sometimes even after reading a paragraph, I had to put the book down and think about what I had read.
Often there was a Wow! moment, or even a hmm moment. These books have affected my thinking in some way. Changing one's thoughts could change one's way of life. It might have been the intention of the author, but unless I let it change me in some way, I might as well not have read the book at all.
Of course, this is not the case for all non-fiction books. But it again comes back to the intention of reading the book. Although I think some books are meant to change your life, no matter what your intentions were for reading them in the first place.
Share the surprise
Have you read a book that impacted your life although you did not plan it that way?

Friday 21 April 2017

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - R is for...

Rambling roses
You have a date with your journal, and you really love the time you spent writing down your thoughts, but you have no idea where to start. Happens to all of us. Novice or experienced journal writers.
image, desk sized fish tank
You have a peek at a daily prompt or pick a letter from this blog, but there is nothing that speaks to you. Is there any advice to help? Yes, there is.
Think shallow to dig deep
Sometimes we know what we need to ponder, but it is difficult to get going. So the approach not difficult to manoeuvre, you start by using the simplest writing technique known to man: word association.
Take a dictionary (book works better, but some online dictionaries will give you a random word) open it and use the first word you see. Write it down. If you don't know the word, learn the meaning and make a sentence with it. Write down the next thing that comes to mind. And the next thing. You can write a sentence about the word that pops up, or just jump to something new.
Keep on doing this for a few minutes or until the words you need to write flows out of your pen.
If nothing happens, relax, ramble some more, but don't force yourself. Your mind may need a little time to process the thing you need to ponder, but until then, pick a word.
Ramble on dear friend
When I need to ramble, revive, repress, rhyme or ring, I pick an object on my desk and whine about needing to put it away, or clean it, or replace it. My favourite is the small fish tank that I bought a while back. There are no fish but I love the sound of the water while I am writing or reading. You can also pick from 6 prerecorded sounds of nature, but I just love to hear the sound of the water.
It can be powered by a USB port. This is a feature I like because I can plug it into my backup battery pack, and use the bright 6 LED light when the power is down.
See? Rambling already and about an empty fish tank.

Today's prompt is to get you going when you feel that words fail you. What other tricks do you use to get going on your journal entry?


Thursday 20 April 2017

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - Q is for...

My favourite Quote
Don't you just love words starting with Q? In English there are quite a number, but in Afrikaans, my home language, words starting with Q are rare indeed.
But when it came to the challenge this time, there was no doubt that my Letter Q would be for Quote. So here is my all time favourite quote:
quote, Epictetus

 
I have it printed in large font and stuck up on the cupboard door in my office facing me. All I have to do is look up and over my computer screen and there it is. My inspiration, if you like. The essence of what I feel I could become: dream plus action equals goal...in sixteen words.

What is your all time favourite quote?

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Live in Balance: A to Z Challenge - P is for...

Physical challenges

Do you set physical goals for yourself? If you take part in competitions I am sure you do, but what if you have no interest in competitive sports? Or at least not want to take part at a competitive level, what do you do to keep moving?

quote, Epictetus

To journal or not to journal

It is easy (relatively speaking) to use your journal for issues related to emotional issues and challenges. But setting yourself physical challenges, with your journal, can be a challenge in itself.
So what do we mean by physical challenges? Losing weight? Sure. Doing something creative? Always. But what about a sport-type of activity, such as t'ai chi? Um...yes?
I think you can do anything you want to apply your journal too. Because it is about a journey of life experiences to find your happiness.
You might need a calendar for taking part, or learning a new activity, when you are taking classes or join a club. But your journal can be there too...

It is a journey after all

Not there yet, door tag, inspiration, quote
Why do you want to learn Spanish? Or take up painting? Or master t'ai chi Sun Style? Something drove you to make that choice in the first place. Whether you were bored, or wanted to challenge yourself, you made a choice to step out of your comfort zone.
That choice places you on a new path in your life experiences. And your journal is the companion you need to take with you on that journey.
Your feelings will range from excitement at doing something new, to frustration at not learning fast enough, or self-doubt at choosing something that seems to be beyond your capabilities. But persistence is the key and noting your development in your journal will be the guide to the achievement of the goal.
We live in a world of instant-gratification. We want everything now; it is the same with new skills or challenging goals. But achievers are not people who give up, they are people who persisted until they have mastered the goals they set for themselves.

When you go back to the read the start of your journey, you will see how much you have grown in your happiness experiences and will feel more motivated with your next goal.

Theme reveal: My A-to-Z blog challenge 2024

  It's been a while since I have taken part in the blog challenge. The problem is always coming up with new ideas so it isn't boring...