IWSG September Disappointed

IWSG

So, yes, late again, and, to boot, disappointed in myself. Not only because of being late, but because I can't seem to find the rhythm I had writing before we left. Not. One. Word. And, the feeling/question I have is, what is my purpose? All my life I have had a purpose. I've heard this is what happens when one reaches a certain age, so maybe I'm right on schedule. I feel so unmotivated, and yet, when I ask myself do I want to stop writing all together, my body seizes up and my eyes bug out. So visceral a feeling of "Oh No!"

How do I make peace with myself about this? Both my husband and I are feeling the after vacation blues and wondering what do we do now? It's not like we don't have things to do! We do. Just... something is missing. 

I will leave it there and move on to more important matters like IWSG co-hosts and visiting and... and I don't know what else, yet. Whew.

Beth Camp, Jean Davis Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando!

Please visit them and thank them for helping out this month!

I won't be answering this month's question. Instead I wrote the above questions and will endeavor to answer them at least by next month, I hope... 

August IWSG & Home

 

IWSG

Happy hot August, yuck. After spending 6 weeks down under where it is winter, and a mild one at that, coming home to dry heat and dry air conditioning is taking time to adjust to. Also being jet lagged doesn’t help! However, it is nice to be home and sleeping in my own bed. I had hoped to have the energy to write my post yesterday but sleep deprivation will change the best laid plans. And I’m writing on my iPad because my son stole my mouse so my desk top is unavailable till too late! This won’t be a long post.

I didn’t have any time to write while away; never had such a busy vacation before, so once my head is cleared (and I have my mouse back!) I will be hitting the keys with gusto because I’m eager to re-orientate to my Celtic world…

I hope your summer is going well. 

The question (s) this month are:

Do you use AI in your writing and if so how? Do you use it for your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?

No I don’t at this time. I might change my mind, but for now I just use MI (My Intelligence!)

The wonderful co-hosts for august are…

….the iPad is not letting me cut and paste right now…grrrr

So, please go to the IWSG website and look up, Featherstone, Kim Lajevardi, Dièdre Knight, CJ McKenzie, and Sarah-The Faux Fountain Pen! Please thank them for co-hosting!!! 

Hope you enjoy a few photos from the trip!

July IWSG

 

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Good day to you all! Sorry to those of you who got to this post before I did! I am on the other side of the world and in my traveling forgot what day it was! I beg pardon.

I am back in a country that I first went to exactly 50 years ago. New Zealand. Long before LOTR made it a “destination”, it has been a place I hold dear in my heart, not only because it’s a beautiful country to be in, but because it is also where I began to become who I am. When you are 14 years old and go to the other side of the planet far from anyone you know (except for literally one person, and even that was not a close relationship  at the time), it changes everything. I wrote in my journal here. I discovered a new friend that is still my friend now, and I grew out of myself, which is a feat when you’re only 14, to discover a love of travel and counting on myself to make it through fear and not always being in control. 

This place is precious to me. It gave me back a true appreciation of my parents and of family, and that chosen family comes in many forms, if one is lucky. So here’s a toast to the challenges life gives us and how we learn to deal with those challenges. Here’s to writing those memories down, to being grateful that we wrote and can go back to re-meet that younger, more innocent/naive, and brave person we used to be. 

Below are the lovely co-hosts this month for the IWSG! Please go by and thank them for being there for us this July!

Doing this on my iPad is making it a bit difficult to post properly, sorry! At least I got it all here! 

https://www.rebecca-douglass.com/

https://i-love-space.com/

http://www.patgarciaandeverythingmustchange.com/

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com/

http://www.literaryrambles.com/

(Also, for the question of the month, which is about what writing  software you use, I use word. Tried Scrivner but guess the learning curve was more than I wanted to invest in. With word I can just write and not worry about anything but putting the words down.)

Here are some photos of this beautiful island…

My June Bug

IMPORTANT (TO ME) JUNE BIRTHDAY

June is the month of my daughter's birth. She, of course, changed my life with her entrance into the world, as did my son. I love them both so very much; I'm so happy to have had the chance to be a mother, to them, and to my other son, my "step-son". How did that come about? One "step" away? Perhaps. All I know is the heart loves who it loves, and my heart is filled with these three. 

My daughter is, for me, more than a child of mine. She is always teaching me to reach for new levels in not only being a mother, but becoming a friend. As a parent, friendship is difficult to cultivate with your child because it's hard not to see all the stages of their lives and judge accordingly. Yet, this year especially, I have learned that I can move into a friendship with my daughter that doesn't take the place of being her mother, but allows us to move into a new place of trust and acknowledgement of her as an adult and me being less judgy. I started going to a therapist in my role as a mother of adult children, to help in this transition because I love my kids so very much and realized I was having a hard time moving beyond being their mother. It isn't that they don't "need" me anymore that way. It's more about learning that I am more than a mother to them and to myself. I want to "be" in their lives, but don't need it the way I thought I did. Basing my worth on them and how they "turned out." I like when they want to call me, or see me. Yet my whole being is not based solely on them and their existence and what they do or don't do. Taking a step away and seeing them as separate from myself has been scary, and healing, and exciting. Old dogs can learn new tricks! 

Happy birthday my lovely young woman. I literally love all of you!

My lovely one and all of her selves! 

JUNE! Already! IWSG Posting

 

IWSG WEBSITE

I am happy! Amidst preparing for travel, amidst life and it's good and bad challenges, I have made time to write! I'm coming back into it gently, trying not to judge and enjoy the feeling of what I have inside me and on "paper". Whew, I am thankful for finding again a love of the story. Writing is not an easy trek and can be so incredibly frustrating. Yet the high when the writing comes is like nectar, making the drinker want to taste more. So this post will be short because I want to go write other things. I just wanted to share this with those who understand. Sometimes something happens and something clicks and a burden is lifted. This happened to me. Thank you H.C. for being that something.

Courtesy of BBC

The awesome co-hosts for the June 5 posting of the IWSG are 

Liza at Middle Passages, Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove, and Olga Godim!

PLEASE GO VISIT AND THANK THEM FOR CO-HOSTING THIS MONTH!