Catch Up With A Mate

Word prompt: Perseverance

Dot looked out at the audience sitting crossed legged before her.

It was Grandparent day, and she had been invited to her grandson’s classroom to give insight into how to live a happy and long life.

It was question time and a rosy-cheeked girl in the front row had asked ‘ Is living to the age of 96 to do with perseverance?’

Dot smiled ‘ Oh know my dear, it is a lot harder than that!’

‘ The secret to living a long and happy life is a mixture of three ingredients….good luck, good genes and most importantly a positive outlook, I live each day to the full, as if it were my last!’

Word prompt: Scarlet

As she entered the room she felt the sudden weight of all eyes on her, the long stares….then the whispers started.

She made her way to the back of the hall and took a seat…this was going to be one very long neighbourhood meeting.

‘ It’s as if she lives up there in the clouds, unaware of the damage she had caused that family’

Overhearing this she smiled and bit her tongue, resisting the urge to yell in the direction of those gossiping ‘ You know it takes two to tango! ‘

And yes, she thought to herself, she did live with her head in the clouds, it was far more pleasant than residing in a town where her name had been dragged through the mud.

She had always admired the framed photo of her Grandmother on the mantel piece.

Her Grandmother, the epitome of the 1950’s women…her hair set in curls, make up that made her eyes sparkle and that captivating smile ,that to this day, continued to lure people in when they laid eyes on the picture.

Her Grandmother had  passed away when she was a little girl, and her Mother had made sure that her memory was not forgotten.

Grandma’s father had been a drunk, and she had gone on to marry a man who loved the drink more than her. She bore him 8 children, set the dinner table for him every night…more often that not, his meals went cold.

And throughout the 37 years of marriage, she always wore a painted smile.

My 5 sentence contribution using the word prompt : Pirates

Some-one/ something had hijacked her life.

Every night she had the same re-occurring dream…that she was being forced to walk the plank, sword poking into her back, leaving her with no alternative but to jump overboard.

In the unknown, the abyss

She would wake in fright just at the point were her body was about to hit the ground, sit bolt upright in bed, throwing the sheets aside, heart pounding, heavy breathing, sweating

She would remain awake till daylight, it brought a temporary relief…come nightfall, and with it sleep, the cycle would start all over again.

On the weekend I  attended a conference on blog writing: NaffNang Blogopolis.

It was both informative and inspiring.

It was also overwhelming…leaving me with a sense of urgency…to write better posts, to overhaul the design of my blog, create a better header for my blog, increase the ‘traffic’ flow to my blog…

It is my nature is to rush, to be hasty and bring about change quickly

Not to self: ‘Rome was not built in a day’

Sitting still with a sense of urgency is hard

It has made me realise that whilst design, ‘traffic flow’, graphics and photography are all important elements to any blog, the true joy of my blog writing journey so far is that it has enabled me to find MY VOICE

Since late 2009 I have been making conscious effort to be more engaged, more vocal, more present in this thing called LIFE….The weekend’s conference made me realise that my blog has played a vital role.

For in every post MY VOICE is present.

The conference made me realise just how far I had come.

Let me tell a story….

In October, 2009, I took a 5 week European vacation…

It was a magical time…a much longed for holiday….Time spent in France, Germany, Scotland, with England being my final stop.

I was blissfully unaware, that on my return to Australia, I would hit the ground with a thud. I would come crashing down, feel disconnected from the life I had left behind, disconnected from friends, family and myself.

There is always a period of adjustment after any holiday…it is common to suffer’ post holiday blues’….But this was different.

The feelings I felt were overwhelming, and the more I wished them gone, the more prevalent they became.

Depression set in….all too familiar…but this time I wanted to face it head on….understand it, challenge it, question its presence in my life….For the first time, I wanted to take control.

I had taken myself of the treadmill that is daily life, taken time out, and the result was that when it came home, and was forced to put on my running shoes again, I no longer wanted to  run the same race….

It was during this holiday that I became fixated on the song by Beyonce ‘ Halo’…I listened to it on high rotation because I liked it.

I listen to it today, 3 years later, with a new appreciation and awareness, the girl Beyonce sings about is me, a song about a girl finally ready to acknowledge and accept the power of her voice, for it to have a presence her relationships, her workplace, and perhaps, most importantly, her writing.

Halo (Beyoncé)Photo credit:Wikipedia)

Remember those walls I built

Well baby they are tumbling down

They didn’t even put up a fight

They didn’t even make a sound

I found a way to let you in

But I never really had a doubt

Standing in the light of your halo

I’ve got my angel now

Its like I’ve been awakened

Every rule I had you breaking

It’s the risk that I’m taking

I ain’t never gonna shut you out

Related Posts:  Mixed Gems : Voice, Darren Percival and Blogging

Word prompt: Harvest

‘ You reap what you sow’  came her Mother’s voice down the phone line, self-righteous and all-knowing

Heather shuddered…Her Mother always had a way of making her feel small.

In the Spring, she had planted two strawberries plants in pots on her inner city verandah, providing her with a grand total of three summer berries.

‘ You reap what you sow’ had been her mother’s cold remark to her disappointment.

Upon hearing that for a second time, Heather had hung up the phone, taken the three berries into her hands and squeezed tight…fruit pulp oozing from her hands and onto her clothes. She was certain it would stain.