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blogging101, Creative Writing, Journaling, Memories & Reflections, Plato's Groove, Poetry, Quotes, Writing 101, Writing Prompts
Today’s assignment for Writing 101 was yet another struggle for me. But in lieu of not being able to connect with the prompt, they were kind enough to provide an alternative: If you have trouble finding ideas this way, think about the things we leave behind. Tell us about a time you’ve left an object, place, person, or even an idea behind — and had to move on.
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This morning I reblogged a beautiful, poignant poem, September 23rd, by Plato at Plato’s Groove. It made me feel very emotional. September 23rd was the autumnal equinox this year. Autumn is MY season. Always has been. Apart from all the wonderful celebrations and smells and sounds that reclaim my memories from the past, harvest time speaks to my heart about drawing family together to stand united against the winter that is coming (not to sound like Game of Thrones or anything!), to prevail over the cold, barren land and emerge in the spring to that new birth. In medieval times villages practiced a custom that was very much symbolic of that thought.
Samhain (pronounced SAH-win) is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the “darker half” of the year. Traditionally, Samhain is celebrated from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st. The festival falls approximately halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals. In the 9th century, the Roman Catholic Church shifted the date of All Saints’ Day to November 1st, while the 2nd later became All Souls’ Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints’/All Souls’ merged to create the modern Halloween.
One of the customs of the Samhain festival was having a big bonfire in the village made from bits of materials from every village home. The people would then douse their hearth fires, and each family would solemnly re-light its hearth from the communal bonfire, thus bonding the families of the village symbolically saying they would stand together against the darkness for another season.
In the past autumn has always held that kind of hope for me, the vision of that coming rebirth. I reveled in the piles of burning leaves, the cooler weather, hayrides, wiener and marshmallow roasts in the woods. In fact, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because that’s when families get together sans presents as incentive to be with one another. (I suspect that’s when a lot of us put on an extra layer of fat, harkening back to our caveman days, to help survive the winter! 😀 ) But this past week something happened for me that extinguished a hope I’d held onto for years and years. A hope that also carried me through the winter times in my life as I waited to see if the new year would bring some much-needed change. And I’ve finally realized that my hope has been in vain.
That’s why Plato’s poem was so poignant this morning.
Smothered Soul surges from the depths desperate to break the surface /
Moved, broken, and remade in the image of what Ought to be but is now not, Yet /
Joy and Sorrow live together there in that place between the Now and that which is coming /
But that is living. Being alive brings pain and pleasure sometimes at once /
Holding them in tension is living and is the power of creation /
This is the first year of my life that autumn has meant loss for me instead of hope. Now I have to reorient myself and trust that Plato is right and the power of creation is truly at work in my life.
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Writing 101 Day 17
Mine your own material
The physical artifacts of our lives act as our raw material: hardbound journals, photo albums, newspaper clippings, belongings handed down to us. But these days, we also document and live online, so we can treat our blogging platforms and social spaces in the same way.
I like looking for post ideas in these places. I once used phrases from a forgotten draft in my dashboard to create almost-poetry. I’ve searched my social accounts for old Facebook posts and tweets and written blog posts about my social media behavior. I’ve experimented with creative content generators, like Poetweet, which uses your tweets to create poems.
Imagine a shopper searching for vintage items at a flea market, or an artist using recycled materials to build a sculpture. Can you dig through your online treasures and build upon old stories and existing writing? Here are more ideas:
- Take a peek in the drafts section of your dashboard. Can you use unpublished copy in a new way?
- Scroll through your Facebook wall and see if any posts catch your eye. Do you feel the same as when you first posted something? Can you comment on how you’ve evolved?
- Look at the stream of tweets you’ve favorited over time. Why did you favorite a particular tweet? What does your list of favorites say about you?
- If you use the Tag Cloud Widget, scan the terms in your tag cloud. Can you write prose or poetry that uses most of these words?
If you have trouble finding ideas this way, think about the things we leave behind. Tell us about a time you’ve left an object, place, person, or even an idea behind — and had to move on.
Pingback: Farewell (Poem) & A note to a friend in Grief | Plato (Plato’s Groove) | Impromptu Promptlings
platosgroove said:
This was rich my cherished friend. The darkness makes the light so much brighter. So to are your words are more piongient in the backdrop of your soul’s true grief. Our culture has an aversion to darkness with our well lit homes and cities. It seems we move robot like through our celebrations in a most shallow disconected fashion with an occasional tingle that passes for living in our world of artificial light. The experiences which spawned those celebrations were birthed in a world of real darkness and death and fear. Profound issues which meant life or death, survival. My ftiend, I would not wish the darkness away from you or attempt to attificially prop you up at this time as though you were weak and unworthy. But I will sit with you here in this dark place and tell stories and share nourishment and heat. Perhaps your Soul has brought you here to answer the unspoken desire of your heart, to know, to experience the true celebration in all its passion and fear and grief and joy. To join in the dance your heart has always known must exist. You are a true seeker and your search has brought you to this place. It is no mistake or misstep that has led you to this place. It is necessary to know the dark to truely celebrate the light. Plus one can see the stars so much better in the darkness:) Love, honor, and respect are your due. You are my friend and I am yours. Plato.
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calensariel said:
I do thank God for sending you to be a torch in the darkness. It has been a blessing to travel with someone who has already gathered so much wisdom from their own journey. I am not as frightened and hesitant as I was before meeting my modern-day sage. I am ever and always your friend, too… ❤
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platosgroove said:
If its dark we will just sit and look at the stars. No artificial light is required. 🙂
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calensariel said:
Thank you for sharing your fire, your provisions, and, most importantly, your wisdom…
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Middle Aged Rager said:
You sound down. It’s at times like this that one needs to quote Mr. Rogers, one of life’s great sages: “Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else.” Here’s to a new beginning, whatever that may be.
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calensariel said:
Your comment made me smile. I have a copy of The World According to Mr. Rogers — Important Things To Remember on my desk. 🙂 Yes, I see a new beginning in my future. Thanks for your perception. Blessings.
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lafriday said:
I loved your post. Today is the anniversary of an emergency surgery I had exactly one year ago–that saved my life. All endings (and loss) are also a beginning–like the seasons you so beautifully articulated. And I have learned all grieving seasons change too. You make me want to have a Samhain gathering. Autumn is my favorite season as well–and I too always thought of it as a “new year” harkening back to long ago school days. I hope you find the joy and meaning in this most wonderful season again.
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calensariel said:
Well praise be for the surgery that saved your life! I celebrate that anniversary with you. Your comment reminded me of a quote I have written down by Anatole France: All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. Your “new” life is living proof of that. SO glad you stopped by! Blessings!
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lafriday said:
As a “collector” of quotations, I will tuck that one into my treasure box.
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badfish said:
I love that this means something to you. And it’s odd because the passing of seasons, now, means pretty much zilch to me. Well, now, there really are no changing of seasons. My seasons for the last couple decades, of living in deserts, have been Hot and Dang Hot. I used to like season changes, but never thought of them with such passion.
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calensariel said:
Don’t you miss them, Fish? In addition to what I said above about loving autumn, there’s just something in my soul that draws me to that season the same as there’s something in my soul that draws me to Ireland. I don’t KNOW what it is, but I feel it. My soul is old, if there is such a thing. As old as a pirate wench and a druid and maybe older. I also feel like autumn is a time of standing on the edge, on the brink between this life and the next. And Samhain is the night that the veil between this life and the next is the thinnest. I guess you’re right. I AM very passionate about it…
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badfish said:
If I was going to miss a season, it would be Fall. I loved it in Aspen, CO years ago…with all the yellow aspen leaves mixed in with the still evergreens of pines and firs. Not to mention mountains.
I’m sure you are an old soul, if there is such a thing, and I believe their must be.
And scientists have just discovered that you can experience memories of your ancestors from your DNA.
Life is getting to be an even odder place to live!
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calensariel said:
Yes, Aspen is beautiful in the fall because the contrast is so great. Bright gold, dark green. I’m not sure there are many other places like it out west. I had heard about that DNA thing. I read A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle a few years ago. He talks a lot about that. Kind of scary even though it’s interesting. What about families who have a history of violence. Just shoot me now and get it over with! (rolls eyes…)
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badfish said:
Aspen…best 10 years of my life.
Ancestors in your DNA: Luckily, I think my ancestors were lovers, not fighters.
Did you discover your life’s purpose from Tolle’s book? I might need to peruse that thing!
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calensariel said:
LOL If I did, it must not have made much of an impression on me. He had some good things to say. But I already had read so much of it elsewhere. Everyone has the answer to peace on earth, but no one knows how to sell the other billion or so folks on the answer!
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calensariel said:
Oh, and ancestors. Drollery says I’m Irish because I fight hard and I love hard. There’s no in between with me. He might be right!
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calensariel said:
Btw, Fim told me yesterday when we talked about your car accident. I’m so very glad that you’re ok. Blessings on you, friend.
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badfish said:
Thanks. I’m fine, a bruised knee. Bad part: I lost my lovely car that was in pristine shape, like new literally. Good part: I now have a new car with bells and whistles. Bad part: money spent and lost on new purchase! Good part: skylight and awesome sound system.
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calensariel said:
Glad and sad then for ya. Mixed emotions all the way round, eh? We just bought a used car, lots newer than what we had. Only realized a couple days ago the skylight actually rolls all the way back and you just have the open air. That was a shocker! Love it though. Hope you’re enjoying yours. {{{Fish}}}
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badfish said:
I actually wanted a used car (less money) because I’m pretty sure I’ll be leaving here maybe by summer. So I’ll lose money. My skylight rolls back, but there’s so much sand in the air, you don’t want to breathe in that stuff, and much of the year it is sooooo dang hot, so it takes a clear and cool day to get to use it.
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Fimnora Westcaw said:
Did you know that I celebrate three New Years? Samhain is the first – the one my inner self honors. It’s a grand time for communing with our ancestors! A time when the veil is the thinnest between our physical world and the Greater Universe.
The second is the one I learned about from the Gregorian calendar, which the majority of those living on Planet Earth see as the beginning of a year.
The third, well, it’s my birthday, of course! We all have personal New Years. It’s sort of like, but not really like “The Naming of Cats,” because each of us has 3 🙂
I enjoyed your post quite a lot!!! 😀
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calensariel said:
I’m not sure it made sense to anyone…
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jabrush1213 said:
Samhain traditions sound fun. I have enjoyed some of them in the past.
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calensariel said:
Yeah. I had to do some reading up on them for a manuscript I’ve been working on. I LOVE to attend a real one somewhere. Have been to one similar at the Nature Center near our home. It was fun. Hey, thanks for stopping by!
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spiritualdragonfly said:
❤️
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