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blogging101, Creative Writing, Journaling, Poetry, Reflections, Uncategorized, Writing 101, Writing Prompts
Do you ever wonder why you choose one word over another? Is it sort of like heading out to go into town and having to decide which route would be the busiest for that time of day? Or is there something more personal about words?
The Daily Post prompt for today is Voyage, and when I saw it, it struck me as strange that I chose to build this blog around the theme of SPELUNKING rather than VOYAGING.
Some facts:
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— I love ships, especially clipper ships. They’re so romantic and free.
— I dislike caves as they’re confining. They’re damp and stinky.
— You can go places on a ship.
— A cave will usually lead you to nowhere but a dead end.
— On a ship you can feel the wind blowing in your face. There’s fresh air to breathe.
— In a cave the air is probably pretty stagnant unless you have direct ventilation.
— Lots of people can congregate on a ship.
— How many of your friends would WANT to sit with you in cave?
Well, you get my point. There’s a BIG difference. Just sayin’. So I’m wondering why I chose to spend my days in a cave… I just signed up for the Intermediate Customization course at Blogging U (which is giving me fits because my blog options don’t work the way the course says they should). It urges you to think about redoing your theme. It has me wondering now if it’s time to come out of that cave and take off on a voyage.
But truth be told, I guess whichever theme I choose, it’s all about the journey, eh? Besides, I am so TOTALLY smitten with the picture in my header. I wish I could just step into that picture and keep going on that trail. Maybe it leads to a harbor with lots of ships where I could stow away for the next leg of my adventure!. 😀
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Picture a Journey
(reposted from 4/26/15)
Sometimes I come to this blog page
and stare, mesmerized, at the header.
That soft light there over the rise
beckons me to come hither
into the picture, into a journey.
Is it just the sun shining down
through the leafy parasol of
trees whose trunks have grown
tall and thin and bare from their inability
to permeate, penetrate that
dainty, dense, divine canopy?
Or is there something ethereal,
celestial that’s calling my heart
to that age-old quest for adventure,
for self-discovery, a perpetual longing?
It matters not whatever it be
for I’m grounded in THIS reality
where quests and pilgrimages
are for dreamers and flights of fancy,
not for those who are struggling
just to get by another day.
So here I sit staring into a world
that calls my name in vain
able only to close my eyes
and imagine the smell of mold
beneath the fallen leaves
crunching under my boots
as I begin my journey,
the biting taste of autumn
adding a sense of urgency
to my footsteps on the
well-worn, dusty trail.
And just there over my shoulder
I can hear the wise counsel of a
familiar voice calling through the woods:
“It’s a dangerous business,
Calen, going out your door.
You step onto the road,
and if you don’t keep your feet,
there’s no knowing where
you might be swept off to.”*
That’s when I open my eyes
and the picture is just a picture,
and the golden glow I see
is just the lamp on the
table across the room.
But there are times I wonder
if I’d ever be brave enough
to step into that intriguing scene
onto that unknown, inviting path
and just keep going,
never to look back…
*Bilbo Baggins, Fellowship of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
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Picture Credit: www.artbrokerage.com
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Soul Gifts said:
You’re in both places, it seems to me. Just not at the same time 🙂 Depends what you’re doing… how you finding doing the self directed Blogging uni ? I tried a couple, but I found it too hard to discipline myself to go through the exercises without the back up of those connections. Haven’t made it to The Commons. Will have to give it another shot when I’m feeling ready.
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calensariel said:
Both places at the same time… Would that be because I’m a Gemini? 🙂 I unsubscribed to that class. Not because I wasn’t able to keep at it, but because my theme doesn’t work like they said it should. I got tired of messing around with it. It was too frustrating for me. Besides, I decided I wouldn’t change anything anyway.
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Soul Gifts said:
Gemini? Well, that makes sense 🙂 I’m pretty happy with mine too, but probably a few tweaks I should get around to. I’ve copied all the posts for the courses so can do it at leisure. I get leery of changing stuff in case I mess it up !!
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Fimnora Westcaw said:
Voyage or Cave; why not both? A voyage into a cave? Of course, having been sharing your journey this past year in the Sandbox Writing Challenge, could have shed some light on the course through and perhaps out of your cave? And, of course, there’s the Voyage you’ll be taking as you traverse the ‘pond’ between our continent and that of your dream of finding your way to the place in your Celtic Heart.
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calensariel said:
Voyage into a cave… You mean like “It’s a Small World” at Disneyland? 😀
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Fimnora Westcaw said:
I’ve never been to Disneyland, but I may be thinking of something from Harry Potter. Though I was thinking there might have been something in LOTR, though now that I think about it, that was a walk through Moria… not the same.
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calensariel said:
Um… I’d rather not take THAT shore excursion, thank you very much! LOL
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janebasilblog said:
Your comment about circles got me thinking about how life relies on circles. The seasons go around, and everything happens in its own time. As I write this I’m eating an unripe peach. Was it picked to soon? Did I eat it too soon? Or was my timing perfect, giving me the inspiration for this comment? Or, is it just a lesson, reminding me to check the ripeness of fruit before I eat it – it was only a little unripe, quite pleasant but not perfect.
Maybe your explorations are no more than research, or holidays if you like, and you follow your circle because that’s where your security lies.
Just a thought…
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calensariel said:
Interesting to think of security in those terms. I’ll have to do some pondering on that…
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janebasilblog said:
Calen, I’ve noticed your posts tend to carry me along unexplored pathways, inspiring original thoughts…
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calensariel said:
Don’t drown out there on those seas if you follow me!!!
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S. Thomas Summers said:
“If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way?”
― Emily Dickinson, Selected Letters
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calensariel said:
Interesting that she refers to poetry as making her cold. I have just the opposite response. It makes me feel like I’ve crawled into a warm sleeping bag when it’s cold outside. It’s fascinating how poetry affects people so differently.
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S. Thomas Summers said:
“Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” -Edgar Allan Poe
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calensariel said:
Ah! Why would Poe assume the realization of the REALITY of the words causes horror? Or is that just an out-dated word choice on his part? Hm…
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Walking My Path: Mindful Wanderings in Nature said:
I love your header too. I would usually choose the open sea rather than a cave, but sometimes I need a dark, drippy cave like being inside the Mother. Mostly the sea, though. Love Bilbo Baggins.
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calensariel said:
I think the forest must be the intermediate step for me. My soul has felt safe and nurtured in the cave, and it longs for the open waters of the sea, but the forest is a place of dual existence for me — the roots of the trees for grounding, the height and leaves for soaring. Perhaps my probably is I’m really STUCK in this place? Thank you, Mary for that wonderful comment. It really gave me something to latch on to.
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Walking My Path: Mindful Wanderings in Nature said:
Being grounded in the roots of trees, and soaring in the leaves and heights doesn’t sound like being stuck to me. But, like you said, it’s the journey.
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calensariel said:
Wondering if it just means I’m going in circles?
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platosgroove said:
That is a powerful observation sugar. It came in its time. A seed at some point breaks open to seek the sun. It’s form my change but it remains itself throughout. I like the idea of you in the open.
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calensariel said:
Yeah, I guess it’s springtime now eh? Well, as long as I can keep my forest picture I’m game. 🙂 😉
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platosgroove said:
You are grown woman. Do it as you will 🙂
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