What’s the secret in your nest?

I have a story to tell you.

About two weeks ago I bought a beautiful, new, red camera. A couple of days later I was outside enjoying the sunny, warm weather with my daughter when she discovered a little nest in a nearby tree. Even by holding her camera/phone above it to take a photo, she wasn’t sure what was in it, maybe a dead bird? We hoped not.

My new digital camera has the handy feature of an adjustable monitor so that I could see my intended subject by angling the monitor down while holding the camera above the nest. This let me see that I had in frame what I wanted, but it wasn’t until we looked at the captured image that we could see what was there.

What do you think we found? Take a look.

Can you see it?

Take a closer look.

Yes, that’s a peanut shell!

Although I would get a kick out of telling you that we found a new and unique way to grow peanuts, I’m sure you wouldn’t believe me anyway. The truth is my dad has a peanut holder hanging on another tree and filled it with roasted peanuts in the shell. Obviously, either a bird – or maybe a squirrel – took its prize to a more private place and released the peanut for his own satisfying snack.

That’s got the be the ultimate in take-out, don’t you think? 🙂

And, those of you who are allergic, please note it is an empty shell.

The way my brain works, I began thinking about this peanut shell hidden in a bird’s nest. But I didn’t just think about how funny that is, but also the uniqueness of it.

Nests … homes … privacy … secrets … keeping ourselves from the world …

Just allow me this far-reaching musing, follow me awhile …

How often do we keep to ourselves the thing we most would like to do for fear of people thinking we are crazy for considering such a thing? Such as .. oh, I don’t know .. skydiving, for example. Or running a marathon, or writing a book, or teaching what we know to people who really want to learn. Why are we so afraid of living our lives to the fullest? Why do we practice singing when no one is there to hear us? Why do we dance but only when we are alone? Why do we write in secret? Why do we hide our stash of peanuts (our talents and giftedness) and enjoy them privately instead of sharing them?

I think it’s fear of rejection, or ridicule, or .. ‘not good enough” mentality.

I believe in order to overcome the fear of what others will think of us, we must first accept ourselves and the way God has gifted us. We must see ourselves honestly and then take that first step. Take a class, or join a club, or offer our abilities where there is a need. Do whatever is necessary to learn, and discover and grow. Now that we are in the age of Internet communities we have tremendous advantages and opportunities to connect in areas once not accessible. We have no excuse anymore.

So, why do we hide? I know that once we step out we’ll find many others who feel the same way, and through our efforts to grow they will be encouraged to crawl out of the nest, too. How do I know? Because I was afraid, someone encouraged me .. and still does .. and I am crawling out of my nest. It’s not so scary after all!

What’s in your nest? What unique gift do you have that you are not letting the world know about yet?

Or, what have you done to take that step and change your life?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

I received the Beautiful Blogger award!

On May 10 I received a lovely surprise from fellow blogger Ruth Schiffmann, the blessing of the Beautiful Blogger award!

That’s really encouraging since I feel that I’m not keeping up my blog very well between going back and forth (if you are following my blog you’ll understand what I’m talking about) and trying to catch up on the books I have here to read and review on my blog and elsewhere, along with .. just keeping up.

Have you ever wondered, as I have … when do I get back to my life? Then I realize .. oh yeah! This IS my life!

Enough whining.

THANK YOU to Ruth for this cyber hug. Please pay her a visit at her blog, Out on a Limb.

I don’t know if I can fulfill the rules for this one, share 7 random things about myself, and then pass the award on to 15 other bloggers – that’s the hard part so I am awarding it to 10 instead.

7 random things about me:

A friend recently called me an internet junkie. I think he may be right. And I see nothing wrong with that as long as I am careful about where I go on the Net, get food and exercise, and don’t totally neglect my responsibilities in ‘real life.’
Blessing others is such a joy (blessing) to me. It’s fun to do things secretly, too.
I’m 5’4.5″ (that’s 5 feet 4 1/2 inches) tall. (never forget that half inch!)
When I was a child my eyes were definitely brown, now they are more hazel.
I would love to have a dog like my beautiful Shasta who died three years ago this month. She was German Shepherd/Husky/Wolf and had such personality. I still miss her so much. But I also would like to adopt a Greyhound. Anyone have one?
I enjoy movies, but not horror or gore or ones that are overly sappy or loaded in swearing. I like movies that do not insult one’s intelligence, although some comedies seem to have that as a requirement.
I am starting a list of my favourite words … for no particular reason, I just like them.

I am sending this award on to the following beautiful bloggers:

I hope you visit these great bloggers. Thanks again, Ruth, for this award. 🙂

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

More Writers’ helps added

Just a quick post to say that I have added more great helps for writers on my Writers’ Helps page. There are so many useful things out there but these ones stand out to me.

I will add more later, but check these ones out and see what you think. Hopefully, something will inspire you or help you to create with more confidence.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Root canals and the misbehaving Muse

Monday was an interesting day, not at all what I had anticipated.

As the day got closer I became more anxious. My root canal was scheduled for the morning at 11:30. To say I was nervous would be a slight exaggeration. I tried to be calm; I took a 400 mg Advil suggested for the jaw pain I get during dental appointments; I prayed to be calm.

Soon I remembered the herbal remedy I occasionally used years ago when I was singing in a group. My jangled nerves would mess me up so my voice teacher recommended Rescue Remedy, which worked amazingly well. A quick dash to the health food store and I had a new little 10 ml bottle of stress relief. A few drops on my tongue, and before I arrived at the dental office I felt much more relaxed.

I had been experiencing tooth pain for a few weeks, but tolerated the discomfort since I had a regularly scheduled dental appointment anyway. When the appointment came around in late March, it was determined a root canal may be needed. Oh dread! My dentist sent me on to the specialist who does only root canals, and who – I was told – is very good, won’t do anything not required, and is gentle and careful. Okay, that sounded acceptable, so I went along to him a week later. After x-rays and checking the problem, he set up an appointment for me to have a root canal three weeks later, April 23. Also, because of my likely jaw pain he could divide the procedure into two parts if it were to become too difficult for me during the usual 1.5 hours to completion.

I arrived for the procedure but this time he found no reason to do the root canal! He said somehow everything had settled down and he suggested we wait to see if the problem flares up again. Imagine that!

I m a g i n e that.

I’m thanking the Lord for this turn of events. If I do end up having to go through the procedure later, the time will be right.

Now, you may be asking .. what does all this have to do with writing? Nothing. (Doesn’t everyone enjoy stories about root canals, especially the non-occurring ones?) Nothing, unless I can think up an allegory to fit. hmmm

Nope. Nothing.

Unless you think that trying to write when nothing is forming in your mind is like a toothache nagging at you and nagging at you. You need a rescue. You need to go down deep and find the words, the source of the irritation. You need to tunnel into those deeply hidden, elusive thoughts and permit your true ‘writerly’ genius to excel. You need … a mental root canal!

Too over-the-top? Sorry. Let me try that again.

How about this? When–

something hurts, write;
anger surges, write;
lifted up by joy, write;
events sadden, write;
there seems to be nothing at all … write.

WRITE to discover what is concealed there. Write more and continue to write.

Gee, I wish I’d said that … oh, I did! Now to take my own advice – advice given to me, and which I am now passing on to you.

JUST WRITE!

What is your best advice for that absence of creativity, or for the seemingly wordless Muse that won’t quit nagging?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

PS: The original version of this post (with a different message) can be found on my Scarlet Thread Musings blog on blogspot. http://novascotiaflavour.blogspot.ca/

New Page: Writers’ Helps

As promised, I have created a new page here on my blog. Writers’ Helps has a list of links that will be of help to writers and anyone needing just the right word, a rhyming word, a translation, and more. I will be adding to this list as I find sites I especially like.

You can find the new page from the list at the top of the front page, and also in the pages category down the left side of this page.

If you have any great links that you would like to share, please leave a comment for me and I will check it out to perhaps add to my list of writers’ helps.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Writers’ Helps – I made a list

Have you ever been writing along and then find yourself stuck for a word?

Ever need to be sure of a spelling, or a meaning, or a word that would say the same thing – only better?

Do you write poetry or occasionally really want a rhyming word?

Do you just simply want some motivation to write, or a little diversion?

I have found a few helpful sites that I thought may be of benefit to you, too. As well as listing them in this post, I also am going to create a new page here on my blog just for writers’ helps. As I find more I will add them to that page.

Check these out and let me know what you think.

Needing just the right word, or the correct meaning:

Needing words that rhyme:

Needing motivation:

Writing prompts

Needing the exact number of words:

Translators & Quotes to spice things up:

Then when you need shorter links to post:

Are there any others that you just don’t want to be without? Please tell me about them – with link – so that I can possibly add them to my list. Thanks!

Thanks for reading, and .. Creative Musings! 🙂

Is it enough to be crazy in your writing?

Today I’ve been busy taking care of the normal things at Dad’s; I also have to pull together a manuscript for 12×12 in 2012 before this month ends – in only four more days! Yikes! Hopefully I can spend time on that this afternoon while Dad is resting, but first ..

when I saw the following quote on Twitter I knew it would be a great topic for today. My other blog ideas will have to wait awhile.

“Being crazy isn’t enough.” – Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss was famous for his much-loved zany stories and characters. They may have been written with a message, but what was important was that they were fun, funny, and memorable. But why were – and are – they so popular? Besides the fact that they are a delight to read, could it be because they were different, daring, and really stood out for their uniqueness? At the time they first appeared in the publishing world, illustrators were mostly creating commonplace characters, what was expected, created with care to fit the norm. But not Dr. Seuss. He did not fit the mold, neither as an author nor as an illustrator, and he didn’t want to – even though he was warned to not veer away from what was being accepted then because doing so could only mean failure.

These days you hear two different minds on the topic of what to write. Some say to be sure to offer what publishers are looking for or risk your hard work being tossed aside. Others say to submit the different things, things that are not the trend, because how else is the trend going to change? How is your work going to be noticed if you don’t take that chance? I have even read that some publishers are waiting for the outstanding off-the-trend work, something new to get excited about in the piles of the usual submissions.

How do you feel about that?

Look at a few more of Dr. Seuss’ quotes that reveal his philosophy:

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.”

“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!”

“In my world, everyone’s a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

Now, does that last one sound like a normal thinking mind that sticks with the every-day-the-same routine that produces the every-story-must-fit-the-usual? I think not! 🙂