Warning: TMI!
Sunday: The drama at church was absolutely awesome! So glad we made it back to see it. Then lunch with friends:) Paper edited for a friend on Sunday afternoon – whew! She is finishing her Master’s in psychology/counseling, and some of the stuff is like reading a foreign language - I don’t know the terms. This makes editing it loads of fun. Actually, I love it, even if I do whine a bit. My friend insists editing her papers brings out the Grammar Nazi in me. Hmmmmmm. I don’t know what she’s talking about! Just because I asked her to rip her semi-colon key off her computer and throw it away. What’s wrong with that? Then finally off to Dad’s. Got there late, so straight to bed.
Monday: Overslept, rushing all to get car packed, everyone in, and off to the VA. Thank God my daughter was with me! We went to the pack clinic first. The bandage comes off dad’s foot and my daughter starts gagging. The nurse practitioner begins the debreeding process, at which point daughter turns a few shades of green and runs out of the room. 
She survived. Off to x-ray to see if the infection is in the bone.
Then off to prosthetics. What? The elevator is broken? ::sigh:: Find someone to tell us how to get there, make 2 turns, find someone else to tell us how to get there, make 2 turns, find someone else to tell us how to get there, ahhhhh, he shows us the right way and takes us all the way there!!! So sweet:) Momma’s dragging by this point. New shoes for dad, well for one foot. Then we find our way back to the main part of the hospital.
Now we sit and wait for the pharmacy to process his prescriptions. Of course they are out of something, but eventually, we head out to get the car from the valet (thank you all the volunteers who do this!). Unfortunately, the line was all the way up the steps to get out. Had daughter take dad down and park him then come take my place in line so I could sit. Eventually, we get our van and head out on the rest of our adventure. Dad was starved, so we didn’t make it far without stopping to eat. Then on.
We did arrive in Castalia (Ohio) in time for the end of the viewing. Since Dad has to be in a wheel chair till his foot heals, we set him up and he held court with all the relatives…. Good time. My beautiful Aunt Bessie invited us to stay the night with her. She and I in her bed, Daughter on the couch, and Dad in an overstuffed easy chair that swollowed him up. We’ll save that story for another time.
Tuesday: Up and ready to go, eventually. Dad has to eat, so we followed Bessie part of the way till she waved us to go down a street for a McDonalds. We got the food, and I managed to get back to the same road Bess had disappeared down. I had told her I would call if we got lost. Well, we got lost and no one was answering the phone. In the interest of honesty, it wasn’t Bessie’s fault. She had given me verbal instructions. Unfortunately, I can only hold about 3 pieces of information in my head at a time. After that, I hear blah, blah, blah, … I finally called my hubs to ask him to look up how to get there. After much drama and many turn arounds, we finally arrive at the church. My husband is there! He came up to surprise me:) Well the funeral was waiting for us to arrive (a bit late) so we moved on.
My Grandma Mabel had planned her funeral with who she wanted to do what, etc. It was a glorious celebration of a life dedicated to God. Amazing. She did well planning her final goodbye. Dinner afterwards at the church. All was good. Dad held court again.
Back to Bessie’s (Dad’s sister) after, along with David (Dad’s brother) and fam. Great fellowship. Decided to spend the night despite the fact that we were minus enough of dad’s pancreas pills to make it all the way home. Bess went and got T-BONE STEAKS!!! for dinner. Ordinarily, Dad would take an extra pill with a meal like that, but…
Wednesday: Then eggs, bacon, buiscuits,… in the am. Another meal that would require extra of his pills. Oops. Head home, trying to make it home before the next meal.
Maybe I should add here that my dad has genetic pancreatitis and diabetes. He cannot digest his own food (especially fats) and must take these enzymes to digest his food. If he does not get them… well, I’ll leave that to your imagination, but it is not pretty. Who was the idiot who didn’t grab the bottle in case we had problems – yup, that would be: ME!!!
So, we get a ways and he starts figgiting and fussing. We decided we better find some pills long before we got home. The fun had already begun. Stopped at Sidney urgent care. They couldn’t help, but we did use their bathroom to get him cleaned up and in new briefs. Did I mention he refused my help because he “didn’t want me to remember him that way”? I had to help him get his briefs and pants on, however. Then a mad dash to the Dayton VA. After the Sidney thing, he states, “Why don’t we find the VA, they can e-mail all my records there.” Hmmm, better late than never? Anyway, we finally got to the VA in Dayton. They did help him out, but it was 4pm before we got out of there.
When we got near Cincy, we stopped at a Bob Evans for dinner. Dad ordered a steak that had cheese and mushrooms on it. It looked awful, but he ate it. Maybe in retrospect, we should have sent it back.
Anyway, we get another couple hours down the road. He was sleeping and not looking so good, but sleep is good, right? About 30 minutes from Louisville, he wakes up and starts figgiting again and blowing his nose. SAYS NOTHING! All of a sudden, he puts his hanky up to his mouth and, yup, all over him and my van!!!!!! Evidently he had been feeling queasy, but being the good father he is, he decided not to bother me. Oh bother!
Pulled over and cleaned up as best we could with him arguing with me the whole time lol. Went to a WM. I had Daughter get a riding cart and meet us at the van. Had him stand up (arguing he didn’t want anyone in WM (no where near where he lives) to see him covered in ick) and dust off what we can and send him off to the bathroom with wipes, clothes and the daughter while I park.
By the time I get back there, he and Karen are in the men’s bathroom. Why they didn’t use the family one as I asked I don’t know. The janitor was standing outside with all his stuff and a very strange look on his face. Keeping watch? Who knows. I find the cart and there is dad’s wallet, change purse, sugar checker, and more laying there with no one to watch it. OY VEY! I put it all in my purse and head into the women’s bathroom. Daughter comes out and sees everything gone from his cart and freaks out (he he:) mean mom).
Bought a towel for him to sit on and some water to wash the taste out of his mouth, and finally got on the road again. Arrived at his home at 11:30 pm – EXHAUSTED! Thank you, thank you, thank you to my beautiful daughter. Just think how exhausted I would be if I had done all that by myself!
Thursday: Today I got to see all my grandkids. My 2yo granddaughter did not come running with a hug and “GRAMMA!” on her lips. WAH!!! She’s growing up! STOP IT! Lunch after Dad’s nurse came, so at 4ish, finally headed home. The fun was not over, but it was minor compared to the day before!
Finally HOME! I miss you bed ::kiss, kiss::. I love you bathroom ::friendly wave:: . . . . Email to the bestie, sharing all the fun with you and off to bed where I hope my very swollen legs will go down before the next part of the adventure begins. I hope you enjoyed taking this trip with me. Angie aka Gram and Imma
Apologies to my dad for sharing his embarrassment.
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Update – where is ya woman???
This is a repeat of what I wrote on my other blog. If you haven’t read it yet, continue:)
In case any of you think I have dropped out of the blogosphere, I have not. I am still going back and forth to my dad’s (2 1/2 hours away). Add to that:
1. My husband and I were on a short trip with no internet (toNorth Carolina- LOVED the mountains!!).
2. My Step-Grandmother passed away while we were gone. I will be going to my Dad’s tonight, packing up his clothes, walker, wheel chair and various medical items, taking him to the PACK clinic at the VA for his bed sore on Monday am, and leaving from there (with him) to attend the funeral on Tuesday (2 1/2 hrs from his house to mine and then 4 more). After the funeral, I will return him home (or maybe spend the night at my house on the way down) and come home to rush and prepare for the weekend with my mother-in-law (dementia) and then an0ther short vacation with my husband to see family.
The above are my excuses TMI??? Probably, but it’s my life right now. I’m not gone, but I may be scarce for a while. I will still be reading, however.
SO–if you have commented on my blog and have not heard from me – you are in que and I will get to you asap.
–if I follow you on WordPress, I will be clicking unfollow to empty out my e-mail box. No, I’m not leaving you — I am following everyone on Google Reader which works much better for me and makes sure I don’t miss important mail in my inbox because it’s overwhelming.
Wishing you all a happy blogosphere! God bless Angie All prayers and good thoughts are much appreciated:) See you when……
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Writing quotes: Efficiency???
For this series, we’re going to start with the quotes. Our quotes are about laziness efficiency. Efficiency is a good thing, right?
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We LOVE this one: “Efficiency is intelligent laziness.” — David Dunham
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(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Whenever there is a hard job to be done I assign it to a lazy man; he is sure to find an easy way of doing it.” –Walter Chrysler
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“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” –Robert A. Heinlein {As my mother would say: ‘Ain’t that the truth!’}
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“A sense of the value of time–that is, of the best way to divide one’s time into one’s various activities–is an essential preliminary to efficient work; it is the only method of avoiding hurry.” –Arnold Bennett
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“Laziness is the mother of efficiency.” –Marian Propp
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“The worst, the hardest, the most disagreeable thing that you may have to do may be the thing that counts most, because it is the hard discipline, and it alone, that makes possible the highest efficiency.” –Elihu Root
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Español: Peter F. Drucker, padre de la administración moderna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
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“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” – Peter Drucker {Prioritizing??? Hmmmm}
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“Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.” –Peter F. Drucker
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“It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. “ – Bruce Lee {similar to the above quote}
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“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. “ – Lao Tzu {Hmmmmm}
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Thomas Alva Edison (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“It is astonishing what an effort it seems to be for many people to put their brains definitely and systematically to work. “ – Thomas A. Edison
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“There’s a way to do it better – find it.” – Thomas A. Edison
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Benjamin Franklin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
“A place for everything, everything in its place. “ – Benjamin Franklin
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“A small leak can sink a great ship. “ – Benjamin Franklin {Think about it}
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And finally a contribution from Kana at Kana’s Chronicles in a comment on the previous post (disogranization): “Organized people are just too lazy to look for things.” (as seen on a bumper sticker) I definately need one of these!
♦♦♦I may be a while with the next installment because life has handed me some unanticipated tasks, but I’m still here
What do you think of the efficiency/laziness debate?
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Writing Quotes: Disorganization
“There are uncountable hours lost each year in the workplace because of disorganization. But people mix up cleaning with organizing. Being clean is a visual thing, but being organized is being able to find things when you need them.”
–Julie Mahan
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“There are a surprising number of unnoticed spots just waiting to be tapped for organization duty. Find these hidden places, add the right storage item – from a bookshelf to a compact desk – and order can banish disorganization once and for all.”
–Doug Krieger
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“There is huge stress with disorganization and there is also a cost to being disorganized.”
–Carolee Cannata
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“Email, instant messaging, and cell phones give us fabulous communication ability, but because we live and work in our own little worlds, that communication is totally disorganized.”
–Marilyn vos Savant
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“You are disorganized if you need something somewhere that you don’t have or have something somewhere that you don’t need.
–David Allen
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And this one is Imma’s favorite:
“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”
–A.A. Milne
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Writing Gremlins: Disorganization
Confessions of an out-of-sight-out-of-mind, piles-everwhere, disorganized messy. I guess that title is a bit long, but it’s pretty accurate. I am the bane of my husband (and my daughter) because everywhere I go, I have piles. I don’t mean to, but they appear none-the-less. You see, if I put something away, it will be lost to me forever. My piles are organized in my brain, but their aesthetic value, um, not so much.
I tend to be this way on-line as well. My desk top is cluttered because saving something in documents means consigning it to the nether-world where it may never be seen again. This happens in part because I can’t remember what I called it. Yep, lets blame it on poor memory. While Gram is quite able to organize, she is a perfectionist who gets bogged down in trying to do it ‘just right’. Imma, on the other hand, is a messy extraordinaire. She’s easily distractable and has a tendency to flit from project to project without finishing what she started.
I’m sure you can see why the existence of these two in the same brain could cause organizational issues.
So what?
Disorganized people tend to be less productive than organized people. This is because they spend a lot of time looking through piles (even when they know exactly which pile to look through) in the hunt for a needed item. They also never complete some projects that get swept into the nether world by a bunch of new piles. They fight distractibility and time management issues. AND they cause other people in their lives to have chronic headaches! If you’ve ever moved something of a piler’s, you know exactly what I mean.
Now what?
Knowing the problem is half the battle, right? I wish. Knowing the problem is a good thing, but it doesn’t often help the disorganized messy to change. You see, they often have no idea how to go about the change process, because the same underlying issues still haunt them. Tackling the mess disorganization (in a way that will stick) is often a life-long process. Imma and Gram have used many organization techniques over the years, but inevitably, it hits an epic fail at some point. As writers, this blasts their productivity and takes time away from other tasks on their agenda. Disorganization, especially for the writer, means a lot of extra work in the end.
Then what?
Gram and Imma would like to share some techniques that have helped them to find a happy medium when it comes to disorganization.
1. KISS–Keep It Simple Stupid! This is probably the most productive technique. We tend to complicate things and that leads to disorganization. If we remember to keep it simple, we do much better.
2. D-Stuff–Too much stuff to keep track of lends to disorganization as well. De-stuff-ing requires assessing what, in the areas of time and things, is most important and what can be culled. Not every good thing is the best thing, and choosing the best over the good gives us less we have to organize.
3. PAIN!–Put it Away, In its place, Now! Another problem the messy confronts is laziness distraction before a task is completed. A new task calls, previous task goes in a pile, and the pile grows as previous tasks never find their way to their HOME.
4. HOPE–Have One Place for Everything and put it there every time. This one requires follow-through. The messy cannot afford to ‘do it later’ because later never comes. It also requires discipline (gulp!).
5. LITE–Like Items Together Every time. Sometimes we tend to micro-organize which means more to remember. So instead, put all office items together in the same area and so on. This one harks back on KISS.
6. OUT–One Undertaking at a Time! Multi-tasking is all well and good for some, but for the disorganized, it leads to chaos. Only you know how many tasks you can complete at the same time. Sometimes, keeping the other items in mind as you go can head off the disorganization that comes from multi-tasking (and not completing any of the tasks). The definition of complete in this context goes all the way to putting everything away when done.
How about you? What suggestions do you have to help the disorganized? Do you need help yourself? How does disorganization distract you from your writing? Do you have a story to share? Why is organization important for the writer?
Related articles
- Teachers: 5 Tips to Help the Disorganized Student (1-2-3getorganized.blogspot.com)
- Does your Office Have a “No Messy Desks” Policy? (bostinno.com)
- The pile of pain… (ryancarriesharpe.wordpress.com)
- 3 Ideas to Improve Your TiME™ Strategies (pbsmartessentials.com)
- Hi, I’m Krista and I’m a Piler…. (organizeinstyle.typepad.com)
- The 12 Dysfunctional Personal Productivity Personalities (lumbertribe.wordpress.com)
- Secrets to time management… (davidkanigan.com)
- Cleaning Up Your Workspace (bostinno.com)
- Clean Your Messy Desk, Lest Ye Be Judged (businessweek.com)
- Clutter, clutter everywhere… a housewife confession (thenewlywedwife.wordpress.com)
- Effecting Stress Relief by Clearing Out the Clutter (savings.com)
- Clutter Creep: The ‘Elephant in the Room’ (prweb.com)
- Blog post by Teressa Pence Morris (bloggymoms.com)
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Taming a writing gremlin: Disorganization!
Image via CrunchBase
Hi strangers! It feels like a long time since we posted here. Someone ::cough, cough, Imma:: tends to be a little disorganized. So, we have been working on that. I have to confess that I contribute to the problem with my perfectionism, but if you tell Imma I said that, I’ll deny it!
So, what did we do to cut down on the clutter in our lives?
1> Spreadsheet. First, I must confess that I have several documents already for this purpose. The operative word here is “several”. Instead of several documents, we now have one spreadsheet with a page for each category. This includes a list of those I follow, and those who follow me (on both blogs). Alphabetical order makes it much easier when I need to look someone up for some reason.
2> Google Reader. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Even though I can’t always like from Google Reader, it gives me a way to organize my feeds in one place without clogging up my poor inbox! I’m loving it! I can click on a person’s blog name and see all their posts. This is much easier than having to go back one page at a time if I have missed something. It’s also a lot easier to read, especially from my iPad. AND it’s a whole lot easier to keep up with. I seldom fall in love with such things because the learning curve is usually steep. However, Google Reader caused only minor headaches. It’s easy and functional – what could be better?
3> If you get a message saying I unfollowed you. WORRY! No, I’m just kidding. You have been moved to Google Reader, so I am unfollowing on WordPress so I can actually find my mail again without digging through thousands of blog related posts. This should make it a lot easier for me to respond to comments in my own blogs as well.
Thanks to all who have hung in there with me. I hope this will make life a bit easier for me. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day! Gram
Related articles
- Tip of the Day: Google Reader Organization (igoyougoblog.com)
- Getting Started With Spreadsheets on Google Docs Just Got Easier (prweb.com)
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Weekly Grammar Tip: starting a sentence with "and" or "but"
Can you start a sentence with “and” or “but”?
As a writer, I often find myself in situations when I want to use “and” to start a sentence. But you’re not supposed to start a sentence with a conjunction – right? Yet I was very surprised when a piece of academic writing was returned to me with a comment along the lines of “don’t use ‘however’ to start a sentence when a simple ‘but’ will suffice”.
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Why is it we often feel guilt about our grammar? Well, we' Grams do, anyway! Is it because we're writers? Is it because the rules of grammar were pounded into our heads in school? While some rules need strict adherence, others may be disregarded on occasion. We don't disregard them without a reason, however. Writers sometimes like to add emphasis or create something to catch the eye and make a passage different by letting a rule go. Some writers have become famous for this. Do you know a few?
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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Something that I liked to call the 'schwa-stika'. It is used to denote one's status as a Grammar Nazi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)"]
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Spectrum: Grammar Nazi|-------------------------------------------|Who cares? I find that "Grammar Guilt" makes me obsess over my writing a little too much. We left-brained people have a tendency to do that anyway. Imma helps me move from the far end of the spectrum (the Grammar Nazi), while I help her move from the other end (Who Cares). If you feel guilt or obsession about your grammar, I'm guessing you spend too much time on the obsession or on trying to 'perfect' your writing grammatically.♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Slipping past the inner Grammar Nazi The "and/but" as a sentence starter gives you a way to slip past your Grammar Nazi Inner Guardian without really breaking any rules. If you have moved to the dark side, start letting a few things go. I think you'll find your writing much more free for the effort. If someone is paying you for writing correctly, do it. If you are writing for other reasons, or blogging, lighten up on yourself a bit and enjoy what you create--even if it's not perfect! <3 Gram :) [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="240" caption="Grammar Map (Photo credit: veronicahigherlearning)"]
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Related articles
- The Delemma (writingwithbothsidesofmybrain.wordpress.com)
- Room for Imperfections (writingwithbothsidesofmybrain.wordpress.com)
- Writing Grammar (chiefwritingwolf.com)
Another Surprise!
Guess what? While I was busy admiring my rings and thanking God for bringing them back to me, Sunshine and her dog, Chuckles from Simply Charming blindsided me with a tag! Chuckles, just like my sister’s dog, waited till I was busy and snuck up behind me with a very cold, wet nose to the back of my leg!!!! Not my favorite thing, but in the spirit of fun, I will play along. Since I am rather backward, I am going to start with her questions and then proceed to the rules and the tags. So beware! I may soon be sneaking up on you with my own cold nose!
Photo of skin test about 15 minutes after the application of allergens and the scratching. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) So happy I'm not this guy!!!!!!!!!
1. cats or nice dogs like me? hehe . . . Neither, (allergic to both) but prefer cats if I must. Sorry Chuckles. I may forgive you some day for the cold wake up call.
2.to use a red, a blue or black ink pen to write a love letter? Definately NOT black! I would use blue, red, …. whatever was at hand.
3. to use a mechanical or an old-fashioned wooden pencil to sketch a picture? Never, oh never, would I use a mechanical pencil to sketch. No no no no no!!! I prefer a pencil that will give some substance to my lines and is able to become part of my hand.
4. to ride a horse or drive around in a car? VERY allergic to horses, so I’ll take horse-power any day.
5. to drink hot or cold beverages during the day? Usually cold.
6. to find a nice flower or nice rock? Well, that depends on what I was going to do with it. I like to look at flowers and take pics, but I’m allergic to them too, so give me a good ol’ rock any day. NO ALLERGIES!!!
7. if you lost one of your senses, to keep your hearing or vision? I would keep my vision, but hearing loss is not fun either.
8. to swim or run for exercise? I would absolutely love to swim!! It is my favorite thing. However, I am now unable to swim in any water with chlorine in it, which pretty much means I can no longer swim:( (Asthma)
9. to listen to music really loud or at normal hearing range? I am not fond of loud noises. In fact, I can’t stand them. So, I would listen to them in normal range and cry if you turned it up too loud.
10. blogging in silence or with music or other sounds playing? White noise – usually TV.
11. horror, comedy or musical movies? COMEDY! But I rarely watch movies ever, and I find the funny ones of today have too much in them that I don’t want to laugh at. So give me LOTR!!!! {Musicals – husband loves them – my eyes rotate around in the sockets out of boredom when I try to watch them with him.}
THE GOOD NEWS: You don’t have to answer or create that many questions. Chuckles gave the option to answer any, all or none…, so I picked all.
THE BETTER NEWS: Playing is optional. If you are in the mood for a little play and letting us know a bit about you, play along. If not, just say Pass and go on with your life:)
Here are Chuckles revised rules. They are the only ones I have, so …
- You must post these rules.
- Each person must post five things about him/herself on their blog. Answer the question the “tagger” listed for you in their post, and
- . . . create five new questions for the people you tag to answer.
- Choose one to five people to tag and link to them in the post.
- Let each blogger know that you have tagged them.
First—rules—check
Second—things about me—check
1–I am often harder on myself than others are on me.
2–My husband and I did not like each other much when we first met.
3–WARNING: TMI. Skip if you do not want to know. If my daughter or any of my grandchildren are around, I NEVER get to go to the bathroom by myself. My rule: if you’re going to come in, you are not allowed to make comments. My 2yo granddaughter likes to jiggle my belly. ::sigh::
4–I don’t dance or anything, but I am rarely still when I worship. Often, those who notice, will see my daughter, any of various other family, and I all swaying together (unknowingly) until someone messes up and hits another his/her hips.
5–I HATE the facebook timeline!!! Ya hear that Zucker?????
Third—new questions—check
1—Do you tend to be a thinker or a doer?
2—How well do you tolerate those who are the opposite?
3—Are you a) brutally honest, b) honest in a nice way, or C) give a lot of slack when commenting or liking someone’s post?
4—Which of the above do you prefer when others comment or like your posts?
5—Have you ever (or do you still) sleep with a stuffed animal?
Fourth—choose some tagees and link to them in the post—check
Ok, drawing from the hat in which all your names have been placed (remember participation is optional).
Fifth and Final—let people know you tagged them—in process.
Related articles
- Guess Who Came to Play Tag? (seraphim6.wordpress.com)
- Howdy! Chuckles Smiles with Sunshine! (seraphim6.wordpress.com)
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That Dam Muse!
The Muse? Who is the Muse? Where does she come from? What does she want?
Me: “Muse, who are you!”
Muse: “Why do you want to know?”
Me: “Cause you are driving me nuts with your coming and going without a bye or leave!”
Muse: “I’m your helper.”
Me: “How’s doing the disappearing act helping me?”
Muse: “When I leave you are forced to think, strategize, plot, plan, and execute.”
Imma
Teapots (Photo credit: anehan)
♫little tea-pot short and stout.
Here is my handle; here is my spout.
When I get all steamed up, Then I shout.
Just tip me over and pour me out!♫
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He he, I’ve been chasing a lot of butterflies lately, just because I can, and I think they’re so pretty. It amazes me how such an ugly bug (look at the part the wings are attached to) can be so beautiful. Even the less pretty ones are still beautiful to me. They are also the perfect metaphor for writing.
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Lexdenn - caterpillar (by) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
They start out as these little worm-like caterpillars, crawling around and eating leaves. Some of them are pretty, but they’re still pretty much just bugs. This is like we writers in the beginning. Some of us start early to write and others come to it later, but no one starts out perfect.
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At a time known only to the caterpillar (and science) the caterpillar will attach itself to a branch and begin to spin silk (yarn) around itself. This is a laborious process for the caterpillar, but one he does not complain about.
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At a certain time in the life of a writer, it’s time for a change. We are no longer satisfied with the life of a caterpillar. A pretty enough bug crawling around, hampered by gravity. We begin to pay attention and spin ‘yarns’ or stories (fiction or otherwise) around ourselves. Weaving our words into cocoons articles, blog posts, novels, short stories, etc. working hard to create something that will transform us from an ordinary bug writer to one who has “made it”. Of course each writer probably has his or her own definition of having “made it” or success. Whether one measures success monetarily, by the number of readers, or even by having pleased oneself, the process is the same.
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The cocoon could represent many things to many writers, but it is the place where transformation takes place. A bug person goes from someone who writes to someone who is a writer. The former caterpillar crawls slowly out of the cocoon, a struggle that allows him to fly in the end. The struggle for the writer is often what makes the writer in the end. Whether a writing struggle, an acceptance struggle or a circumstantial struggle, it all works to create a strong person and a strong writer. Those without such experiences remain shallow and uninformed, causing their writing to stay in the leggy bug person that writes stage.
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The former caterpillar emerges from the cocoon very different. He is still a bug, but he is no longer bound by gravity. He spreads his wings, allows them to dry, and tries them out. Soon she is flying all over the place, testing her wings and bringing beauty to all who view her.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly" - HBW ~ (Photo credit: turtlemom4bacon)
The emerging writer finds him or her self with a beautiful pair of wings. He or she is no longer bound to the ordinary. He or she has found wings to soar. You will know these butterflies transformed writers by the beauty they bring through the written word.
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Wherever you are along the process, know that you too can spread your wings and fly if you’re willing to do what it takes to get there. I hope you enjoyed our Entomology lesson.
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What do you think? Have you spread your wings or are you still stuck as a person who writes? How do you define “success” as a writer? Are you willing to put in the work it takes to reach your goal?
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See you next time all my fellow butterflies!!!! 
Imma
Cairns Birdwing, the largest butterfly in Australia. Taken in the Melbourne Zoo, November 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
ansuyo
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