Friday, December 3, 2010

I need a name

I need a name suggestions for a Graphic Design business....where I do some freelance, but hopefully a lot of custom design work for invitations, events related materials, and so on. Looking for something good, folks, feel free to comment.

Dec 3 post on Dec 3 - HA!

Prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors).

I'm thinking.....I'm thinking.....apparently I've spent the year feeling NOT alive. That's not good. That kind of goes back to day one, when the only word I could come up with for the year was tired. Bad news for me.

On the other hand, I've been known to zone into activities so completely, that the rest of the world just fades into the background. (huh? - you can just see the blank expression on my face, and the confusion, when I'm interrupted, can't you?) While this isn't, perhaps the alive feeling that she's asking about, it is a feeling that feeds the soul. Reading a story, working on an art project, those are the kinds of things that I look back on with immense satisfaction.

While we were in New Hampshire this year, it was spectacular to be in the middle of the granite mountains, and the trees, and the amazing natural world. I don't spend a lot of time outdoors at home, but there, it was good to walk and see the darkness of the dense trees of the woods. To stand alongside thousands of pounds of solid rock that had stood in place for about as long as recorded history....gives you a sense of your position in the world, and the power of the mighty Creator. The green-ness of it was almost overwhelming. The sun only filters through the woods, so there it is dark, and cool and quiet. Look closely at the tiny etchings of the Creator's hand....tiny seeds and new trees that force their way through the piles of leaves on the forest floor....or in the cracks of solid rock.

I'm not sure it is alive, necessarily, but the anxiety attack I had on the top of the five story high overhang over Niagara Falls was similar. Water, rushing around and through, you could feel the vibrations through the earth, the buildings the sidewalks. The noise of the crashing on the rocks below, the wind whipping your hair, and your clothes about, and needing to feel little hands tightly in my own. Rain, and mist and cold air seep through the jackets, and the hair stuck to my face, but I couldn't let go of the baby hands. It is overwhelmingly gray. Gray rocks, gray water, gray air filled with mist and fog. Gray cold, and gray concrete sidewalks. Fear bubbles inside my chest, and the tears fall without any real warning. Of course, this doesn't promote calmness among my children either...but when is fear ever rational, or calm? It is a serious survival mechanism though, and it keeps me and my kids away from danger.

What a wondrous sight - the massive and deadly Falls, and I'm glad we've seen them. But, I don't need to go back, for awhile, at least. I've got plenty of irrational fears, right here on dry ground.

NOTE: This is writing without editing. So......bear that in mind. :-) vb

Dec 2 post on Dec 3....

Prompt: Writing. What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing -- and can you eliminate it?

Hmmm. Life. House, stuff to do. Eating, sleeping, being lazy. I suppose that last one is something I could eliminate, but honestly, I think sometimes my body just needs to stop sometimes, and be still. I read blogs, and can waste a lot of time doing that, but is it really wasted, to see what others are doing. I need to think about this some more. vb

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

One word. My initial thought is tired. My second thought is school. My third thought....well, there isn't one. There has been good, there has been exhausting, there has been mostly accommodating my school schedule. That's what this year will have been about.

Next year's word: Beginning. An exciting one, I hope - well, interesting, fulfilling, at a minimum. :-) vb