I Am a Joyful Thought Photo by alicepopkorn @ flickr
*** The life incidents that tickle our minds to write, record and remember…
From Denny: While compiling the most popular posts this year on this blog, I was blown away by just how much writing I did this year, covering a wide range of thought wanderings and wonderings. So... I had another one of those famous RDTs (Random Denny Thoughts), and decided to compile most of my writes into one poem just to see the themes of the year.
You might enjoy this as a writing exercise too as it sure does surprise you to review the year like this. And, for conceptual and abstract thinkers like me, you will find this a neat and tidy way to condense your writes all into one place! :) I just know there was a good reason I've had ultra left-brain friends over the years who were such a help. Trust me; there is nothing like having a Virgo come into your clothes - or mental - closet and properly get you focused for a project. You will be eternally grateful. The rest of the time they are eternally grateful you tell them to "take a chill pill because Life will turn out well anyway; quit fretting."
We creative types tend to roll our eyes and snooze when it comes to filing, naming, and other busy office work and end up "organizationally challenged" if we aren't careful. My friends did teach me that organization is the key to yet more creativity unleashed. This year of writing proves them right! Oh, how they will live on that comment for years... :)
Dance of Love Photo by Kjunstorms @ flickr
Life is About Everything
Review
When I began this year’s journey I didn’t know where I was going.
I didn’t much care nor worry – only living in the moment of awe.
Life has so much to experience: ugly and beautiful, joyful and sad.
I chose to witness with my heart, my eyes and my listening soul.
Chronicling Life seen, felt and heard with a flowing pen, tapping keyboard,
Life unfolded its meaning, its depths, its teachings, revealing its purpose: discovery.
Love
Relationships were talked about from love to war and terrible loss.
A Man in Love retold a soldier’s 60 year old story of yearning to reunite with his wife.
Loving You recounted marriage love, roles unexpectedly changing over time.
Opposites in Love: Night and Day revealed how we opposites learn to live together.
Loss
Personal loss spoke in Rock, My Children, compounding when others are too cruel.
A rock legend’s legacy lives on in Michael Jackson: Talk About My Life.
Musings of understanding spoke in A Spiritual Perspective: Michael Jackson.
Abuse
Social issues like abuse wondered aloud in Flinging Dirt from a telling dream.
You Are Worthy Every Day! honored an abused poetess gone uncelebrated too long.
I defiantly declared to only speak, honor and fight for the Truth in Why I Write.
Defining myself in It Isnt In Me because Love is, in the end, how we all win.
They Pull at Your Heartstrings explored how tough news stories affect us deeply.
Thinking of my mother’s birthday and the Chinese custom of celebrating birthdays so different from our America came my cultural shock of A Chinese Birthday Favor.
Writing Ideas
The hilarity of finding out how we find our inspiration in the middle of the night through our insistent nagging muses of Dreaming Words.
Writing exercises explored, thinking outside the box and beyond the tried and true.
Thinking the “how-to” write on many levels was the fun of discovering What Do You Like to Write? Talk to We! and Eye I.
Writing fun acrostic poems in POETRY and for the rigors of gestating a write was Eyeing Think Time.
Life of Words went on a journey to decide how words affect and influence our lives.
Encouraging writers and poets to quit worrying and focus upon their one reader came An Audience of One as you never know the true impact of your words: Believe!
Discovering a weird words site I was amusingly inspired to write 22 Weird Words Story: Oyez, calling attention to odd words rarely used that tickle our minds.
Curious about those odd phrases we speak every day I wrote the entertaining Word Smithing: Those Funny Sayings We Hear Every Day to delight and amuse.
Fantasy
Soon I turned to the fun of writing fantasy thoughts about dragons in Primordial Dragon and a world only imagined.
Writing outrageous fantasy to blow off tension using a writing exercise of run-on sentences that built emotional tension just to break it was Totally Ridiculous Comedy: Jacks Nightclub.
And an amusing excuse for Haiku as Dennys Not Haiku But Short Enough On the Whim of a Grin winked playfully.
Humor
Writing love poetry from the point of view of a romantic cheeky greyhound dog came the amusing romp of The Interesting Man.
Humor tickled my writing pen one day as my husband surprised me with a slight-of-hand slip in The Husband Who Cleans.
I laughed on after a bad experience with summer poison ivy in Bitter Romance in the Garden.
Then thoughts danced on the idea of a paradox: Do we own our homes or do they own us? Chasing down home photos around the globe came into my mind the poem, Hunting Our Home.
Fun
I sauntered on into exploring my fellow humanity and food whims in Foods We Love to Hate: Knowing Why.
While cruising through the Flickr photo database I happened upon more than 50 fun Santa Claus photos. I was inspired to write an article just for the goodwill believers all around the globe in We Believe In Santa.
On Christmas Eve of 2008 my husband and I started laughing about our childhoods and the crazy things our parents told us in Funny Christmas Conversations: Parents to Their Children was so inspired it was written on Christmas Eve night.
Photo by subflux @ flickr
Balance
Thinking often of the spiritual condition of humanity there came Poetry of Life, to lift up others struggling with the deepening economic recession and job losses by changing our focus.
Thinking aloud about how to gain our balance in life in the most precarious places, I watched Nature in the form of a Blue Heron one late summer day endeavoring to find his balance on the tiniest piece of branch high up in a tall tree in Parable: Blue Heron Balancing the Wind.
As the summer was disappearing into fall with the hint of change in the air was written Louisiana Summer Sigh, alluding to our inner selves changing with the seasons too.
Weeping Freedom">Weeping Freedom came from preparing for Hurricane Gustav and its 100 mph whistling winds by pruning back an overgrown top-heavy jasmine vine so it would live through the storm and thrive again one day. The vine reminded me of people not prepared for Life’s storms because they won’t prune what’s dead inside to create new space to breathe and grow.
The Art of Waiting took you inside my world of perception and patience as my damaged brain went through the healing process from a car accident, nine months to fully awaken.
The Long Road talked about how friendships improve our lives, then maybe its time to slow down and help others who are in the distance straggling behind us, trying to catch up.
Nature and Spirit
Looking to Nature again as many poets have through the ages, I noticed how Rain Blessings can prove destructive if too fierce or constructive to growth if soft and gentle. Yet both of Life’s storms can bring balance into our world.
When researching beautiful landscape photos one day I found a cache of awesome tree photos and how it struck me that people are so like these trees in People Trees.
I reflected upon how patient our soul is with our ego on our Life journey of growing spiritual awareness in Soul Journey.
Photo by D.SharonPruitt @ flickr
Angels
When The Angels Cry For Us pondered how we may look to outside witnesses as we live a life of trying to force a situation to work when it never will and how important it is to grow and change from our experiences.
Angels Bridge recounted an example of many teaching experiences from encountering strangers - as my motto has always been to remain teachable in Life from every person and situation I encounter.
Angel Diaries: Samuel is the true story of some of what I experienced in early childhood from growing up in the dangerous vile world of the CIA.
Photo by Temari09 @flickr
Courageous Men
When the Lion of the Senate died this year, American women and children, the poor and the disenfranchised lost a champion, a man who was not a perfect man and yet chose to set right his life after many serious mistakes. As he changed his focus he changed his life. I reflected upon his body of work in How Senator Ted Kennedy Affected Your Life in America.
On Father’s Day I chose to think about the three kinds of men who mentored and influenced my own life when my father fell down on the job miserably in 3 Kinds of Men to Honor: the courageous, the compassionate and the nurturing.
Reflections of That Moment was a remembrance of those for whom we grieve in death and how important it is to take the journey of inner discovery to the unknown positive new awareness, waiting on the other side of that moment.
Millennium Blessing
And I wrote in Keeping The Peace the only true way to bring Peace into the world.
To commemorate the year 2000, the new millennium, I wrote Ode to People of the New Millennium: A Blessing, thinking a blessing was the most positive thing to do for the future. In the light of the 2012 prophecies for which many are afraid, this poem takes on a new and stirring promise. How strange what you wrote almost ten years ago speaks loudly into the present…
Denny Lyon
Copyright 4 December 2009
All Rights Reserved
* * * Check out the Complete Poem List for more selections.
*** This was not the full year of writings, about 7 months worth of just the poetry and a few articles. There are still those crazy Cheeky Quotes posts which I guess will have to go into a book of their own... :)
*** Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!
