Tag: Words

My Last Day on Earth

My Last Day on Earth

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

With One Foot Dangling Over the Edge of the Universe

“If today were the last day of your life, would

you want to do what you are about to do today?”

~ Steve Jobs

Rumor has it that Steve Jobs asked himself this question every day in the mirror. It’s said that if he had enough days in a row when the answer was no, he’d do something else. Jobs was dead at 56.

Today, we watched another visionary dent the universe (almost literally). If today were Jeff Bezos’s last day on earth, he’d probably be okay with it. I’d be okay if it were my last day having watched his accomplishment from way down here. Good for him. Good for them. I like my brother, too, and I’d take him up with me.

WHAT’S IT FOR? Going into space isn’t for anything, except to DO IT. They didn’t make money, they spent LOTS. They learned even more, and they proved their worth to themselves, if no one else. Did anyone else really matter? Probably not.

WHAT DOES IT REMIND ME OF?
The Bezos launch reminded me of years past when we raced for space with other countries. Now our local visionaries compete with one another, and the media runs amok. It’s all wonderful. We used to rely on a war machine to feed for innovation and invention. Now, our CEOs feed their curiosity and, okay, their egos, but that’s okay.

IT’S MY LAST DAY ON EARTH [Pretend!]

I watched the rocket ship, walked my dog, listened to an amazing woman Melissa Renzi share her poetry, her love, and her vulnerability.

THIS IS THE POEM FROM MELISA RENZI’s BLOG POST on 7/6/21

(I challenge you to get through it with dry eyes.)

Love more today

Inspired by and in honor of Danay DiVirgilio

Love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year

Love more today
This very second, right now
You can do it, I believe in you
Be present with the feelings
All of them, all of you
This is not new
Since the beginning of time

In the infinity that is and was always
There is only one thing
And that thing is Love

Love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year

I see you, I hear you, I love you
I feel your Love, I feel your fear
I see you shedding a tear
All the Love you’re withholding
Give it up, give it away, let it go
Your life is unfolding

Love more today
Really, it is the only way
Close your eyes, yes, let’s do it right now
Send your love to someone who needs it the most

Send your love to someone who is easy to love

Now to someone who is hard to love
See, love doesn’t know the difference
Love is the great equalizer
Breaking through barriers of time and space

With total ease and infinite grace

Love is bigger than here and now

Love is wonder, love is how.
Love is deeper than good or bad
It’s so much wider than happy or sad

Love is not a drop in the ocean

Love is the ocean

So love more today
Not tomorrow, not yesterday, not next year

Really darling, there is nothing to fear
Open your eyes to the wisdom of love
See the world through its freedom, a dove

From high up above and all the way down

Love the whole rainbow, love the whole town

Love the sadness and love the grief
Love the Joy and love the belief
That Love is forever

And before I go, I want you to know:

It is okay to laugh and it is okay to cry

It is okay to ask “Why?”
Yes, really I ask you, I ask you to try

To love more today
In honor of the Spirit that is Danay

-Melissa Renzi

Amherst, MA

July 2020

*The words “Love more today” first appeared in an email from Michael DiVirgilio, sharing the news of Danay’s transition with family and friends. He asked friends to “Love More Today” as a way to honor her memory.

PS – I wrote this poem just days after Danay’s transition last summer. I read it at the memorial service under the trees in her backyard. Her presence was felt that day in the palpable Love that was there. And in the breeze of the trees above. Today it is a year. Honoring this beautiful human, friend, teacher, mother, mama. It was such a joy knowing you, friend. I treasure you always. Thank you for showing up in all the ways you do in my life and in the life of so many.

Good things, darling.

Love more today.

# # #

I hope it’s okay with you, Melissa, that I shared your poem. If this were my last day on earth, I would be happy, hanging one foot over the edge of our shared universe. Thank you for writing this piece and letting us know you better.

Thanks to Pixels.com for the image.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

“People are prone to believe what they want to believe.*”

How much of what we think we believe is true? How much do we believe it because we want to or because it fits our previous decision on a topic, a medical issue, a political candidate, our hobbies—ANYTHING.

I like to think I’m challenging myself to grow in new ways by reading different genres of novels, a variety of non-fiction books on a broad spectrum of viewpoints. But am I really? What about podcasts?

How can we be sure we’re not seeking agreement with where we are now? What are the signs? Are we doing the same things again and again, but thinking we are doing something different? I pride myself on my creativity. My fearlessness. But I now must challenge myself to understand if I’m really just confirming what I already think or know. So, I’m going to try the following. I’ll let you know what I find out.

  1. Make a list of the last six novels I read.
  2. List the last five non-fiction books I read (not purchased, read).
  3. What were the last four classes I took?
  4. Name the last three times I ate a food I’ve never eaten before.
  5. Summarize the last two conversations that I shared with someone twenty or more years younger than myself and twenty or more years older than me.
  6. When did I try a different browser than the one I normally use?

Confirmation bias keeps people in a rut. Scary but true. Stepping out of our rut is REALLY scary!

Change scares everyone to an extent. Knowing when you’re suffering from confirmation bias might be the first step to changing your mind, even a little. We’re not suggesting which way to think, but we would like to know if you are brave enough to confirm that you have confirmation bias. Or not.

Source: * Psychology Today

Image compliments of Pexels.com

Kindness

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

girl lying on white surface petting gray rabbit
Pexels.com

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~  Plato 

 

Kindness. What is it? Is it a thing? No. It’s an attitude. Or an aptitude. Kindness is something we have or we don’t. But if we don’t have it naturally, it’s hopefully something we can learn.

It can be one of those things you learn at home. Your mom and dad might have been kind. Or not. We have some much baggage from our families, don’t we? I know I do. We take the good things and mistrust them. We take the bad things and dwell on them. It’s almost impossible to see how people grow up to be kind, even if they don’t have it modeled for them as children. But they do. Somehow, there are many people who understand Plato’s sentiment. We are all fighting this battle called life. We need to treat each other with the kindness of a soft bunny.

Wouldn’t that be a lovely world to inhabit? I wonder how that would be. I am hoping to find out by starting to be kinder to myself. Selfish? I don’t think so. I think I would treat people more kindly if I had a softer spot for my spirit to enjoy.

Kindness is easier if we’re grateful. For more on being grateful, check out my blog on enough. 

Thank you. Kindly.

 

 

 

 

 

Enough

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

 

photography of body of water
Photo by Willian Was on Pexels.com

I Wish You Enough

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.


I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.


I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.

I wish you enough pain so even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.


I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.


I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.

*

I think we need to talk about “enough” today. I feel like our society does not ever have enough. We don’t have enough money. Time. Love. Youth. “Soul.” Well, that’s simply not true, is it? We have all we need. We can choose to have enough of all of those. We may not know it when our bills don’t get paid. Or we are out of time to do the things we want. We may feel unloved today. Or we may feel old. We may not have “soul” as we approach the written page or the musical paper or the dance floor. “I got nuthin’.”  Or “I don’t have enough of what it takes,” we say to ourselves.

That may be true today. But tomorrow, we may have that glimmer. That spark. That patience. Or we may have a way to save or make money. Find time to do what we want. Or we stop to feel a little extra sliver of appreciation for the few things we have. Even an old beat up pair of shoes is actually pretty sweet if we stop to be grateful, and not compare ourselves to someone down the block or around the corner. We may choose to be glad to have any shoes at all. Or feet.

That’s it. We can do so much if we stop, take stock, and appreciate who we are and how lucky we are. Our attitude determines our life view. And of course, everything is relative. We didn’t know we had enough until we wake up one morning and we’re out of whatever “that” was. Food. Money. Time. Because if you don’t wake up, for instance, you are definitely out of time.  But for today . . .

               . . . you have enough. 

 

The poem above is published in my collection, Giving My Self to the Wind. 

Purpose

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

IMG_0619

Someone in the audience asked, “How do you know you’re living your life’s purpose?” Good question!  How DO we know? Here were the answers from others in the room:

“No other place I’d rather be.”

“I’m happy.”

“I’m in a state of flow.”

“It feels like I’m being me.”

The women’s group in our neighborhood met to share business ideas and to talk about ourselves. Our SELVES. What do we fear? What do we seek? What do we need to feel like we are living our life’s purpose? How do we say “no”? As in NO. How do we protect our obliging, pleasing selves (many women fall into this category because of our role model moms) so we can live our life’s purpose on purpose?

Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Sometimes the way we can be our best selves and find our purpose is to set boundaries. So sometimes we have to say “No.” Or say a qualified, controlled yes. “Tuesday after 3PM for thirty minutes.” We want to give our gifts to the people who will grow from our knowledge, our skillsets, and our experiences. This is another quote:

The meaning of life is to discover your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. ~ Pablo Picasso.

We are here to do unto others. But not at the expense of our selves. Or we will have nothing to give. We must find out why we are here, per Mark Twain. Then we need to give our gift — perhaps it is our purpose  — to the rest of humanity. One at a time, or in a group, or through blogs. Like this one.

The same woman asked, “Can you have more than one purpose?”

I believe we can have more than one purpose. What do you believe?

Writing Terms

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

Image_008Do you need to know what the following terms mean to call yourself a Writer (with a capital ‘W’)?

Not really, but if you want to extend your knowledge around your craft, you might want to have at least heard or seen these words.  Besides, “Practice Makes Perfect,” and learning your trade is practicing. Here you go. Oh. And keep writing!

Litotes: \ ˈlī-tə-ˌtēz — Understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of the contrary (as in “not a bad singer” or “not unhappy”)

Ablaut:  \ ˈä-ˌblau̇t — a systematic variation of vowels in the same root or affix or in related roots or affixes especially in the Indo-European languages that is usually paralleled by differences in use or meaning (as in sing, sang, sung, song)

Allusion: \ ə-ˈlü-zhən \ —

1. an implied or indirect reference especially in literature 

  • a poem that makes allusions to classical literature; also: the use of such references
2: the act of making an indirect reference to something: the act of alluding to something

Anacoluthon: \ ˌa-nə-kə-ˈlü-ˌthän \ — syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence; especially: a shift in an unfinished sentence from one syntactic construction to another (as in “you really ought—well, do it your own way”)

Diacritic: \ ˌdī-ə-ˈkri-tik \ — a mark near or through an orthographic or phonetic character or combination of characters indicating a phonetic value different from that given the unmarked or otherwise marked element. A good example is déjà vu.

Gerund: \ ˈjer-ənd, ˈje-rənd \

1: a verbal noun in Latin that expresses generalized or uncompleted action

2: any of several linguistic forms analogous to the Latin gerund in languages other than Latin; especially : the English verbal noun ending in -ing that has the function of a substantive and at the same time shows the verbal features of tense, voice, and capacity to take adverbial qualifiers and to govern (see govern 4) objects

 

Idiom:  \ ˈi-dē-əm \

1a: the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class: dialect
b: the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language
2: an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (such as no, it wasn’t me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as ride herd on for “supervise”)
3: a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period or movement, or a medium or instrument — the modern jazz idiom; broadly: manner, style a new culinary idiom

 

Infinitive:  \ in-ˈfi-nə-tiv \

a verb form normally identical in English with the first person singular that performs some functions of a noun and at the same time displays some characteristics of a verb, and that is used with to (as in “I asked him to go“) except with auxiliary and various other verbs (as in “no one saw him leave“)

Metaphor: \ ˈme-tə-ˌfȯr also -fər \ 

1: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money); broadly: figurative language — compare simile
2: an object, activity, or idea treated as a metaphor: symbol 2

 

Simile:  \ ˈsi-mə-(ˌ)lē \

1: a figure of speech comparing two unlike things.  It is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses) — compare metaphor.

 

Thank you to Merriam Webster for these definitions (with the pronunciation following each word in bold)

Open Responses

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

HELLO FELLOW WRITERS! I am tickled to announce the obvious: Writers write! We love an open space, a challenge to play with words and to evoke a reaction from our musings. And so, I throw down this gauntlet and invite you to see what you would respond to these “openings.” I guess you could copy paste this worksheet into your computer and play. Then keep it for yourself, or share, or return it. Whatever makes you happy as a writer, and as a person. Enjoy.

I see an . . . My Response is to Your response is to…?
Open wound. Sew
Open door. Slam
Open eye. Blink
Open sore. Protect
Open mind. Meet
Open flower. Enjoy
Open case. Solve
Open heart. Love
Open womb. Deliver
Open safe. Lock
Open fridge. Stock
Open window. Breathe
Open book. Read
Open club. Join
Open hatch. Dive
Open carton. Drink
Open roof. Patch
Open arms. Hug
Open poppy. Sniff
Open camp. Pitch
Open drawer. Pull
Open end. See
Open fingers. Grab
Open garage. Park
Open hand. Bid
Open index. Seek
Open jaws. Chomp
Open kick. Score
Open lips. Lick
Open mouth. Kiss
Open nose. Blow
Open ocean. Fish
Open parcel. Smile
Open quilt. Stitch
Open racecar. Zoom
Open season. Hunt
Open travel. Hope
Open umbrella. Hunch
Open view. Stare
Open wall. Escape
Open xerox. Copy
Open yard. Play
Open zipper. Pee

Give Your Self to the Wind

Posted on by Kathryn Atkins

. . . AND RECEIVE THE GIFT OF LOVE

How do you give your self (it’s two words, on purpose) to the wind? Finish your stuff, I tell yoDandelion_20windu. And be willing to be vulnerable! When you finish, though, you are very likely to fail. In fact, you can really suck! Your art, your book, your music, your crocheted or knitted piece, or even your book report for school, if you’re still in school — can really be awful. But, finishing it is important. We could fail. We can get an “F” or we can have no one buy our art, our book or our music. That’s okay.

We hate to fail!

No one likes to fail. We don’t want to be failures. People like winners. True. No one wants to be the last one in the race. Few people want to come in fourth at the Olympics. They don’t get a medal. But what they did get was experiencing the Olympics! How good must they be to make it through all the competitions and trials to get to the Olympics in the first place?

Failing and being a failure are two different things, however. Failing is a temporary thing. In fact, failing a bunch of times is how you eventually get better.

Failing is learning. “Oh! How interesting! That didn’t work. I’ll try something else.”

Failing is helping other people learn. “Wow. Look what they tried! Let’s see if we can do it better or differently.”

Failing is winning the game of perseverance. Gaining strength. Experiencing grit. Knowing how golly gosh darn badly you want something.

Failing is a gift.

Unfortunately, failing multiple times can keep some of us from finishing. We grow tired of the skinned knees, the broken airplanes (Wright Brothers), the cotton gin that breaks (Eli Whitney) and the telephone that doesn’t ring (Alexander Graham Bell). We give up. We will not finish that book. We will never hear the musical piece. We leave our sculpture in a heap of rocks and rubble, and we will punch a hole in the painting. No one will ever experience your novel, your Mona Lisa, your Nutcracker Suite, your David statue, or maybe your computer application.

So you are not John Steinbeck or Leonardo da Vinci? You are not Tchaikovsky or Michelangelo? Did they think they were when they created their works? How would they know in the beginning if they did not finish anything?

Every one of the artists you know didn’t know they were any good when they started. John Steinbeck was rejected dozens of times. Starving artists starve for a reason. Are they failures?

Here’s the deal. These creatives are failures if they measure success by money and fame. Many of the famous artists never saw fame or fortune while they were alive, so they did not think they were any good!

Fail. Fail often. Keep writing, painting, making music, sculpting, and inventing. Give your self your work and your you-ness to the wind… and receive the gift of love.