Describe something you learned in high school.
Resilience
Nobody said it was easy…
Category: Life
The pen is mightier than the sword
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
‘If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write ‘ Martin Luther King JR’
Change has been my middle name, but for now I shall change that and just breathe…
…This is Anna
What book could you read over and over again?
As we are given a Daily Prompt and not a ‘ Brief’, I want to tell you about a book I was given over twenty years ago. Take into consideration I have lived quite the transient life and for this to still be in my possession says a lot.
When you move around you cannot ‘ hang onto things’, to be a hoarder would be a luxury. Well, perhaps not. But you get my drift. When a person gifts me with something I’m grateful for their thoughtfulness and generosity. The item becomes precious, as is this, for several,reasons. (I thank you PN)
For clarity, transparency, call it what you will, I will state here that I am not a religious person, but I do respect the path some folk take. You would be more likely find me in a book shop eyeing books about Paganism or Buddhism. Each to our own.
Mister God, This Is Anna, is an extraordinary little book of less than 200 pages. Published in 1974 and written by Sydney Hopkins with the psudonym Fynn.
In the book Fynn then aged 16 finds an abandoned and neglected four year old girl wandering the streets of docklands, on a cold and foggy night in 1930’s London. He takes her home to his parents where for a few years she amazes everyone around her with her intelligent, lively and curious precociousness. She has a luminous innocence and wisdom which dazzles Fynn. They bond quickly and become the firmest of friends.
It is a religious book, yes. However it is defiant of unscientific dogma. Physics, biology, maths are all of interest to Anna. Herself an instinctive theologian.
Her luminous innocence, wisdom and infinite relationship with Mr God and her friendship with Fynn are woven together in this story, which totally undercuts adult pretensions.
This is a fine book, which I am now ready to read again.
The heartbeat at my feet
What animals make the best/worst pets?
Dogs,dogs,dogs……and more dogs! Having said that if granted enough time on this planet and the opportunity to do so I’d would love to give a good home to a cat and some chickens.
The following was written by Billy Collins in 1998. Twice US Poet Laureate….
*Dharma*
The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or umbrella,
without any money
or keys to her doghouse
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.
Who provides a finer example
of life without encumbrance –
Thoreau in his curtainless hut
with a single plate, a single spoon?
Ghamdi with his staff and holy diapers?
Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar
following only her wet nose,
the twin portals of her steady breathing,
followed only by the plume of her tail.
Ir only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she
would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god…..
The Earth dies screaming
What job would you do for free?
Good morning WordPress/Daily Prompt. You ask us about doing a job for free. From the off let’s be clear one would have to be pretty much financially secure to take on such a commitment. Sadly most of us aren’t, so what we do instead is volunteer, when and where we can. I’ve had a few such jobs/activities/the right word being? over the years. For now I’m having a breather between lives, chapters, if you will. Most likely when I find my final resting place (no not that one!) ( still in transient mode?) I shall pick up the threads of ‘ helping out’, once again.
With that question answered I shall go off piste a little.
Whilst I was considering this morning’s prompt my mind wandered to a dear friend of mine. We live in different parts of England but message each other often. Sometimes we chat about screen time. What we have seen and enjoyed, or not, if that is the case.
To said friend I recommend a programme and she responded that her eldest son had also mentioned it and she was going to decline. To be fair it wasn’t easy watching, but not a horror story either. Not in the Stephen King sense of creepy. She was right, in some aspects it wasn’t that pleasant to watch, the story I mean, not the performances. ‘ I’m too scared, to see it ‘ she said. A certain kind of ‘ hell on Earth’ exists in varying forms all over the world, sadly, and having devoted her whole life to children, her own and as a professional in Child Services, she had witnessed sad and difficult times in the families she monitored and assisted. So I didn’t push her further.
That hell on Earth, is now so widespread, it’s breath taking. Whether it be pollution on the most massive scale imaginable in our oceans/waterways, skies, land ( think pesticides ) and beyond. Destruction, cruelty, intolerance, greed, inequality.. ambivalence. There is no end to the ways Man finds to destroy the world which he depends on. Crudely digging up all the preciousness and literally filling those holes with rubbish.
What exactly is being put back, to enrich and enhance our existence on the beautiful planet we are intent on destroying, inside out?
If only all the power and energy and resources to do so where ploughed back in, it could surely be a place to be proud of. And wouldn’t the gods be happy? It’s what they intended, surely?
Shouldnt we all be paying some form of rent to reside here?
To all the beautiful souls who do volunteer ( especially you SB), I thank you.
Gabby
What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
I certainly respect all the sports people aiming high. The hours of dedication they must have put in. Maybe a talent they were born with? Their dedication is admirable. But for me this is the best race ever…..
Rise and shine
What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?
What a treat! The dog didn’t wake me up until 8 this morning. I guess he doesn’t realise the clocks changed last weekend and to him it is still 7am.
But that’s ok. I went with his mindset and basked in the luxury of a lie-in. I didn’t lie in, as such. A quick look at the Sky News and a glance at the Socials to make sure World War 3 isn’t imminent and I’m up and about.
Downstairs I flick on the kettle and let said dog out. I stand on the threshold and just breathe the new day in for a moment or two. The clouds were giving way to a glorious blue sky and the sun shone on the red breast of a robin. I thanked the gods.
With coffee in hand I head back upstairs to get myself together. LBC radio with Nick Ferrari puts me firmly in the picture of what’s going down in the outside world. I briefly tidy up my surroundings before back down the stairs to saddle up my boy. And away we go.
First off we walk the few steps to a Green Space, as they are called now. It’s actually the site of an old castle. Then, with job done, into the car for a short drive up to another GS, This time a local park/nature reserve. It’s usually unlocked, but if not I will let us in and message the park ranger, to save him the time
I was saddened along the way to see the blossom had passed its best. The once pretty, fresh and pert blooms, now all tinged with brown. Happily the daffodils stood to attention and looked fabulous.
A quick whizz around the three field/areas, several ball throws and chases and we are on our way out in about 20 minutes.
Back home his lordship has his breakfast, then the birds, some of whom are sitting on the fence patiently waiting..and then me.
I then consider which errands and/or chores should be accomplished, before sitting down for a little while to see what WordPress and the Daily Prompt have in store for us..
And that’s my first hour, done and dusted.
Dare to be different?
Which aspects do you think makes a person unique?
Oh WordPress, you took the wind out of my sails this morning, when I checked in to see what you had in store for us today. Wow, that’s some mighty ol’ Prompt you have for us there! Bordering on a thesis, methinks…but I’ll do what I can to write how I see it. I will certainly have missed things out and readers may offer additions to the list..and I would encourage that, as it’s a starting point to showcase our uniqueness. What makes us tick and why? What we reveal to the world and what we don’t…maybe?
Until I feel equipped to get all these thoughts and additional words in order, I shall for now just list them..as my mind focuses on what makes us unique…
……..
Gentetic make up
Mother’s well being
Enviromental factors
Physical attributes
Family/Home life
Poverty/Inequality
Socioeconomic
Education/lack of
Abilities,gifts and strengths
Moral compass
Physical and mental health
Chemical imbalances
Drive, ambition
Opportunities, luck
Ego
Support, guidance
Intelligence
Life experiences
Religion/belief’s
Needs, desires
Sense of humour
Resilience
There are so many reasons why we should be different from anyone else…and this is where we could possibly stop judging others, in any way shape or form.There so many faucets to us. Each of us a story. Some able to cope with the hand we were dealt with and some not so much.
Unique bacteria is born into every fingerprint and with that DNA the identity of a person can be determined. The patterns of lines and whirls is believed to unduplicated, on any other finger. Although now AI begs to differ. What we do know is identical twins, we are told by forensic experts will have different if only slightly different fingerprints from their twin.
Even conjoined twins will see and feel the world differently.
I remember you
If you could have something named after you, what would it be?
I need to write the following with my left hand as my dog is asleep on my other arm….😂 Edit.. and now he has awoken and moved and I can come back to edit. Something I often forget to do.
Thank you for the Daily Prompt, WordPress. I shall use this space with names of others in my head and dedicate something to them.
‘ To all those we have loved and lost’. This would be beautifully engraved on a plaque and attached to the back rest of a bench. It would be a memorial to the considerable amount of people and animals I have been fortunate to spend time with here on Earth, before they moved on.
It would be a wonderful thing if throughout any given day all manner of humans and wildlife would spend time here. Maybe a weary mom, just taking a breather with some coffee, before she needs to get up and on with her day. An elderly chap and his little dog may sit for a while to watch the world go by. A paramedic after a gruelling shift may stop and collect themselves before heading home. A young woman with a broken heart unable to go anywhere else at the time, or maybe a blackbird taking shade. They would all be so welcomed….And at the end of the day when the sun is going down and dusk falls a weary soul will lay down, feeling safe and secure and rest until dawn.
Laugh and the world laughs with you….
What makes you laugh?
We’ve all heard the line ‘ laughter is the best medicine’, turns out it’s true. As the brain’s production of endorphins increase, blood pressure and the heart rate become steady. Feel good chemicals flooding our bodies help to relieve stress and ease pain.
I don’t like to be in a large group of strangers and I really don’t like small talk..It’s an art form I just don’t have. But being with close friends who I love and trust allow me to come out of my shell and have the best time. So to answer today’s prompt, promptly, I would say to laugh with my buddies. But that doesn’t hamper me from finding things to laugh along with when I’m alone. Although I’m never alone having my dog constantly at my side.He looks at me funny sometimes, but I don’t think that’s in the funny ha ha sense..more like funny peculiar.
There is one particular English comedian/writer/actor/producer/director I find extremely funny. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea and his language can be and often is full-on Anglo-Saxon. He is often rude and disparaging beyond measure and tbf he does go a bit too far sometimes, but I simply let that go. No one is perfect!
A year or so back he hosted the Golden Globes. The venue full of ‘stars’. All movers and shakers from the film industry with their plus one’s..their egos. His verbal attack was brutal, gasps where audible from the audience, their faces were a picture. Throughout the ceremony he took no prisoners, a relentless tirade as he held up a mirror to the faces, who let’s not forget are paid handsomely for what they do anyway. The fact they also want to be congratulated and adored was not lost on the host. Laugh? I almost died. Absolute comedy gold.
IN THE BOOMER PIGEON HOLE? 
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