#reverb10: Beautifully Different

December 8 – Beautifully Different. Think about what makes you different and what you do that lights people up. Reflect on all the things that make you different – you’ll find they’re what make you beautiful.


"You have a freak flag...You just don't fly it."

Something must be fundamentally
wrong with me,
because this prompt makes me cringe.
Is it really that hard
to think positively of myself?

So, going against the grain
of my natural inclinations,
I'm just going to let my
freak flag fly!

I love to laugh,
the kind of laughter
the comes from the belly
and I don't care if I laugh
when I'm all alone.
I make sure to laugh even harder.

I love to make people
laugh with embarassingly
awkward tales of my silliness.

I persevere
and I hate to give up.
I think people respect and admire
that about me.
Even if I have
a meltdown
every now and then.

Like my mom and grandmother,
I have witchy hands,
kind of ugly, but strong,
which really means
I am intuitive and perceptive
(so they say).

These things may
make me a little eccentric,
a little adventurous,
but the freak flag in me
lets them come out.
And people like me
all the same.


reverb10: join in on the fun

#Reverb10: Community

A little late in the game, but better late than never....

December 7 – Community Prompt: Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011?

When I think about the "communities" I belong to and am excluded from (by choice or otherwise), not much has evolved over this year. Except one: becoming a part of the community of words, with their shared  powerful, and life-altering ownership we all have over them.

Last January,  I was having probably my fourth or fifth quarter-life crisis. Boyfriend gone. Job in the dumps.  A foreboding gloom in my mind that matched the early twilight of winter. My stepmother had such a simple proposal. Take three months and don't make any decisions. Figure out what you want for yourself.

And so I did, and started a blog in the process. I found the "community" of words and ways to use them in a way where I could create, reflect, and be honest when I couldn't  in other communities I belonged to. And I found other people who felt similarly. Reading others' "community of words" helped me see the world in different ways, and forced me to think about who I wanted to be.

Communities can be seen as concrete, physical places. But to me, communities are also in the shared ownership we all have with words; how we use them,  how they continually change and challenge us to think beyond what we see, but rather what we feel...

As I see 2011 on the horizon, I wonder what's in store for and what communities I have yet to be a part of. During the tail end of this year, I began to run more diligently than usual, and hating it less and less. I even completed my first 10K! I realized that the hard work and dedication you put forward using your body makes you feel better inside and out.

So when I think about how I pushed the mental, creative part of me this year, I wonder how I could challenge my physical, corporeal capabilities this year. It may be a disaster, but I know I'll have this community of words. I'll always have somewhere to belong.

mag 43

I dreaded this moment.

I thought, if I stayed out here,

the moment would melt like the

freshly fallen snow

from the night before.

I peered inside the clean window

and saw people milling about

in black attire.

The attire in direct contrast

with the newness of the snow.

I saw everyone,

save for one.

One whose absence felt

colder and more hollow

than the biting cold

out here.

Entering through that door,

a door I've entered many

times before,meant

 I'd finally have to let you go.

Let me linger here

just a little longer.

Let me breath in the

crisp air.

Let me smell the

clean of snow.

Let me remember you

just a lttle bit longer.

Magpie Tales

First Snow

Secret to youth:

Snow cascading joyfully;

Cheeks scarlet with cold.

postsecret find...

made my day...

My step mom (who's more than a stepmother, really), Kelly, gave me a shout out on her beautiful blog, Mrs. Mediocrity.



It made me smile and I realized that it's the little gestures like these that show how love, beauty, and understanding emanate from people dear to you...

barking at the moon

Three Words

Inspired by Three Word Wednesday

Escape

I traveled to the 

other side of the world

to escape you.

I collected treasures of 

sun-soaked beaches, 

delicate shells,

lust evening breezes,

peace of mind.

Yet, on those nights,

when I lay in cool sheets,

I think of your quiet gesture:

brushing my hair 

back from my face.
 

My memory's effect is immediate;

I forget to remember 

why I left in the first place.