Tag: writing

Celebrating 2023: A Month of Gratitude – Day 5

Seasons, reasons and lifetimes. I’m sure we have all heard the saying that some people come into your life for a season, a reason or a lifetime. Of course we only know which it is in hindsight so the only thing that is within our control is to enjoy and appreciate them while they are in your life.

Today I want to take a moment to say thank you to the people who have remained in my life this year, the new friends that have entered into my life and to those who have or are moving on. Each one of you has either helped make me stronger, kept me sane, brought a little or a lot of sunshine in my life, sprinkled some fairy dust, or held my hand when it needed to be held. These are just a few of the ways that you have helped me through this year and I hope I have done the same for you.

I don’t think I have ever believed in God answering prayers almost immediately until the end of July this year. I was dealing with an issue that had left me feeling overwhelmed. I was sitting in the bath in tears because I was at my whits end. I said a prayer to ask for help through my tears. As soon as I hopped out the bath, a new friend that I had recently made messaged me and I mentioned how upset I was and why. They immediately recommended a book that would help. I smiled because God knows that books are my favourite tools for everything. I felt better immediately just knowing that a solution existed. This friend also called me a few days later to talk me through a few techniques I could also use to change the situation when it arose again and, ultimately, overcome it. I am so grateful for this person and for the impact they have had on my life in a very short space of time.. They are literally God sent.

Until tomorrow…

Image: Canva

Celebrating 2023: A Month of Gratitude – Day 1

Gratitude is like food for the soul. I am celebrating 2023 by spending each day in December reflecting on and, being grateful for, my blessings this year. Join me. Perhaps you will be inspired to do the same.

Wow, here we are again. Day 1 of the final month of the year. I have so much to reflect on and lots to be grateful for.

2023 has been a journey like no other. A few dreams have come true. Some are on their way there. The losses have been learnings and the near misses have been eye openers. I mean where do I even begin?

Let’s start at the beginning. Reaching 50 has been a wonderful blessing. I said that my 50’s are going to be my best decade yet at the beginning of this year and it has definitely started well! I feel like this year I really came into myself. I still have lots of work to do but I have never been as comfortable in my own skin or as happy to be as I have been this year.

Image: Canva

The reality is that not much has changed materially in my world but I have changed and that has made all the difference.

Wishing you abundant blessings in every moment.

Lessons about Writing

Bloganuary day 29

Today’s Prompt: What is something you learned recently?

What a great question! I am probably what is known as an epistomophile as I am constantly reading and absorbing information. This is a great opportunity to take a step back and think about about what I have actually learnt and how much I have implemented. After all, as Dale Carnegie says: “Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.”

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

The value of morning pages

If you have read “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron then you would have come across the term “morning pages”. Julia Cameron recommends that, every morning, we get up and write out 3 pages of conscious streaming writing by hand. It is a clearing exercise that allows you to dump all the thoughts that are rolling around in your mind. I find that it is easier to meditate after writing these pages as I have now dealt with all the thoughts that usually pop up in my writing. I also often find that by the 3rd page (although I don’t always get there), I start coming up with new ideas, especially for work, which is pretty awesome. There is no right or wrong way to do this exercise and it is often a grump fest and can look like a to-do list. It’s a really great tool that helps you create space for your creativity.

How to easily calculate the readability of my text

This is I learnt today on Tetyana’s blog, #teachisfun, here on WordPress. You can find out more about to do this too at this link. I have always wanted to understand how to calculate the readability score of my blog posts as I am aware of how important it is but I have never taken the time to find out. Tetyana’s post also taught me about important rules that need to be followed for the best chance of creating a successful blog and includes very useful tips on creating a captivating heading for my posts. I suspect I am going to need a lot more practice with headings in particular. 😅

That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by. Bye for now.

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