In this past week I've feel as if I've been battling a post-vacation
hangover trying to reinsert myself into the chaos and demands of a
stress-inducing job. I find myself checking email during dinner, waking
up in the middle of night running worst case scenarios and generally
worrying about the bottom line in a particularly slow cycle of sales.
There doesn't seem to be much time or opportunity to write anything, let
along work on my submissions. I keep telling myself I just need to get
out in front of my work and I can score some breathing room to work on
some things but so far that seems like little more than a lofty
aspiration. One thing that hasn't escaped my attention is how
drastically my daughter has changed in this past year. I was so blessed
to have had a full, uninterrupted week to spend with her on vacation. I
found myself just watching her at times, transfixed by how much she's
matured this summer. First off, she's shed every once of baby fat,
revealing that she will most likely and thankfully take after her
father. I can see the familiar lines of his lithe build in her physique
and also touch of athleticism I wished I had possessed at her age. The
Florida sun turned her skin its loveliest shade of caramel which has
brought out the jade colored flecks in her eyes. She seems for the first
time, to be wholly unlike either one of us, but rather uniquely
herself. She is developing her own sense of humor and her own sense of
style. She had a variety of laughs at her disposal...a quiet giggle, a
playful snicker and a full-on belly laugh that makes my heart joyful
when I hear it. She often walks aside of us now but just as often slips
her hands into one of ours and readily returns our hugs and kisses. She
is still sweet, occasionally saucy and simply amazing to behold. And now
for the prompts...prompts keep me focused, they keep me "in the ink" so
to speak...
"Blogging Circle of Friends "
Day 1324, June 30, 2016
PROMPT: throughout history, stories have influenced a change in society
(for example Jules verne's " from the Earth to the Moon,inspiring the
moon landing, or 20000 leagues under the sea inspired the creation of
electric submarines, or George Orwell's "1984" inspiring the NSA spy
scandals, Using a specific literary work, explain how a novel might
influence
change in society.
I think either read this prompt a little differently, or have a slightly
jaded take on it because the novel that came immediately to mind was
Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaids Tale". I read the book over a decade
ago but the story stayed with me. For those who are unfamiliar, the
novel of speculative fiction, tells the story of a future where women
had been striped up their most basic rights. Following a terrorist
attack and subsequent takeover, society has been rigidly restructured
into a caste system whereby women are divided and devalued based on
their fertility. It is a vivid depiction of the worse scenario for women
in a society ruled by controlled by men and their archaic and brutal
philosophical ideals. The reason this particular novel comes to mind is
that we live in a time when the debate of abortion repeatedly surfaces
in nearly every political race or round table discussion. The women's
right to chose is repeated challenged, with constantly changing laws
shifting the power balance in one direction or the other. It seems
unstable and precarious sometimes...this sense of control over our lives
and our bodies. We all know about places in the world where women do
not enjoy the same freedoms, the same rights. We all know of places
where women are not free, are not safe. We all know of places where
women are enslaved by political and religious idealogy. There are
places where the parallels between the fictitious Gilead and modern day
society can be clearly drawn and that should be frightening to every
global citizen. It certainly frightens me. The right over my own body is
God-given and sacred and the thought that any government could lay
claim to that right, could move to supercede my own authority over self,
is simply not acceptable to me.
"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
Day 844 June 30, 2016
Prompt: What is the most independent thing you have ever done?
I feel that I have been pretty independent my whole life. I've made some
mistakes but I've always tried to push myself too. I elected to go to
college out of state and after that first summer break, I made the
permanent move out. My parents were already in the middle of divorce and
after several brief months bouncing between "his" and "her" houses, it
was very clear to me that I was better off on my own. I think though
perhaps the most independent thing I have ever done was to buy my
ex-husband out of of the house in the divorce. It was my first home and
it was terrifying. It was a project to renovate, both emotionally and
physically. The house had seen its far share of discontent and there
were lots of bad memories there. I was determine to look past that and
start over. With very limited knowledge, I patched all the fist-sized
holes and battered doors. I threw away all the garage-sale furniture
that was a scarred as I felt and replaced it with the bright and the
new. I repainted, repaired and replaced with abandon. Eventually, I felt
like I had reclaimed the space as one I felt safe and secure in. It
wouldn't truly become a home for me again until I remarried and gave
birth to my daughter. Today it is the first place I really feel happy
and complete. My husband and our daughter have really been what have
made this house a home. I'm grateful though, that I took that leap for
myself. It was such an instrumental part of becoming the person, the
mother and the wife I am today.
