Category: A to Z Challenge
V is for Vacation #atozchallenge
Do you know what I’ve discovered, though? I don’t have to have a real vacation in order to feel like I’m getting one. Instead I can take an afternoon or evening and turn it into vacation mode. I can curl up with a book, set aside a task and play a game with my bro, or even make a special meal for the family. Stepping out of routine changes up life and is good for me, even if I don’t always like it.
There’s also such a thing as taking a vacation from being creative. Sometimes I get tired of being creative and I just want to glide through life for a few days by rote. And that’s okay, as long as it doesn’t last for very long. In fact it can be quite helpful cause it not only gives me a break, but it also reminds me of how much more alive life feels when it’s stoked with creativity.
And now I’m off to get some work on a sun encased patio with an azure blue sky encompassing the world and coconut tree fonds rustling in the wind all around me. This would seriously be an amazing setting for a book… Maybe after I catch up on my non-writing job for the day I’ll be able to write some.
U is for Uno #atozchallenge
T is for Twist and Turn #atozchallenge
I have so much fun taking average and ordinary things and twisting and turning them around to see them from a unique perspective.
Try reading a familiar book upside down for instance. Or taking an every day task like eating and writing and doing it with your non-dominate hand. Sometimes I act like I’m riding a horse when I go for a jog or like I’m flying an airplane when I’m cutting grass with the zero-turn.
Next time you’re a passenger in a car try imagining you’re riding a (really fast) horse along the berm of the road. What obstacles can you jump over, which ones do you have to go around? (I actually gave up on the horse a while ago and traded it in for a liger… Pretty much the coolest animal ever.)
When I am vacuuming the house using the sweeper hose, I always pretend like the hose is my pet elephant’s trunk. I like to try to do normal hand activities with my feet (crocheting doesn’t work all that great because I can’t quite figure out how to hold the hook the right way), or multitask with opposites. (Back when I took piano lessons if I had a slow song to practice I would listen to “The Woodpecker Song” by Buddy Davis on full blast next to me as I plinked along… I guess it’s no wonder my piano playing never progressed very far.)
Every day (and seemingly mundane) life activities are actually catalysts to spur creativity to greater levels and I throughly enjoy finding ways to exercise the experimental and artistic side of my brain.
S is for Scenery #atozchallenge
R is for Reading #atozchallenge
Reading is one of the best ways I’ve found to expand my creativity. Today I thought I’d share some of my favorite books with y’all.
Over the Divide has been one of my favorite and most read books during the last seven years. The best part of the book is the voice of the story, it’s so clear and extremely real. Plus the author hit the perfect balance with what details to include; even now I can picture the setting to a T, although it’s been months since I last read it.
The story takes place during a backpack trip over the continental divide, and parallels the internal journey the main character, Jacy, goes through.
Love Does tells the fantastic true account of the author’s life and how he lives each day to the fullest to bring glory to God. What I like most about this book is how he doesn’t worry about being like everyone else. His life is one big, difference-making adventurous and creativity plays a key part in what he does.
Homer Price is a book my mom read to me when I was a kid and then eventually I began reading it for myself. It’s been a couple of years since I last read it, but I remember it being quite funny and really creative in it’s delivery.
You can find out about more of the books I read and enjoy over at my Goodreads account, and if you’re on Goodreads, I’d be happy for book recommendations.
Q is for Questions #atozchallenge & Writing and Life Update
Today I took a break from most of my writing work, and instead had good family time, caught up on some reading, and took several long walks on the beach. In reality I just walked back and forth in front of our section of the beach, but it didn’t feel redundant because the rolling waves changed the scenery each time I went past.
I walked a little over ten miles, which felt like a good workout since I was on the sand and walking on the sand is a good way to invest energy. Plus, it’s ties with my longest walking workout since I began training for the marathon, only I spread it out doing half in the morning and half in the afternoon, instead of all at once.
P is for Practice #atozchallenge
O is for Optimistic #atozchallenge + Pictures from Cancun
There were lots of gorgeous flowers in the hotel. Flowers make pretty much everything better. I’m nearly constantly delighted by the wonderful and diverse flowers God has created and how they look, smell, and feel so beautiful.
There was a coffee/tea bar open all the time and sandwiches and little desserts from 12:00 until 4:00 each afternoon. It was so much fun editing and drinking lots of coffee and iced tea and nibbling on little cakes. The best part was it was all free. (Technically the company we work for and earned the trip with paid for it, but it was a flat fee and so we could take as much or as little as we wanted.)
The view out the one side was bright and lovely, the sun shinning brightly through windows that are bigger than my office.
And, above the courtyard was a brilliant dome with lovely stained-glass.
Now we’re staying at a very delightful old coconut plantation. I’m looking forward to sharing pictures of it with y’all during the next few weeks.
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It’s that time again where we get to choose where Annie goes for this week in our Friday Series, Around the World in Fifty-Two Weeks. And our destination is… Georgia! (The country.)
M is for Make #atozchallenge
Choose something and then make it. There are literally millions of things that can be physically made: A meal, a bed, a wig, a piece of art, a tree house, Etc… There are also nearly innumerable concepts you can make: memories, decisions, challenges, goals, attitude adjustments, and the list goes on…
On any given day I have the honor to make and create and use my imagination to turn the common into the uncommon. Sometimes I make memories by stopping what I’m doing and challenging my little brother to a round of dominoes. Sometimes I choose to step outside of my comfort zone and make a step in my personal development by doing something that freaks me out. Sometimes I decide to make a special meal for my family. Other times I want to make a difference in someone’s life.
In March I spent a lot of time making art with my hands, instead of with just words. I worked on a mosaic, colored pictures, painted, created things out of clay, and stretched my art-challenged (other than words) self. I did all of this because I’d been feeling uncreative and I wanted to revamp that part of my life. And guess what? It worked.
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What are some things you enjoy making?