Hello everyone!

The prompt for this week is: superhero or heroine.

A hero, Little Lucy was lacking.
Her little friends all thought she was slacking.
She thought and she thought,
then a fun thought she caught!
To be her own hero was cracking.

Do you have a mantra? The original meaning of mantra is something that you repeat to help you concentrate while you are meditating. There are lots of people, however, who use a mantra to help them concentrate in other ways. Do you have one? Do you need one? Would you like one? Can you share yours or is it secret and private? How do you feel about mantra?

“There is so much good in the worst of us and bad in the best of us that it behooves any one of us to judge any of the rest of us.”

While it’s a philosophy I keep rather than a mantra I actively use, it still is something I use to calm down and concentrate when I need to.

I think having a mantra is a good thing. How hard is it to concentrate these days? To sit and focus on something? A lot harder than it used to be, that’s for sure. A mantra is a tool that people can use in a variety of situations.

I don’t see a down side…

I know we don’t very often go fantasy here at Sunday Scribblings, and this doesn’t have to be if you don’t want to go there. It is inspired by this J.R.R. Tolkein quote: “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”

The fact is, you could take this quite literally and do a piece on dragons or you could think about what dragons in your life you need to take into your calculations. What large, fire breathing entity requires your attention?

I am my dragon.

I neglect me, though I need care.
I don’t love me, though I thrive on love.
I abuse myself, though I am emotionally a young, sensitive girl.

I am my dragon.

I focus on the fire, the strength, the passion!
I try to harden my scales to the outside world.
I keep the beautiful lady trapped inside my cave.

But I sing to my dragon.
I tell it I will do better.
I start, in little ways, to quell the beast…

…and my dragon is slowly releasing me.

I know that this prompt is absurdly early (I’m just keeping you on your toes!) I am going to a wedding this weekend and rather than have the possibility of having no prompt until late Sunday night, I thought I’d give you your assignment now. The prompt for this week is: event.

Happy scribbling!

A fiction bit this week…

***

Evelyn looked away from the mirror for a moment to the wall to her right. She knew that not far beyond that wall stood Steven, her school years sweetheart. How long had they known each other? Their life together felt as if it had been going on for decades rather than the ‘mere’ eighteen years of reality.

She focused back on the mirror, powdering her forehead once more, though she didn’t need it. The cool of the night made her feel better about holding the event at night. Unexpected and unconventional, to be sure, but she and Steven had agreed it was for the best with the days being so hot in late September.

Nervous flutters made their way around her stomach, and she stared at herself in the mirror once more. She’d dismissed her best friend, Lily, so she could have some time alone to gather her thoughts. And, to be honest, her nerves.

True, she’d never been so sure or excited about a single decision in her life, but surety wasn’t necessarily a cure for nerves.

Was Steven be nervous, too? Perhaps, but he wouldn’t show it. An ideal poker player, he held his feelings and thoughts close to him.

A knock at the door from Lily signaled that it was time, and she stood. Nodding to herself in the mirror, she walked out of her room. Steven emerged from his room at nearly the same time, and they looked at each other. The moment held for one beautiful moment of silence.

Mr. James McCallister cleared his throat.

They all filed into the conference room and sat down in the large, comfortable but intimidating black chairs.

“We all know why we’re here,” Mr. McCallister said. “Everything else has been settled, and now all we have to do is sign the papers to settle the legal ends.”

Lily smiled and squeezed Evelyn’s hand.

McCallister passed the documents to Steven, who signed them without a glance and then passed them to Evelyn. Evelyn did the same and then passed them to McCallister.

He looked at each of them in turn for a long moment. Then he nodded.

“I now pronounce you divorced.”

With a content sigh, Evelyn smiled for the first time in a long time.

What are you fluent in? What interests you? Can you be fluent in anything other than a language? What is your take on fluency?

I don’t claim fluency in anything.

Haha. That would have been quite the short post, wouldn’t it? Anyway, I really don’t claim fluency in anything. At one point I might have said I was fluent in blogging, but then I was overtaken by the wonderfully talented people who actually create blog templates. At another point, I might have said that I was fluent in fiction writing…but all my published writing is either non-fiction or poetry.

In the end, I think it all comes down to a matter of confidence. Oh, I can do plenty of things and most of them well, but I don’t hold nearly enough confidence in myself to claim that I’m fluent in anything. I don’t know when I would be satisfied that I had enough knowledge in any subject to claim fluency.

And I have had many interests over the years…

Paranormal activity, astrology, palmistry, fiction writing, psychology, body language, blogging, HTML, website building, poetry, Egyptian mythology, ancient history, biology (specifically plant life), powerpoint presentations, computer gaming, console gaming (everything from atari to PS2), scrapbooking, card making, stained glass windows and mirrors (using ‘paints’ rather than actual glass), a number of different religions and philosophies…

I think I’ll leave it off at that.

Fluency is a wonderful thing to have, if you have it in a subject/language/etc you are passionate about. However, I’ll take my bits and bobs from all places. I think it makes my background just a smidge more interesting.

In honour of the Olympics and the amazing things that people are capable of, the prompt this week is: big dreams.

I don’t try poetry much because I think I’m not good at it, but this one inspired some choppy prose poetry. Hehe.

Big Dreams

My dreams,
small in the eyes of others,
holding
infinite beauty.

Echoes
from within my soul,
laughing at the non-existent,
so-called ‘impossibilities.

Held
in a baby’s smile,
in a clear full moon,
lighting my path through darkness.

My dreams
of infinite beauty
forever existing
within my reach.

What message do you have to share? What message have you gotten? What message is life giving you? Did you listen? Did someone else? What’s the message here?

Plenty of people are of the opinion that I have a message to share about my life and experiences. I’m firmly of the opinion that I can’t have possibly lived enough by this age to have anything to say about life.

Well, that’s what I tell people, anyway.

Recently, the universe has seen that I am willing to take steps to become the woman I want to be. Thus, the universe has been lending me a hand. All the ‘messages’ I appear to be getting and feeling point me towards doing the things that make me feel afraid.

Facing your fears is hardly a new concept, but it is new to me. I wasn’t aware of just how many things I am afraid of until I started thinking about it and facing them. I have done all of three scary things so far, and strangely enough, I feel amazing for it. Vulnerable, unsure and confused as well, but the amazing bit is the important part.

I believe we all have our own trials in life, specific to our lives. What is scary for me is not scary for you and vice versa because we all have different things to learn. What I am learning is that I need to focus on the things I face, not what other people might think of my fears.

The funny thing out of all of this is that one of my fears is sitting down and writing about my life. Facing all those events again. I’m afraid of facing it and having other judge what I’ve been through.

So maybe I’ll end up writing that memoir after all…

This is the 200th Sunday Scribblings prompt! When I started this blog in 2006, I hoped that a few people would want to write with us once a week. I had no idea it would last this long or that so many people would continue to participate. Thank you so much for continuing to come and play! Is there anyone out there who has done every single one?

In honour of number 200, the prompt for this week is: Milestone.

You know what? I don’t know what to write. I started on something, didn’t like it, and I haven’t thought of anything creative since.

I guess I’ll just have to pass this week.

What are you saying yes to in your life? What have you said yes to that changed your life? How has yes been a part of your year so far? Do you practice yes or no? Maybe there is something you need to not say yes to. What writing comes to you from yes?

This year, I am saying yes to life. I am saying yes to the things that make me uncomfortable and frightened but that I know will help me to grow into the person I need to be.

Less than a week ago, I said yes to spending a week four hours away from home, away from husband, with no internet connection whatsoever and dodgy at best mobile phone reception. This will be the first time I have been completely alone for that amount of time and not at home. And with nothing to do but write.

I’m am saying yes to saying no. I am not letting what I think I should be doing overwhelm what I need to be doing (and not doing).

I am saying yes to moving on to the next stage of my life.