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The Power of Timeless Words

The Power of Timeless Words
by Lisa A Kramer
I just read an amazing book.

It contains words, as books usually do, and offers clarity that can speak to people from any generation, especially women but I think the lessons apply to both sexes. It contains poetry, imagery, honesty, insight, and peace.

While I bought the Kindle version, I wish I owned a hard copy. I want to write notes in pencil in the margin, dog ear pages, and read it over and over again. I know, some of you are wincing at the thought of the desecration of the pristine pages, but I don't see it as that. I would see it as revisiting an old friend for advice, learning from its wisdom, and giving it the sheen of a...

OCCUPY THANKSGIVING Meets the 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups

OCCUPY THANKSGIVING Meets the 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups
by Lisa A Kramer
This week  marks the 20th 100 Word Challenge over at Julia's Place. I think I have missed a couple, but it has been a wonderful journey through incredible writing.



As usual, Julia has set us an interesting challenge. In her words: Now for this week we are going topical again. The King James bible celebrated it’s 400th birthday last week. Although it is a religious text is has formed our language across the years. It has some surprising phrases that we use often in  everyday conversations.

The prompt this week is to use at least one of these for inspiration.

…the powers that be  /  the apple of his eye  /   the writing...

Riding on the Coattails of Fame

by Lisa A Kramer
I heard a radio advertisement yesterday that the great  great (great?) grandson of Charles Dickens would be presenting a reading of A Christmas Carol somewhere, creating different voices of all the characters.

Image via Wikipedia

Interesting? Perhaps, but it got me thinking about how many people get opportunities to publish, to speak, to act, to . . . whatever,  simply because of their relationship to someone famous. They may not have a single talent in their own right, but a distant link to a distant relative gets their foot in the door like nothing else can.

I suppose the children of writers, artists, actors, great politicians (if there is such a thing), speakers, etc. have it in their blood,  but...

Life's Wisdom Learned in Works for Children

Life's Wisdom Learned in Works for Children
by Lisa A Kramer
Whenever the craziness and insanity of our world gets to be too much, I find myself turning to old favorite things for comfort. Sometimes that means putting in a good romantic comedy (When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, Notting Hill, or The Holiday are my recent go to picks). But, more often than not, I search for comfort in all things related to children--movies, books, and television shows (even the most obnoxious ones from Disney). Of course, some of my go to comforts aren't specifically for children, but most of them filter the world through the eyes of childhood and reveal that children are much closer to simple truth than so many adults who think they know everything.

The past...

Farewell is a Hard Word to Say

by Lisa A Kramer
Sometimes I wish I had been one of those people who never left home, and was content staying in the town she grew up in living among family and friends who have known her forever.

But I'm not. Instead I have been a person who travels, gathering experiences and friends wherever I go.

Yet, I find it difficult to make friends, difficult to trust. Not because of my travelling ways but for numerous other reasons that are difficult to explain or understand. I am shy. I doubt my worthiness as a friend. I don't feel cool enough.  I don't want to intrude. All of these reasons and more make it challenging for me to become close to people.

So when I connect with...

The Journey as Sestina

The Journey as Sestina
by Lisa A Kramer
 I felt like writing poetry today, and decided to challenge myself by writing in a form called Sestina. I've only used this form once before, in a poem I wrote years ago for my sister called "A Sestina from the Heart".  MOVING INTO THE UNKNOWN Box by box, item by item, I pack for our move to a place both familiar and yet unknown pursuing a life or perhaps a dream of days filled with fulfilling work and challenges met with a smile, a laugh, and joy and evenings filled with stars, friends, and peace. What will it take to find that peace? Does the solution lie with this next move? Or does the truth lie with inner joy and acceptance that life is a journey into the unknown with every day...

"A Dog's Purpose" Meets the Journey

by Lisa A Kramer
[slideshow]

"Can you give away your dogs?"

That question, from a rental agent, hit me in the gut as I began searching for a place to live as we make this next move. We still do not know for sure where we will live, because the simple answer to that question was "No."

Can we give away our dogs? Why should we have to?

This morning, as I avoided packing some more, I finished reading A Dog's Purpose: A Novel for Humans by W. Bruce Cameron. The book tells the story of a dog's many lives, a warm and wonderful creature who yearns to find the purpose in his existence--a purpose that ultimately relates to loving and being loved in return. Shouldn't that be the...

Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt

by Lisa A Kramer
I am doing it. The ultimate sacrifice. In the name of a lighter load, I am purging my t-shirt collection. Now, to be fair, I believe I have done this a few times before, as many of my t-shirts seem to have disappeared, but it is never easy. Have you ever thought about the story of your life as it is told through fashion? Well, obviously we all go through trends and stages of fashion in our life. But, since I avoid the camera and haven't really kept up with fashion trends (or really shopped for myself) for a long time, I can't share that story here. I can, however, share part of my story as it is told through t-shirts....

The Path Forward (100 word challenge)

by Lisa A Kramer
As you can tell, my posts seem to be following a theme this week. Please forgive. ;)



The sun shone but could not penetrate the shadowy darkness under the trees, except in tiny ribbons reflecting through dancing leaves. Elaina could only see a few feet down the rough dirt path. She hesitated, looking back, before entering the dimness, fearful of what lay ahead. Four steps in and the silence grew overpowering. Her skin tingled with the feeling of eyes watching, hidden in the depths of the silent trees. “You can do this,” she whispered to herself. “Your future lies ahead.” Slowly she moved deeper into the mysterious trees, accompanied only by the knowledge that this was the path meant for her.

[caption...

The Journey in Etheree

The Journey in Etheree
by Lisa A Kramer


For the poem, I attempted another etheree, as I thought it would create the image of words moving into the distance down the road. It reads as follows: Now Begins The Journey Moving onward into the unknown. In the distance, a choice as yet unseen, a tunnel a fork in the road to somewhere beyond the knowledge and the dreams and plans of the woman who moves forward bravely. ____________________ Today's Quote: 

"It is better to travel well than to arrive. " Buddha 

On the Road Again . . . Into the Unknown

On the Road Again . . . Into the Unknown
by Lisa A Kramer
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v9-InvDwMw]

I've always had the secret fantasy of becoming a singer in a band, sharing music with the masses as I travel from town to town. I have the hidden urge to be a song writer, but that would require me to become much more fluent in the language of music then I currently am. Of course, I can read it a little better now, since I decided to start studying piano last year, but I lost the fluency of my youth.



But this post isn't about music, or about my secret dreams. It is about journeys and our path through life.  I would have to argue that "journey of life" is one of my guiding metaphors, but I've forgotten that recently....

Luck, Life, and Inspiration

Luck, Life, and Inspiration
by Lisa A Kramer
My mind is working at a frenetic pace, bouncing from thought to thought, image to image, idea to idea. It almost feels like my brain is full of thousands of fireflies, butterflies, and hummingbirds racing around in a magical dance whose meaning I could understand and interpret if only I knew the secret language of their nearly silent song.

Despite this chaotic dance, I feel the need to post. Writing for me is a way of making meaning, yet, even as I write I still feel confused. So today I want to share some of the fleeting thoughts and images that have added to the mental disarray.

This week the world offered me many messages. So I will share with you the...

Advertising Self

Advertising Self
by Lisa A Kramer


Our world runs on advertising. Homes for sale or rent, products to sell,  places to visit, services . . . we all find them through advertisements.

But advertising, as I was reminded quite painfully yesterday, can be false. (Where do people think of these scams?)

I've been thinking a lot about advertising lately, as I try to figure out how best to move forward into the next adventure of my life. I have to advertise myself. I have to advocate for myself as well. I have to promote and sell myself, and I simply don't know how. I can do it for other people really well, but when it comes to self-promotion or self-advertising I...

"Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First"


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