Cannot Wait To See You Again.... :-)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4:3-5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

To being Woman.

I think about women a lot and the pain they share. I think about my mother's nights taking care of her sister, taking care of her mother's pain. I think about her cries when she miscarried the first time and how fifteen years later she still cries in the bathroom and barricades herself in a room when my father shouts.

think about my grandmother working in a factory fixing stockings for other women in the dark, talking to other tired women outside on the street. I think about her raising children and providing for the family, spending most of her life in the kitchen between pots and pans, riddled with cuts and burns and child bearing. I think about her abortion because she couldn't feed another mouth, because she was already starving.

I think about my great grandmother providing for a family with no husband around, carrying guilt, feeding the chicken, working two jobs, sleeping in a cold house with no lights on.

I think about the women I know who have blood on their thighs, from periods, from childbirth, from rape, from sex with violent men who don't care about them.

i think about the women in bathtubs filled with boiling water, drinking whiskey, using their own knitting needles and coat hangers and throwing themselves down the stairs.

I think about the women who get home and clean the house, wash the same dishes everyday, clean the same house everyday, raising the same children, crying secretly in their bathroom.

I think about the blonde woman on the street corner who I've seen being there for eight years now, waiting for violent men with violent fantasies, waiting for the next beating, the next police fine, the next chance to eat.

I think about a classmate who dropped out from sixth grade to go to Austria, to follow her mother, who went cried in the bathroom stall next to me, because she knew what is going to happen with her.

I think about the pain that women share, the pain they can't articulate, the pain that boils in them for all their lives, becuase it's never appropriate to let it out. wailing women at funerals burying what they made, wailing girls in bathrooms, wailing women alone in their houses.

their blood staining underwears, kitchen knives, bedsheets, thrown away condoms, being consumed from the inside out, because women's pain is natural, because there is greater pain out there, because only little girls cry, never adult women.

Because I am Kenyan. And it still Hurts. And it's even harder to Forgive. Impossible to Forget. But God's grace shall be Sufficient.

Haunting Images As Kenya Mourns Victims Of Garissa Terror Attack

Kenya has been in a state of shock since four al Shabab militants stormed Garissa University in the country’s east last Thursday and slaughtered at least 148 people.

The mass killing was the worst the nation has seen since the 1998 bombing of the American embassy and eclipsed the horrific al Shabab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi in 2013.

I’m ready for more. I’m ready for new experiences. I’m ready for adventure. I’m ready for expansion. I’m ready for growth.

Really cool Qs.

65 Questions You Aren't Used To

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

3. The person you would never want to meet?

4. What is your favorite word?

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

7. What shirt are you wearing?

8. What do you label yourself as?

9. Bright room or dark room?

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

12. Who told you they loved you last?

13. Your worst enemy?

14. What is your current desktop picture?

15. Do you like someone?

16. The last song you listened to?

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says. Man! What are you gonna say about that? Even if you don’t drink booze there’s something you can figure out… so what’s it gonna be?

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place? 

29. What is your favorite expletive?

30. Your house is on fire, holy shit! You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

31. You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

32. You got kicked out of the country for being a time-traveling heathen who sleeps with celebrities and has super-powers. But check out this cool shit… you can move to anywhere else in the world!

33. The Celestial Gates Of Beyond have opened, much to your surprise because you didn’t think such a thing existed. Death appears. As it turns out, Death is actually a pretty cool entity, and happens to be in a fantastic mood. Death offers to return the friend/family-member/person/etc. of your choice to the living world. Who will you bring back?

34. What was your last dream about?

35. Are you a good….[insert anything you’d like here]?

36. Have you ever been admitted to the hospital?

37. Have you ever built a snowman?

38. What is the color of your socks?

39. What type of music do you like?

40. Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?

41. What is your favorite milkshake flavor?

42. What football team do you support? (I will answer in terms of American football as well as soccer)

43. Do you have any scars?

44. What do you want to be when you graduate?

45. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

46. Are you reliable?

47. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

48. Do you hold grudges?

49. If you could breed two animals together to defy the laws of nature, what new animal would you create?

50. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

51. Are you a good liar?

52. How long could you go without talking?

53. What has been you worst haircut/style?

54. Have you ever baked your own cake?

55. Can you do any accents other than your own?

56. What do you like on your toast?

57. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

58. What would be you dream car?

59. Do you sing in the shower? Or do anything unusual in the shower? Explain.

60. Do you believe in aliens?

61. Do you often read your horoscope?

62. What is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

63. Which is cooler: dinosaurs or dragons?

64. What do you think about babies?

65. Freebie! Ask anything interesting you can think of.

Felt this so much.

Loving you it´s not always being by your side, is not always thinking about you, is not always dreaming about you; it´s to be available for you, it´s to be you, become one with you, it´s to be aware of your dreams, and of mine with you, it´s allowing you to know me completely all the way to the very center of my pain, and of my love.

Loving you is not to shelter myself  in you; it´s building a shelter together, with our hands, where the whole world can fit in.

Loving you is not writing you love poems; is being love when I write to you, and when I don´t.

Loving you is not expecting something from you; is simply waiting for you, in the silence, at night and in the day.

Loving you is not flattering you, it´s not enhancing your vanity, it´s not weakening you, it´s not confusing you; it´s to show you the value of your shadow, the wonder of your own light, it´s to help you to live alert, it´s to want you to fly while I watch you, absorbed, joyful.

Loving you is not just looking at you, smelling you or tasting you; it´s to look along with you at anything at the same time, to become one with your scent, to be a part of you.

Loving you is not to write that I love you; is sharing with you the best of me (love), without ever turning back, without a horizon.

Loving you it´s not renounce to my dreams for you; it´s to awake from my dreams with you, held by your hand.

Loving you is not to demand from you, it´s not forcing you, it’s not to put pressure on you, is not convincing you, is not defeating you; it´s to help you to break free from yourself, from me, from it all, it´s to give you my breath, to seduce you without any desire, nor an objective, it´s to enjoy you.

Loving you is not saying that I love you, is not thinking that I loved you, that I will love you; it´s to ask myself whether I love you, it´s to feel it, allowing it to develop in me, without even needing to tell you about it.

Loving you is not projecting ideas about you, it´s not idealizing you; it´s to see you from afar, from up close, from inside, (from you), from outside, see you beyond me.

Loving you is not to fear you, is not to own you, is not to guard you, Is not to watch you; it´s to hug you warmly, it´s to open my door to you, it´s to observe you in plain sight, in total darkness, with the eyes of my soul.

To love you it´s not to want you only when you love me, when you´re pretty, when you smile, when you kiss me, when you caress me, when you walk with elegance, when you are calm, when you are happy; it´s to accept you completely just as you are, always and everywhere, with simplicity, and joy.

Loving you it´s not to reject your flaws; it´s to become sensitive to them, without ever expecting you to change them. Loving you is not to desire to be the center of your life; it´s to lead you, if you allow me, if am able to, to the life of your core, without looking for any rewards.

Loving you is not to look at you from above, or from below, from behind, from the front; it´s to cultivate a balance that goes back and forth passing by our common center.

Creative Commons (cc) Authors:  mavisu   kumsal-things boowormblue  ousia-poetica

Amarte no es desear ser el centro de tu vida; es conducirte, si tú me lo permites, si soy capaz de hacerlo, a la vida de tu centro, sin buscar recompensas.

Amarte no es refugiarme en tu persona; es construir un refugio juntos, con nuestras propias manos, donde pueda caber el mundo entero.

Amarte no es escribirte mis poemas de amor; es ser amor cuando te escribo, y cuando no.

Amarte no es esperar algo de ti; es simplemente esperarte, en silencio, de noche y de día.

Amarte no es estar siempre a tu lado, no es pensar siempre en ti, no es soñar siempre contigo; es estar disponible para ti, es ser tú, hacerme uno contigo, es ser consciente de tus sueños, y de los míos contigo, es permitir que me conozcas por entero hasta el mismo centro de mi dolor, y de mi amor.

Amarte no es halagarte, no es envanecerte, no es debilitarte, no es llamar tu atención, no es confundirte; es mostrarte la valía de tu sombra, la maravilla de tu propia luz, es ayudarte a vivir alerta, es querer que vueles mientras te miro, absorto, dichoso.

Amarte no es escribir que te amo; es compartir contigo lo mejor de mí (el amor), sin vuelta atrás, sin horizonte.

Amarte no es renunciar a mis sueños por ti; es despertar de mis sueños, contigo, tomado de tu mano.

Amarte no es exigirte, no es obligarte, no es presionarte, no es convencerte, no es derrotarte; es ayudarte a liberarte de ti, de mí, de todo, es prestarte mi aliento, seducirte sin deseos, ni objetivos, es disfrutar de ti.

Amarte no es decirte que te amo, no es pensar que te amé, que te amaré; es preguntarme a mí mismo si te amo, es sentirlo, dejando que se desarrolle en mí, sin necesidad alguna de decírtelo.

Amarte no es proyectar ideas sobre ti, no es idealizarte; es verte desde lejos, desde cerca, desde dentro (desde ti), desde fuera, verte desde más allá de mí.

Amarte no es temerte, no es poseerte, no es custodiarte, no es vigilarte; es abrazarte cálidamente, es abrirte mi puerta, es observarte a plena luz, en total oscuridad, con los ojos del alma.

Amarte no es exigirte, no es obligarte, no es presionarte, no es convencerte, no es derrotarte; es ayudarte a liberarte de ti, de mí, de todo, es prestarte mi aliento, seducirte sin deseos, ni objetivos, es disfrutar de ti.

Amarte no es quererte únicamente cuando me amas, cuando estás guapa, cuando te sonríes, cuando me besas, cuando me acaricias, cuando caminas con elegancia, cuando estás tranquila, cuando estás feliz; es aceptarte entera tal cual eres, siempre y en todo lugar, con sencillez, con alegría.

Amarte no es rechazar tus defectos; es hacerme sensible a ellos y hacerte sensible a ellos, sin esperar jamás que los cambies.

Amarte no es sólo mirarte, olerte, o probarte; es mirar contigo a la vez cualquier cosa, hacerme uno con tu olor, formar parte de ti.

Fusión poética (Turquía - Argentína)

“Let love / be the light that shows again / the blossom to the root.”

Eavan Boland, New Collected Poems; “Tree of Life”

“It was dark, then it was dark again. It was dark so long we thought the day was lost.”

Naomi Shihab Nye, Words Under the Words; “The Endless Indian Nights”

“The first section of Darkness is the densest, Dear — After that, Light trembles in —”

Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Susan Gilbert Dickinson, November 1883

“Following a fearful night I do not quite remember came a kind / of dawn, not light, / But something we could see by.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay, Collected Poems; “Dream of Saba”

“There is nothing to be done but to go ahead with life moment by moment … try to create order and peace around me even if I cannot achieve it inside of me.”

Katherine Mansfield, Letters of Katherine Mansfield 

“Love is not consolation, it is light.”

Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace; “Detachment”

“This night (she pointed to herself) is irreparable, but where you are (pointed at me) it’s still light.”

Anna Akhmatova, quoted by Nikolay Punin in The Diaries of Nikolay Punin

“This is the way of love, to survive only in perpetual loss.”

Do Nguyen Mai, Ghosts Still Walking; “The Forever Way”

“I have thought of you often since the darkness,”

Emily Dickinson, Selected Letters of Emily Dickinson

“This is us. This is all of us. Before we knew this life would shatter, moving wild and unwanted through the dark and the light.”

Safiya Sinclair, excerpt of “Family Portrait”

“…there are still so many people of courage who go on fighting in spite of all these reasons for despair.”

May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

“Still, a great deal of light falls on everything.”

Vincent van Gogh, in a letter

“No, the abyss isn’t infinite. A half-light lurks even there.”

Traci Brimhall, Our Lady of the Ruins; “The Labyrinth” 

“I hope you have the power of hope,”

Emily Dickinson, Selected Letters of Emily Dickinson

“Maybe this is what love is, / And always will be, all my life. / Whispering, I give her an inch of hope / To bite on, like a bullet.”

Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems; “Aunt Elsie’s Night Music”

“Alas, I know that these consolations amount to so little, for they are quickly used up and the heartache incessantly replenishes on its own.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, in a letter to Magdalena Schwammberger

“Everyone is dying, everything is dying, and the earth is dying all, eaten up by the sun and the wind. I don’t know where I get the courage to keep on living in the midst of these ruins. Let us love each other to the end.”

George Sand, in a letter to Gustave Flaubert

“Tenderness is always timely.”

Susan Sontag, Alice in Bed

“You do not have to be good. / You do not have to walk on your knees / for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. / You only have to let the soft animal of your body / love what it loves. / Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. / Meanwhile, the world goes on.”

Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems; “Wild Geese”

“How lightly we learn to hold hope, as if it were an animal that could turn around and bite your hand. And still we carry it the way a mother would, carefully, from one day to the next.”

Danusha Laméris, The Moons of August; “Insha’Allah”

“Make it your ambition to take heart.”

Rainer Maria Rilke, in a letter to Magdalena Schwammberger

“Faith, not fear, she said. She’d heard that once and was trying to stamp the phrase on her mind. At the time, she couldn’t speak it aloud.”

Claude Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric

“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”

Mary Oliver, Evidence

“Tonight there is no ocean that does not sing. Even sorrow, which we have felt again in all our lands, has hands.”

Naomi Shihab Nye, Words Under the Words; “With the Greeks”

“In the dark times / Will there also be singing? / Yes, there will be singing. / About the dark times.”

Bertolt Brecht

“This is the human way, she thought. On the edge of destruction, at the end of all things, we still dance. And hope.”

Rosamund Hodge, Crimson Bound

Dear Lord. Feels.

I hope I find someone that loves me the same way Stephen Colbert loves his wife ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

kinda weird hozier asks

- Take Me To Church- Are you religious?

- Work Song- Is there anyone you’d sing a love song to, romantic or platonic?

- Someone New- Do you fall in love easily?

- Almost- Do you ever dance alone to music?

- Cherry Wine- Do you have a sweet tooth?

- Nina Cried Power- Do you participate in any activist movements?

- From Eden- Do you think theres “something tragic about this” life?

- Movement- Do you perform in any way?

- Angel Of Small Death and The Codeine Scene- Any addictions?

- Like Real People Do- Have you kissed people?

- Jackie and Wilson- Do you want kids?

- Shrike- What’s your favorite bird?

- Dinner and Diatribes- What’s your favorite food?

- Moment’s Silence- What do you find beautiful about the situation you’re in now?

- Would That I- Is there anything you wish you could change about the past?

- NFWMB- Is there anything you would protect with your life?

- To Be Alone- Do you prefer other people’s company or your own?

- Arsonist’s Lullabye- Do you ever feel lost?

- No Plan- Do you believe in a pre-determined purpose in life?

- Sedated- What time do you go to sleep?

- As it Was- Do you go to many parks and natural places?

- In A Week- How do you want to die?

- Be- Have you changed much as a person in the last year?

- In the Woods Somewhere- Have you ever had a supernatural experience?

- My Love Will Never Die- Are you dating anyone?

- It Will Come Back- Do you like to write?

- To Noise Making- Do you like to sing?

- Talk- What’s your best friend like?

- Nobody- Who in your life is important to you?

- Foreigner’s God- Do you ever talk to yourself or something above?

- Sunlight- Do you prefer sunny or rainy weather, or somewhere in between?

Thanks for playing!

I used to be a really passionate writer and really enjoyed crafting language but it's been years since I've written anything that's not for school. I really want to start writing again but I don't have any story ideas that I'm excited about. What should I do to start writing again?

When you want to start writing again, but aren’t sure how to start:

1. Read a variety of books.

Various authors, various genres, the more you expand your examples the better because it means exposure to more ideas. Don’t be afraid to take up books you may not like since there’s a great deal of learning to be found in why you dislike something, and the depth it gets you thinking can help contribute to your own ideas. The “spite write” is also a thing, where you hate something, or some part of a thing, so much that you go off and do it yourself.

2. Engage with a writing community.

Every writer likes a different level of engagement, but writing communities can be extra helpful at providing idea discussion. It’s also okay if it takes a while for you to find the right one. Some writers are happy with the ones that are for pure fun and keep away from real critique whereas others want detailed critiques and a push to be better. The community you’re part of needs to align with your goals for writing. 

3. Write what you know… so know interesting things.

Blatantly stolen from my own TbaBW post, but if you think your life is too boring for inspiration or you want to write about something but don’t know how, then get yourself out there and learn. Find new experiences, ask willing people about their lives, try new things even if you aren’t sure about them, research new subjects; increase your inspiration and well of knowledge so you can write what you know. You’re limited by your own knowledge and creativity, so work hard to make sure that limit does not exist.

4. Find prompts or guided writing exercises.

A lot of writers use prompts or guided exercises to get their writer's muscles moving. Aside from providing the base idea for you, they don’t require commitment and are just a form of practice, but can be turned into more polished stories if it really works out. The best use of these isn’t just reading them and deciding if you instantly like it or not, but taking some time to really think about how they can unfold.

5. Brainstorm.

While there are times when ideas just come to you, it’s common for creative people to have to brainstorm and put real effort into coming up with decent ideas. Brainstorming activities can look like, but aren’t limited to:

Inspiration from music. Some songs tell stories, some paint a scene, some capture a mood, and some are just good background music. Listening to music can be a good source of inspiration for writing.

Talk it out. Ask your friend and family what kind of stories they like to hear and why, or ask them anything about stories that you think will get them to talk. You may not want to write those exact things, but the dialogue can get some ideas thrown out there.

Inspiration from art. Similar to music, take a look at paintings, sketches, or maybe even dances that can provide something. Especially pay attention to the details and what the artist could potentially by trying to convey.

Ways to Develop Plot Ideas (link embedded) covers more idea generation!

6. Productivity can be worked on.

Most writers naturally go through a cycle of interest and disinterest in their projects or even writing in general. I have these linked posts for general info on increasing productivity:

Tips for Improving Writing Productivity, Pt 1

Tips for Improving Writing Productivity, Pt 2

Tips for Improving Writing Productivity, Pt 3

Tips for Improving Writing Productivity, Pt 4

You may also want to check out the Motivation and Discipline tag since there’s a lot of info related to productivity and getting back into writing, especially when you aren’t feeling so great about it.

7. Don’t be afraid of not being great.

It’s been a while since you’ve written and it’s normal for skills to get rusty. Your skills before may not even have been where you wanted to be, but all you can do is compare yourself to where you once were rather than other writers. Writing is personal journey and can be a tough skill to build, so don’t beat yourself up if you have trouble. You have to be bad at something before you’re good at it.

Good luck with your writing!

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