Make Me Think Monday Archives - Page 29 of 36

22 04, 2015

APRIL SHOWERS, MAY FLOWERS and PETRICHOR

By judythemorgan|2015-04-22T06:00:00-05:00April 22nd, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

We’ve all at one time or another repeated the rhyme, April showers bring May flowers. Most of us are also familiar with the heady smell before a rainfall.

Since April is also poetry month, it’s appropriate that the saying first appeared in 1610 in a poem as Sweet April showers/Do spring May flowers.

The science behind the rhyme and that peculiar smell is also interesting.

According to meteorologists, March winds push in low pressure systems to replace the normally dry winter air with much more moist air in the low pressure systems. The more and stronger the low pressure system, the more rain falls.

Days grow warmer and genetically hard-wired plants push through as the soil thaws and frosts end. Rain helps nutrients reach the roots faster. Springtime sees increased activity of animals, birds, and insects which renews the ecosystem.

The smell of rain comes from the oil released into the air before rain begins to fall. Scientists named the smell petrichor. Read all about the process and the name here.

Whether you sing in the rain or grumble inside on rainy days, think about what’s to come. Those dark days will bring beautiful flowers.

20 04, 2015

Creative Subtraction and My Red Pencil

By judythemorgan|2015-04-20T06:00:44-05:00April 20th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

Last week I shared how creativity is like math. We subtract things and we add things when we are being creative.

This week I’m considering how to apply subtraction to your life in general, not just your creativity.

It seems like there’s always something we can add to our lives. There’s so much possibility and potential wrapped up in our choices to add this or that. We spend years accumulating stuff or doing things because we always have.

Sometimes it’s easy to differentiate between what should and what could be subtracted. Other times it takes time and effort to decide what to remove.

Subtraction is about getting to the heart of what’s important and meaningful and eliminating the rest.

Why is subtraction important?

By identifying where we are and what we’re doing we can make decisions about what is robbing our time and our energy.
We can eliminate things like thoughts, outdated methods, stuff that we hang on to that doesn’t help move us forward.
We can investigate new additions that will improve our creative process.

I have a red pencil to subtract the things that don’t really matter in my writing. It’s a remnant from my schoolteacher days and a reminder of the time I spent grading papers. These days I use my red pencil to take away words, sentences, whole chapters without losing what I most want to say.

Sometimes our subtracting requires a literal red pencil. Other times the red pencil is metaphoric. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean…

The noise of the internet – twitterfacebookblogslivesphotoswords – can be become overwhelming at times. A time and energy suck. Applying the imaginary red pencil in my head, I log-out and redirect my attention to what’s important for my writing and my life.

Then there are projects and invitations. Usually worthy, but there are only so many hours in the day and so much energy to expend. I examine the pros and cons of each project or invitation based on my schedule and current workload. My red pencil draws a line through ones with more cons than pros so I have time for what’s important in my life and my writing.

If the idea of subtraction is new to you, consider starting small. Try removing just one thing – one word from a sentence, one DIY project, one item of clothing from your overstuffed closet, one piece of furniture – and see what happens. The results can be monumental in re-framing the way you see and feel and create.

Check these links for more ways to subtract in your life:

Many ideas to apply year round: Clearing Your Life For A New Year by Leo Babauta.
Specific suggestions on simplifying our lives: 28 Ways to Stop Complicating Your Life from Marc and Angel Hack.

13 04, 2015

Adding and Subtracting for Creativity

By judythemorgan|2015-04-13T06:00:14-05:00April 13th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Creativity is a way of thinking, a way of viewing the world, and we all have slightly different ways we create.

Austin Kleon in his book How to Steal Like an Artist suggests:
“Creativity isn’t just the things we chose to put in, it’s also the things we chose to leave out.”

Sounds a lot like math to me.

Put something in = adding; leave something out =subtracting.

Some creative people start with nothing and add piece by piece until a final work is complete.

The opposite of addition is subtraction. Being creative by subtraction means you begin with a great mass of stuff, then the chip away, removing little by little until the final work is revealed underneath.

Examples of creation by addition

• Musicians and composers begin with a single melody line, beat, or sample and build layers until the piece of music is complete.

• Weavers begin with an idea or design, and then weave thread by thread, color by color, layer by layer until the finished tapestry emerges.

• Poets and writers may write one or two lines at a time, adding slowly, each word carefully chosen and placed in the correct position and sequence and complementing what’s been put there before.

Examples of creation by subtraction

• Archaeologists have a vague idea of what’s buried where they chose to dig, but they delicately, systematically remove the earth and debris to uncover the treasures.

• Sculptors start with a chunk of their chosen medium, stone or wood for example, then chip away gradually until the sculpture emerges.

• Fiction Editors begin with a completed manuscript, and then slowly remove the excess and weak parts to expose a great novel.

Most creative types probably use a combination process of adding and subtracting.

When I’m writing, I start with a premise or theme and add from that. Words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters build until I have a completed novel.

Other times I use subtraction, more correctly called editing, not creating. However, I am taking a whole manuscript and chiseling away to create a finished product.

What about you? Which do you use most adding or subtracting in your creative process? Do you think experimenting in the opposite way would expand or improve your creativity?

6 04, 2015

Narcissist – do you know one?

By judythemorgan|2015-04-06T06:00:19-05:00April 6th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

The idea of narcissism comes from Greek mythology.

Narcissus, a beautiful youth, spurned the nymph Echo then fell in love with his own reflection in a spring. His reflection was unapproachable so Narcissus gradually perished and became the flower narcissus or daffodil.

The myth illustrates that if you are overly egotistic or care more about yourself than others, it can lead to bad things.

That’s my cliff note version. To read the full story click here.

We’ve all met narcissistic people. People with an inordinate fascination with themselves and who make excessive reference to themselves and their accomplishments in conversation or writing.

Life is all about them and they let you know.

What surprises (and doesn’t surprise me) is the fact that narcissism is on the rise in the U.S. according to Dr. Kelly Neff.

Has social media contributed to this rise? Think about it, doesn’t the very idea of a “selfie” imply a degree of narcissism. Methinks it does.

Dr. Neff talks about the correlation in her article, 7 Things You Need to Know About Narcissists, From A Psychologist’s Perspective

We all exhibit narcissistic traits from time-to-time. It’s called positive self-esteem and self-esteem is not a bad thing.

However, dealing with a true narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) can drain your energy. They are manipulative and skilled at getting what they want out of people.

If you’re not sure someone you know is a true narcissist, watch for these other characteristics:

Exaggerating their abilities and achievements
Constant need for attention, affirmation and praise
A strong sense of entitlement
An expectation of special treatment

If you have a narcissist in your life (like I do), check out these two articles:

How to Deal With A Narcissist and Dealing with a Narcissist

Personally, I’m going to be positive and picture in my head the flower that Narcissus became whenever I encounter my narcissist.

Or maybe I’ll model a character in my next book after the narcissist culprit in my life then kill him off.

That’s one of the perks of being a writer.

30 03, 2015

Disconnect between wants and actions

By judythemorgan|2015-03-30T06:00:13-05:00March 30th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

As a writer, I have goals: x-number of words, pages, chapters per day, a book published by a specific date then…

Life erupts.

Circumstances change.

Accidents happen.

What I want to do and what I do become a major disconnect.

Jennifer Crusie says, “Part of being a writer is defending your vision and not caving … .”

Disconnecting between goals and actions is unavoidable even if you’re not a writer and not caving is too often easier to say than do.

Let me suggest two ways to connect your want and your action to prevent caving:

Stick to your goal even if it takes longer than you want to achieve.
Never settle for less than what you are capable of.

Does your goal sometimes seem out of reach?

Keep focusing, keep aiming!

25 02, 2015

4 Ways to Keep Your Productive Faucet Flowing

By judythemorgan|2015-02-25T06:00:34-06:00February 25th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

February is almost over. We’re moving at warp speed through 2015. So how are you doing on those plans and resolutions from New Year’s Day?

If you’re like me, that faucet of enthusiasm has slowed to a trickle or off entirely. Barely a drip.

It’s time to heed the words of a great writerly quote from Louis L’Amour, an American author of hundreds of authentic western novels:

“The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

The full quote, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” provides great advice for writers.

You see when life spins out of control writers, well at least to this writer, lets the distractions stop my writing. Instead of moving ahead, I tend to think, “I’ll just finish __________ then I’ll get back to writing.”

Fill in the blank with whatever distracts you from working toward your goal. You don’t have to be a writer to fall into the distraction trap.

What happens is each passing day we don’t work on our goal or resolution, it becomes easier not to do what we planned. Doesn’t take long before self-doubt makes us question if our project is even worth the time at all.

Here are four ways I plan to get myself back on track, and turn my faucet on again.

Establish a Schedule

A schedule doesn’t have to be set in stone or the same every single day or week. Make it adjustable. Most important, put the time slots on your calendar the way you would any other appointment or commitment.

Seize Small Chunks of Time

An hour may not seem like much, but you’d be surprised at what can be accomplished in a small, consistent, and repeated amount of time. Snatch those minutes wherever you can.

My goal for 2015 is two books published so I’m training myself to keep my iPad with me and write wherever I go like when I’m waiting at the doctor’s office or a passenger in the car. Since I live in the mountains and the nearest Wal-Mart, doctor, or grocery store is at least thirty minutes away. I’m amazed at how my word count builds.

Set your goal as your priority every day.

I work toward my goals BEFORE I do any other tasks for the day. I find if I do the laundry, clean the house or any of those other very necessary tasks first, I always run out of time. You will too.

Reward Small Successes

Be proud of small incremental steps. I remind myself almost on a daily basis that one word a day gives me 365 words of my novel by the end of the year. When I write an entire chapter, I celebrate with chocolate, usually M&Ms!

If you’re like me and your faucet isn’t flowing as it should, it’s not too late. Do not give up or abandon your goals and resolutions altogether.Rejuvenate that motivation you had six weeks ago. Turn your faucet on.

Hear that water rushing? Now turn your faucet on and let it flow steadily.

4 02, 2015

Wintry words

By judythemorgan|2015-02-04T06:00:40-06:00February 4th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Even before words became my trade, they fascinated me. I was one of those weird kids who actually looked forward to vocabulary lists and looking up all those meanings.

I loved spending the night with my BFF in high school because her father challenged us at breakfast with a new word for the day. One of Mr. C’s words was ratiocinate.

Now, I have to admit that I didn’t use ratiocinate much except when my children were younger. During my children’s heated arguments, I’d say, “Let’s keep the ratiocinating to a dull roar.” Hearing the big would quiet the raised voices until they caught on. Even now the word comes to mind more than you’d think.

Btw, ratiocinate means to reason or argue rationally. ORIGIN, according to Dictionary.com: 1635-45; < Latin ratiōcinātus past participle of ratiōcinārī to reckon, calculate, conclude, verbal derivative of ratiō reason

As I write my stories and blogs, I try to not to repeat the same words over and over. My thesaurus paperback is well worn and tea stained. I think I’m on my third or fourth copy. My fingers will automatically go to Shift F7 so Microsoft Word can instantly bring up their embedded thesaurus. Other times I go to Thesaurus.com to come up appropriate synonyms.

Lately I’ve been overusing wintery words like cold, frosty, frozen, icy, chilly, winter, hibernate to name a few. Who doesn’t with the wintery weather plummeting the country? Does your backyard look like this? Mine does.

I headed to my trusted sources and found some alternates for the overused words. How about these?

Hibernaculum instead of hibernate ORIGIN: 1690-1700; from Latin: winter residence

Gelid instead of icy ORIGIN: c.1600 from Latin gelidus icy cold, from gelu frost

Frore instead of frozen ORIGIN: 1200-50; Middle English froren past participle of Old English frēosan to freeze

Just think about it, Disney could have used Frore for the title of their popular movie, FROZEN.

Hiemal instead of winter ORIGIN: “pertaining to winter,” 1550s, from Latin hiems “winter”

Algid instead of cold ORIGIN: 1620-30 from Latin algidus, from algēre to be cold

I’m wondering how my newfound wintry words will work on social media or in my current work in progress. Do you think the new words will work?

If you shook your head, I think you’re correct.

There are so many, many wonderful words in dictionaries and thesauruses. Unfortunately, we use them less and less because of texting and tweeting.

My BFF’s father Mr. C would be so sad to see how we’re wasting words.

I know the trend makes me sad.

2 02, 2015

Leavin’ Cancer Fears

By judythemorgan|2015-02-02T06:00:45-06:00February 2nd, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

Recently I met a new friend. Her name is Heather Von St. James, and she’s a mesothelioma cancer survivor. At age 36, just 3 ½ months after giving birth to her first and only daughter, she was given 15 months to live.

Heather’s contact surprised me. Pleasantly surprised me. When readers take the time to comment or email, it means my writing has done its job—resonated with readers. I do love hearing from readers about my books and here on the blog.

But back to Heather’s email. She asked me to share her story. It’s a touching and inspiring story.

If you aren’t familiar with mesothelioma cancer, it’s also known as asbestos cancer.

Asbestos is a mineral with versatile properties that made it useful for everything from fireproof vests to home and commercial construction prior to 1980. Asbestos was even woven into fabric, and mixed with cement. Asbestos was everywhere.

Not anymore. As useful as it was, asbestos proved to be a known cause of lung cancer. Check here to learn more about asbestos and mesothelioma cancer.

Heather stands as testimony that a diagnosis of asbestos cancer does not have to be a death sentence. You can view her incredible story here

When Heather learned of her diagnosis, she made the tough decision to have her lung removed. Now every year she celebrates Lungleavin Day, the day her lung was removed. She writes her fears on a plate and tosses the plate into a bonfire. The action provides a means to conquer the fear her cancer diagnosis brought.

She says, “There is something about giving voice to your fears, writing them down, then smashing them in a fire, and seeing the shards of that plate, and those shards of fears in the flames that gives you courage to face up to them and not let them rule your life.”

Read all about her Lungleavin’ Day here at The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog.

Today marks Heather’s ninth Lungleaving Day. She has invited us to celebrate with her via an interactive Leavin’ Day website.

So whether you have mesothelioma or some other form of cancer, join me at Lungleaving Day 2015

We’ll write our fear on a cyber plate and toss it into the fire. As Heather says, “We break plates. And it works.”

26 01, 2015

Sunshine Salad, Smiles, and Community Potlucks

By judythemorgan|2015-01-26T06:00:15-06:00January 26th, 2015|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

I recently shared potluck supper at our community center with the smidgeon of others who ventured out on a snowy eve.

Community potluck happens every second Tuesday of the month from September through May here in our little town. We’re primarily a tourist location. Our summer population swells to four thousand then shrinks to three hundred for the winter months.

We have way too many people to schedule a potluck during the summer in our tiny community center, but it’s a fun event in the winter. You can visit face-to-face with neighbors who otherwise stay huddled inside their homes close to a fire on these cold wintry days.

You never know what you’ll find on the serving table on potluck Tuesday. The selection varies except for Dwayne’s chicken and dumplings, which is the main reason I go every month. Dwayne makes the best ever homemade dumplings. He and his wife Edna were chuck wagon cooks and they do know how to cook.

Me, I bring different things. Nothing baked, though.

I’ve yet to master high altitude baking. High altitude adjustments don’t seem to work for my scratch recipes no matter what adjustment advice I use. My hubby doesn’t mind the flops, but I’m not about to take the failures out in public.

Last time I took what I call Sunshine Salad. After a dreary day of snow, I thought the bright colors of orange Jell-O with mandarin oranges and pineapple might cheer us up.

I was right. People smiled and I took home and empty bowl!

The hiccup came when everyone wanted the recipe and I had to confess what I served wasn’t really, truly Sunshine Salad.

You see, my Grandmother made her Sunshine Salad using the traditional congealed salad recipe you’ll find if you Google Sunshine Salad.

She used lemon Jell-O and lemon juice and topped each serving with a dollop of mayonnaise. Lemon is not sweet enough for my family’s discerning palate.

Not only that, she added shredded carrots and pecans.

Two of my adult kids and half my grandchildren won’t touch nuts with a ten foot pole much less eat nuts and carrots are a VEGETABLE.

I loved Oma’s Sunshine Salad. Still do.

But I love my kids and grandkids more.

That’s why I made up my Sunshine Salad recipe using sweet mandarin oranges and pineapple tidbits jelled in a ring mold.

Whenever the family gathers to share a meal, we serve the standard things with sides for those who eat those things, but I can’t have half the guests starving.

I fix their favorites — Kraft macaroni and cheese along with my special pineapple/mandarin orange Sunshine Salad.

They’ve come to expect it. And I see the same smiles on their faces that I saw on the adults at the community potluck last week.

Smiles that were sunshine to the eyes on a snowy day.

I guess Sunshine Salad will become my standby like Dwayne’s chicken and dumplings.

19 01, 2015

Peace and MLK Day

By judythemorgan|2015-01-19T06:00:40-06:00January 19th, 2015|Holidays, Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

Martin Luther King was the pivotal figure in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. His calm civil disobedience and charismatic leadership inspired men and women, young and old, here and around the world.

President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1983 designating the day as a federal holiday to honor the man and his accomplishments.

Dr. King inspired so many, so much that in 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – the youngest man to receive the prestigious honor.

When we think about amount of violence prevalent today and the increasingly violent movies, television shows and video games, I totally agree with Dr. King’s daughter, Bernice.

“Dr. King’s philosophy of non-violence is more relevant, I believe, than it was 10 years ago,” she said. “America has an enormous appetite for violence. I don’t know why we have such an affinity for that, but I do know it has to stop.”

Through his lectures and dialogues, he stirred, and still stirs, our conscience. Consider these MLK quotes as you honor him today:

On Leadership

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

On Love

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

On Getting Along

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”

On Faith

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

On Service

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

And as you think about that last quote, I remind you of the legislation passed in in 1994 establishing Martin Luther King Day of Service to encourage citizens to use the federal holiday as an opportunity to give back to their communities.

Even if you don’t have the federal day off, I encourage you to find a work that forwards King’s vision and participate. Let MLK Day be the start of a year in which you make a positive and peaceful impact in your community.