One Word Wednesday Archives - View from the Front Porch

13 08, 2014

Procrastination – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-08-13T06:00:51-05:00August 13th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Procrastination is the act or habit of putting off or delaying something. A clever enemy of everyone, not just writers.

I’m not sure whether procrastination is a deliberate act or subconscious, but, according to Wayne Dyer, “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.”

Author of The War of Art, Steven Pressfield, calls procrastination a form of resistance. He believes creative types face lots of resistance and offers inspiration to overcome that resistance. Words from his little book have gotten me over more than one bumpy writing slowdown.

I believe his idea of overcoming resistance applies to everyone plagued by the habit of procrastination.

Even if you’re not be a writer, procrastination can hold you back and prevent you from doing something you should be doing.

Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.”

Writing is hard and solitary. Those two truths stall many writers. Procrastination wins.

I refuse to let procrastination to win. I get up every morning, put my butt in the chair, and W-R-I-T-E.

Note, I didn’t say when I feel like writing or whether I think what I write is worthy of a Pulitzer. I sit at the computer and write. EVERY DAY.

Does procrastination stall your dream?

I suggest following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice so beautifully depicted in Edie Melson’s graphic?

30 07, 2014

Guest Book – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-07-30T06:00:35-05:00July 30th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Bet you immediately thought about a guest book at a wedding or funeral.

There are those, but that’s not the guest book I mean.

I’m talking about guest books like the one that lives on the chest in our entry.

Our smiling faces are first thing to greet all guests to our home, but everyone who visits us is asked to sign our guest book before leaving.

Beside our smiles, Irish guests hear cead mile failte, an Irish greeting that means “A hundred thousand welcomes.”

Of course, we don’t limit cead mile failte welcomes to Irish only. As you can see in the picture, the plaque is there for all who wish to read.

This is actually our second guest book. The first book ran out of pages before we left Houston.

Interesting thing about guest books…

I rarely look back at the guest book from our wedding and have never looked over the attendees who signed the funeral books from my parent’s services.

However, I do go through our home guest books periodically. And, I smile from fond memories of time spent with friends.

Have you visited someone and signed their guest book? Do you have a guest book for you home?

If not, and you’re interested in starting to use a guest book, there are some great ideas on Pinterest. Most of the ideas are for wedding guest books, but are easily adapted for home guest books.

16 07, 2014

One Word Wednesday – Super Moon and Dog Walking

By judythemorgan|2014-07-16T06:00:06-05:00July 16th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Last Thursday night (July 12) at 12:25 p.m. MT one of the five super moons due this year shone from the sky.

Super moon is the name coined by Astrologer Richard Nolle over 30 years ago for the times when the moon is closest to Earth in its orbit. Technically, the definition is a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.

Folklore calls this moon Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, or Hay Moon. Why?

Because at this time of year deer bucks start growing their antlers, thunder storms rage, and farmers struggle to pile up hay in their barns for the coming winter. All of which are evident here in the San Luis Valley.

Unfortunately, last Thursday night clouds hid the super moon from view so I missed it.

Four days later, on my daily daybreak walk with the dogs the Super Moon remained huge.

As we walked, I was admiring the gorgeous sunrise as I do every morning

when I rounded the curve to see this:

The picture is a bit fuzzy, but there’s a good reason…

I gasped when I spotted the gigantic orb in the sky. That, in turn, made the dogs think I’d seen a bear or something.

Toby and Buster, ever watchful on our walks, squiggled around checking the roadside and mountains for wildlife. Thus shaking the hand that held my phone camera.

Sad to say, I also missed the full super moons on January 1 and 30. Those were new-moon super moons according to EarthSky.com

I’m ready for the August super moon, which will be the closest super moon of the year at 221,765 miles from earth. It should be a spectacular sight.

I’m also marking my calendar for September 9, the last of 2014 super moons.

Why don’t you do the same? We’ll compare pictures.

2 07, 2014

Graphology – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-07-02T06:00:54-05:00July 2nd, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Graphology is the study of handwriting as it reflects the writer’s character, personality, and abilities.

According to the chart below there are 5,000 personality traits distinguishable by the size of your letters, spacing between words, and shapes of letters can all signify different characteristics. A close look at your handwriting can also reveal whether you are lying or not.

Look at the infographic below taken from Pens.com and – for fun – do an analysis of a sample of your handwriting.

My analysis came very close to my character and personality. What about you?

I’m wondering if as we rely more and more on computers and texting and not our penmanship if the decrease in actual handwriting will change the statistics. What do you think?

5 02, 2014

Ground Hog – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2014-02-05T06:00:58-06:00February 5th, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

Sunday was Super Bowl #48 and Ground Hog Day.

Denver Broncos didn’t do so well, which made for a tough day for fans and some very quiet Super Bowl parties as all hope for a comeback failed.

The mythological Punxsutawney Phil, who has been predicting whether winter is over since 1887, gave a nod to the game with this year’s prediction poem:

“A Super Bowl winner I will not predict,
But my weather forecast, you cannot contradict,
That’s not a football lying beside me
It’s my shadow you see
So, six more weeks of winter it shall be!”

Not the report I wanted to hear. What about you?

Like the Denver fans’ hopes of a Super Bowl win, all thoughts of warm weather and sunshine arriving early have been dashed away.

The news will not be well received by most of the U.S. considering the extreme cold that has blanketed so much of the country this winter.

There is a bit of hope because Phil’s predictions have been correct only 39% of the time, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887.

I’d say the ground hog could be wrong again except the Farmer’s Almanac predicts “a wave of storminess stretching almost from coast to coast, bringing a wide variety of precipitation types as well as strong and gusty winds.”

It’s time to remember all the good things about winter –
• snowmen
• hot cocoa
• warm blankets
• and curling up by the fire with a great book

If you’re unsure what to read, check out The Pendant’s Promise or Love in the Morning Calm.

Both books are available in paperback and for eReaders. The stories will warm your heart and make you forget about the weather outside.

Happy Reading!

29 01, 2014

Shiver – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2023-01-15T10:42:07-06:00January 29th, 2014|one word Wednesday|2 Comments

We spent last week in Houston, Texas where an uncharacteristic winter ice storm came through.

The whole city shut down. Southerners know how to sweat. Not slip, skate, and slide.

My experience is that’s true of ice and rain! Rain leads to flooding in Houston. Ice and snow cause frozen freeway ramps. Houston drivers handle neither very well.

Winter storm weather is our norm in Colorado, but Texans just aren’t trained for it. Actually, they are disastrous at it, if the broadcasts from traffic cams testified.

It was COLD. I have to give them that. I’d forgotten how the humidity makes thirty degrees feel like -30. I spent the entire time shivering.

Friends and family questioned how I managed the cold in our Colorado mountains.

Simple: Dry cold. Road equipment to clear the ice and snow. And a roaring fire!

Lots of people in the southern states and east coast have been shivering for weeks now while we watch our November snowstorm that dropped 20″ of snow evaporate. Go figure!

So if you’re shivering today, stay warm.

If you’re a writer, don’t let the shivers keep you from the keyboard. Bundle up, grab a mug of hot chocolate and let the words blaze.

22 01, 2014

Resolutions Checkup – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2018-01-17T08:43:16-06:00January 22nd, 2014|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

We’re three weeks into the New Year. How are your resolutions working out?

Goal setting reminds me of eating at a cafeteria. All those choices and, as my grandmother would always say when I could barely lift my food tray–my eyes become bigger than my stomach.

That happens with setting goals. We’re so energetic and eager to start over after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that we overextend. We set our expectations too high.

If you’re like most of us, those good intentions for a new start to the year are slowing falling away. Why? I think it’s because we set vague or unattainable goals like these.

So if you’re feeling down because your resolutions aren’t happening, look at your goal. Have you set the standard too high?