Embrace the world’s gems
but know, of all that you see,
your light shines brightest.
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Posts Tagged ‘Thoughts’
Your Light, Bright
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, haiku, poem, Thoughts on March 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Let the Light Shine
Posted in Holidays, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, a better world, feminism, gender-equality, Thoughts, women on March 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Happy International Women’s Day, all!
March 8 is International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s a global day to recognize and celebrate women’s and girls’ social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. It’s also a time to highlight the progress made in advancing women’s rights and the ongoing efforts needed to ensure their full participation in all aspects of society.
Yes, there are still a lot of challenges for women around the world, but we haven’t been standing still. Mr Man flipped on the TV this morning and landed on a channel playing 80s movies. There’s nothing like seeing women being portrayed as grabbable arm candy in leg warmers (not to mention casual racial slurs and stereotypes) to remind you how far society has come.
Now, Mr Man also started a recent video game that seemed to have been written by an AI trained on misogynistic curse-laden troll chum, so there’s that. And yet!
40 Basic Rights Women Did Not Have Until The 1970s
Although you might be familiar with the fact that women had to fight for their rights, you probably don’t realize how many basic things females were denied.
Read it and weep… with joy, because at least we’re not dealing with these particular issues anymore.
Change also benefits men as well as women. Because no one likes to be pigeonholed, amirite?
Is there still more to do? Absolutely. Equal pay for equal work is still a work in progress, some rights are being reversed, and Barbie was a hit for a reason.
As we continue through Women’s History Month, I’ll leave you with this article on inspiring women:
Portraits of women who ‘shine a light’: from an ‘analog’ astronaut to a watermelon farmer
So write your own story, draw your own path, make your mark. Because bright lights make the whole world shine.
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Aim High!
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, goals, inspiration, Thoughts, values on March 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
— Michelangelo
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I Remain Optimistic
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 4, 2025| 1 Comment »
The good news is that I’m writing. The less good news is that I am not writing as much as I might want, but hey, that’s pretty much a requirement for the position of “Writer.”
In 1974, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis published a paper titled “The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block.'” It contained a total of zero words.
— Mental Floss
I remain optimistic. Time to spend more time in the writing chair!
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All the Colors
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, inspiration, living, Thoughts on March 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The whole point is to live life and be—to use all the colors in the crayon box.”
— RuPaul
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Trying to Be Useful Today
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, quotes, Thoughts on March 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”
— Charles Dickens
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Writers For the Win
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, creativity, ideas, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Have convictions. Be friendly. Stick to your beliefs as they stick to theirs. Work as hard as they do.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
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Good Hunting, Artists
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, artists, creativity, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Snatching the eternal out of the desperately fleeting is the great magic trick of human existence.”
— Tennessee Williams
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Your Perfect Thing
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, #damntasty, perfect for me, Thoughts on February 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
There are some things in life that are just perfect.
It might be a book, or a movie or a volcanic beach under the hot afternoon sun. Or it might be a salad.
Mr Man and I recently went to Montreal with a friend, and stopped off at a little roadside cafe* for lunch. I checked out the menu and perused the glass display case, and there it was.
A pretty pottery bowl filled with a squash, greens, and cranberry salad. The bright orange squash was the perfect blend of soft but not squishy, sweet but substantive. The tender greens brought a hint of bitterness mellowed by a creamy lemon dressing and the bright red of candied cranberries sprinkled throughout.
I had some with lunch, and then went back to the counter.
“That was amazing,” I said. “Two more, please. I have to take some home with me.”
Maybe this wouldn’t have been the perfect salad for you, dear reader, just as my perfect book or movie or afternoon may not be the same as yours. That’s fine.
The news is often dark, but when you can, take a moment to look around you. There is always light. Use it to find your way.
However you connect to what’s good in the world, try do as much of that as you can. What’s important is to realize when you have found a thing that is perfect for you, and to revel in its magic.
Me? I’m off to have lunch.
* Mr Man just gave me the name of the restaurant: the Bravo Bistro Grill & Traiteur.
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Leveling Up
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, current events, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on February 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Storytelling is good for so many things: entertainment, shared cultural touchstones, lessons from elders, or other instruction manuals for living. Even so, speculative fiction has always been burdened by accusations that it is less able to comment on reality than, say, literary fiction.
I disagree.
In fiction or nonfiction, no matter the genre or approach, storytelling is always, always, grounded in the cultural currents from which it springs. It’s how we pass on what’s important, even if it isn’t always “real.” Whether it shows us futures to avoid, goals to achieve, values of importance or daily ways to survive, the work’s foundation always reflects its context.
On a related note, here’s a short document on surviving difficult times, written in the form of an RPG-style guide. It wouldn’t surprise me to see an actual game follow soon.
Because life and art are two facets of the same die. And we’re all just players, trying to level up.
“The idea that any of us can do everything is instant failure. We all have our own skill sets and our own passions and we will accomplish the most it each of us works within those arenas to do what we’re already good at, what we already care about. You don’t have to do it all. Just a little.”
— Bree Bridges
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