Accept Risks, Ask Why, Fly Towards Your Star, and Discover Your Creativity – Daily Quote

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Is your destiny written in the stars? Your daily horoscope can offer insight on whether you will meet your soul mate today or if your best option is hiding under the covers. Interpretations from the heavenly bodies influence many, offering guidance with their decisions. Others scoff at relying on unproven theories.

Our society places great value on truth, science, and a preponderance of accepted evidence. We use those agreed-upon facts to support our tradition of enlightenment and to explain our world. A sensible person believes in the well explained. They disregard the existence of wonder, dismiss awe, question the possibility of miracles, and discount the surprise of serendipity. We satisfy our interests with a quick internet search. Studies show the individuals who are eager to explore, accept risks, and dig deeper into “why” are more innovative than others.

They say curiosity drives creativity, and creativity takes us on non-linear paths through sometimes embarrassing happenstance. To tap into our creative side means we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Creativity is messy, and it forces us to move things, change perspectives, and experiment. We must develop a willingness to laugh, play, and flirt with genius. The inspiration is within your reach. You only need to look at the stars.

Will you be curious today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2021 Daily Writing Challenge – March 9

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Does anyone like Monday? I believe you could have every scrap of work done on Friday and still discover a magical mound of unfinished tasks wagging a disapproving finger at you on Monday morning. I need to find a spell to counter whatever beast cursed me with this sickness. Based on the moans and groans from my coworkers, I find solace in the fact that I am not the only afflicted party. Part of my start of the week aversion stems from my propensity for attempting to stuff ten pounds of weekend potatoes into a five-pound weekend sack. Added to my misery is the continuing saga of the unwanted migraine interloper who refuses to leave. Isn’t there some saying about houseguests, fish, and pounding headaches stinking after three days? We are there.

Then there were my two appointments. I love when organizations give you a tight window of expected arrival times. These guys were super precise. Sometimes between 8 am. and 3 pm. The message was clear – your day is unimportant to us, and we are remarkably important, and terribly busy people. We will get to you when we get there, keep your pants on, please. The morning dragged by, and my coffee grew cold. Lunchtime came and went. At 1:15 pm. my wait ended. When they left, I was the proud owner of two tiny stickers, announcing the remodeling permit passed Final Inspection. Ta-Dah. Permit closed.

Don’t be fooled. There is plenty of finish work, paint touch-ups, hardware installation, and cleaning on the punch list. And let’s not overlook the decorating. But every cloud has a silver lining. The approval means I am now free to move into my new office. Maybe some Mondays aren’t so bad after all.

No matter the challenges and the obstacles blocking my way, I maintain the item at the top of my list as a non-negotiable. Yesterday I wrote 603 (countable) words.

Did you write yesterday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Saying No, When Your Eternal Optimism is Too Optimistic — Daily Quote

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I’ve always maintained a glass-half-full attitude. Optimism is my middle name, and living where the sky is in constant danger of falling has never sounded very enjoyable. Besides, nobody respects the gloom and doom friend, who warns us someone will poke out an eye or suffer from a million other dire predictions. My guess is, those are tales mothers tell their children, hoping they will sit down and be quiet for five minutes. But being optimistic has a dark side.

I devour calendars, planners, and To-Do lists to help keep me organized, productive, and on track. Long ago, I developed a severe allergic reaction to forgetting something, being late for appointments, and otherwise dropping the ball. Planning and strategizing have saved my cookies on many occasions. But lately, my optimism has been running amok with my normal well-functioning routine. The sneaky devil had overloaded my already ambitious Daily agenda. When I checked my Quarterly Plan, I discovered more tasks than most people complete in an entire year. No wonder I am worn out, exhausted, and constantly feeling like I am months behind schedule with no hope of reaching my goals.

My “Yes You Can” fiend went berserk and said, “Yes” to everything. I’m no slacker. Binge-watching TV shows or watching movies I have already seen is not entertaining to me. I play a few games on my phone, but weeks and months pass when I forget they are there. Between the 9-5, family obligations, a home remodeling project, and brainstorming my current WIP, it is easy to log eighteen-hour days of non-stop work. The equation where I am working hard and still falling short of my targets does not compute. The little monster and I have scheduled a mandatory meeting.

Do you have to curb your optimism?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2021 Daily Writing Challenge – March 8

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This weekend between running errands, doing laundry, and the ever-present house cleaning chores, I eked out four solid hours of brainstorming work on my new WIP. I find spending more than about an hour per session sees diminishing returns. At the forty-five-minute mark, my handwriting stamina peaks. Then my hand cramps, and my bottom sprouts roots into the seat cushion. My brain is steamrolling ahead, and it takes an additional fifteen minutes to reach the end of the dictation. By that point, my fingers are stiff, one of my legs has fallen asleep, and I need to move before my face freezes in the silly contorted expression I consider a mandatory tool in these situations.

So far, I have eight and a half large yellow pages filled, a cast list of twenty-six and counting, and a boatload of storyline yet to write into existence from the depths of my overactive imagination. My feverish writing, and my sore arm, made me second guess my methods. Why not just type it all into a Word.doc? When I am rolling, it is not uncommon for me to hit 80 WPM if I disregard editing and correct spelling, but concept creation and mad typing skills don’t mix. The keyboard somehow short-circuits the free flow of ideas.

Handwriting lets the idea form, take shape, and appear as coherent sentences on the page. My pen flies, and when I complete a sentence, another slides neatly behind the first. Non-stop. No interruptions, no lag time, or conscious thought processes are required. It’s like drinking from a fire hose. I won’t complain about this problem. I wish the weekends were longer.

No matter the challenges and the obstacles blocking my way, I maintain the item at the top of my list as a non-negotiable. Yesterday I wrote 502 (countable) words.

Did you write yesterday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Hold the Extras on Your Sunday’s Simple Black Coffee, and Warm Croissant – Daily Quote

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I love decadent Sunday mornings. The luxury of spending just one more minute snuggled under a warm, fluffy, duvet is a rare gift. I like to keep my morning simple, and my first order of business is a cup of steamy, strong, black coffee. Adding to my self-indulgence is a regal, weekend-only treat.

I am a croissant connoisseur. A croissant snob. They must be delicate, flaky, light, and oh so buttery.  I prefer them gently warmed. Few things are more extravagant than a homemade, perfectly baked, golden moon, plucked directly from the oven. You can hold the chocolate, almonds, powdered sugar, whipped cream, pastry cream, figs, raspberries, apples, bananas, the Nutella, and even that extra pat of butter.

The idea that croissants are fait maison, and eaten immediately is a dream, and I resort to my neighborhood bakery.  Set on a plain white plate, essential for containing the flaky crumb fallout, I alternate a delirious bite with a sip of earthy coffee. My morning explodes into ascending levels of pleasure.  One is never enough. Three, however, is far too many.

What is your favorite breakfast ritual?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2021 Daily Writing Challenge – March 7

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Saturdays, almost always end up being errand days. I plot my route, maximize right-hand turns (they are more efficient), and coordinate and double-check my list against my planner.  First stop, coffee. This morning, the migraine has de-escalated to the roar of a speeding locomotive inside my head. Better make that coffee a Venti, please. Next door, at the UPS Store, I collect my print request, mail a package, let them scan an Amazon return, and check my mailbox. Empty. Phew. A short ride down the road, I drop my library books and pick up this week’s holds before heading to the pharmacy for a prescription.

I crossed off the simple stuff, and the last item is the grocery shopping. Oh, how I hate grocery shopping. They reorganized the store, creating utter confusion, and I can’t find anything. I am forced to trudge up and down every aisle. It is some evil plot meant to frustrate me. And where exactly did they hide those little bottles of Tabasco sauce? Nobody seems to know, and we have checked all the obviously logical places multiple times.

Giving up on Tabasco, I endured the checkout line, loaded the trunk, drove home, and schlepped everything into the kitchen. I must hurry if I’m going to drive my friend to a 12:30 dental appointment and sneak in a coffee refill. It’s after 2:00 when I collapse in my chair. My freight train headache drones on in my head as I survey my morning list and realize I forget to swing by the home improvement store for birdseed. Sorry birdies, there are crumbs left in the feeder, and I really needed my coffee. Let’s see what is on my afternoon schedule.

No matter the challenges and the obstacles blocking my way, I maintain the item at the top of my list as a non-negotiable. Yesterday I wrote 502 (countable) words.

Did you write yesterday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Forget Perfection, Opt for Eccentric, and Live Your Creative Life Today — Daily Quote

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I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity lately. What makes one person creative and another less? Julia Cameron says, “Creativity is like crabgrass.” It exists in everyone and requires only the tiniest bit of care to grow and flourish and overtake the world. Yet for homeowners who desire a cultivated yard the neighborhood envies, crabgrass is the weedy, invasive, unattractive bane to their existence. You will find them trying every trick in the book to prevent, kill, contain, and eradicate this pesky growth from their lawn.

When we envision the seeds of creativity, I bet most of us have a different picture. Perhaps it takes the form of a glorious, fragile, and fastidious orchid, a mighty oak, a hibiscus, a scarlet maple, or another majestic and breath-taking beauty. Maybe it is a cute little viola, a feathery fern, a lush weeping willow, or an apple tree that bears tantalizing fruit. Crabgrass? Who wants that? We want over-the-top, awe-inspiring visionary works of art, not an ugly weed.

But we must start somewhere. An orchid’s natural habitat extends from the equatorial tropics to the arctic tundra and everywhere in between, while oak trees need decades to mature. What is wrong with starting with an easy project and building your confidence? There is too much pressure in producing perfection on your first try. It’s not glamorous. Agents won’t appear on your doorstep, nobody will offer thousands of dollars for your efforts, and your family might call you crazy. Tell them you prefer the term eccentric and keep going. Find something creative to do every day of your life.

What will you create today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2021 Daily Writing Challenge – March 6

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Friday’s dawn broke my restless slumber with an infernal throbbing and banging punctuated by icepick-induced stabbing pains indicative of a full-blown migraine. I longed to block jagged piercing sunbeams from my sensitive eyes, pull the covers over my head, and curl into a tiny insignificant ball of non-functioning human pain. But I have a finely honed sense of duty. People depend on me, and from experience, I realize if I let the migraine win, then by default, I lose. As a bona fide Type A personality, I’m a sore loser. It’s best not to poke that bear.

I struggled to stand upright, fumbled to make my morning pot of Joe, cranked the shower to hot, and ticked through my trusty list of pain management/mitigation tools. Just another day of business, as usual. Consulting my schedule, I pushed tasks requiring concentration and a clear head to the back-burner. Instead, I focused on the mundane, the rote, and the habitually routine activities I prefer to skip. There is value in every single day, even if all you manage is the completion of annoying, thoughtless jobs. I celebrated with a tiny, quiet huzzah as I moved them all to the Ta-Done list.

No matter the challenges and the obstacles blocking my way, I maintain the item at the top of my list as a non-negotiable. Yesterday I wrote 490 (countable) words.

Did you write yesterday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Live Boldly, Dare Greatly, and Let Your Friday Adventures Begin — Daily Quote

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Friday. This one feels different. Snow is melting, the sun is shining, temperatures slowly creep into the realm of warmth, and the prognosticators aren’t calling for any form of precipitation until Tuesday. Granted, forty-five degrees is a tad too nippy to sit outside and write, but maybe I can crack open a window for a while, breathe the cool, invigorating air, and imagine an adventure.

Will the Gods smile on our intrepid protagonist, or will the evil villain devise surprising pitfalls to thwart our favorite heroes and doom them to certain failure? A ship. There must be a creaky Schooner, captained by a despicable, dirty, cheating, low life, with a soft spot in his heart for the hapless adventurers and a sense of loyalty to his beloved cause that is deeper and wider than any ocean. No drama is worth telling without a trusty sidekick, whose buffoonish comments somehow always contain a kernel of truth or the key to escaping the current dire situation. Along the way, they encounter peasants, kings, and scoundrels to add color to their journey.

Their task is impossible. A fool’s errand destined to send the entire band to an early grave. Tests of character greet them at every turn and make them question their sanity. Maybe the prophecy is wrong, and our hero only believes she is the golden child, and saving the world belongs to someone more capable. In the hero’s darkest hour, Fate intervenes, golden-winged messengers deliver a swift kick in the pants that alters her perspective and renews her resolve to fight the final battle.

Ok, pep-talk to self, complete. It is time to find my desk, hang my Do Not Disturb sign, and work on creating storylines and developing my characters. With luck, I hope to devote many productive hours to brainstorming this weekend.

What stories will you create?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The 2021 Daily Writing Challenge – March 5

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Why does Thursday always feel like it should be Friday? How many times have I opened my calendar, checked my overloaded work log, and sighed? Damn, it’s only Thursday, and I can’t wait for Friday. In the scheme of ranking a day’s popularity, it is running a tight race with Monday. It is crunch day. We must complete this project by Friday. I know you can do it, so let’s get it done, no time to waste. Oh. Did I mention I’m taking Friday afternoon off? So, if you can send me the files in the morning, say 9 am, that would be fabulous.

Hmm, in effect, the deadline isn’t the end of day Friday, but Thursday night. Got it. Fortunately, I plan, create buffers, and schedule times to review, double-check, and verify my work. I also anticipate other people wanting their weekend to start a half-day early. TGIF.

No matter the challenges and the obstacles blocking my way, I maintain the item at the top of my list as a non-negotiable. Yesterday I wrote 576 (countable) words.

Did you write yesterday?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer