The feel on my face...

I have never encountered a type of weather that doesn't bring at least a little happiness to my heart and inspiration to the gnome living deep within the recesses of my mind, who then takes all input from my senses and turns them into creative juices for my writing. Considering the time of year, where I live, and the fact that today is a day that ends in the letter y, I would not have been surprised to find it gloomy and rainy (one of my favorite types of weather since it encourages me to sit and read and write...and do laundry). We did have a little of that, but it has been bright, sunny, and absolutely gorgeous out for most of the day. Of course, being me, this also encourages me to write, but today it makes me want to travel somewhere - anywhere, really - and just experience the weather there. Sound a bit weird? Not so much, really! I love my home; I also love to travel. Being able to experience another place - even one a short drive away - is a great gift that I experience as much as I can. To me, the weather is a huge part of these experiences, and is often key in making each one even better! Don't believe me? Picture this: you've arrived in a new place. You have always wanted to go to this particular location, and have a full day planned out so you can experience as much as possible. When you set out, the day is bright and sunny, the bluest sky you've ever seen only dotted here and there with bright, fluffy clouds. You become engrossed with the beauty and fascinating tidbits that surround you, either ignoring or unaware of the chilly breeze that picks up after a short time. Before you are fully aware, stormy grey clouds have completely covered the blue sky of your arrival, and are building up a large store of moisture. When the rain starts, chilling you with huge, splashy drops. Now you have to make a decision whether you will keep going with your plan for the day, or will you take refuge in a nearby shop, and chance another type of adventure presenting itself to you. Without weather, you wouldn't have to make that decision, and therefore wouldn't have to choose between your possible adventures. In both life and writing, choices present themselves and decisions must be made. Each decision tweaks the plot so from that point on, it will have depended on each of those choices. I had someone ask me why I love weather so much, and this is part of the reason why...it's the part that can most easily explain, and relate to as a writer. Additionally, I try to be a tiny bit more eloquent than just saying, ''Cause it's pretty.' What weather to you prefer to feel on your face - snow, rain, a breeze, sunshine, some other option? Why? Have a wonderful day - and may your weather be just interesting enough that you never grow bored. JBB

Finding Inspiration

Every person, instance, & aspect of Life can be inspiration. All it takes is the right perspective. This thought came to me this afternoon, helping me to clear up some frustration. Lately, I have had the ever-so-lovely feeling of writing frustration. I haven't been dealing with writer's block, but rather writer brain without the focus turned on. As a result, I have been feeling as though I'm not currently an inspired writer. That is utter heifer dust, as I know I constantly find inspiration. What triggered today is that I may have been approaching my writing from a different perspective than I need to at this time. Recently, I've been in that ever-so-lovely mindset that I need to be focused when I sit down to write, when the point isn't that I always need to be focused, but rather I sit down and write. Sometimes I make things so much more difficult for myself than I need to make them. Ooh! Life Lesson time! My happy thought is that I have rediscovered my inspiration for my writing - writing. Every day, whatever comes to me, and when things gel more for me, I flesh them out more and more until I have a product that I am not only willing to share, but that actually want to send out to even a small part of the world. At that point, I share it. Sometimes, it works as simply and quickly as this entry has, and I will shortly be sending it out to the world via my blog (after only working on it for about fifteen minutes). Some pieces take quite some time to flesh out to the 'sharing' point, and others are there almost right away, and others fall in between. I love that jumble of needs at different levels for different pieces. If they were all the same, I would never get the same charge from finishing a manuscript, a script, a short story, a poem, a lesson plan, or even a shopping list. Yes, with the right inspiration, even a shopping list can become a phenomenal work of writing - if nothing else, it may save me from my meals becoming too boring! There are times when I need a big jolt to shake me up and really cause inspiration to flood into my life, then there are times when I tweak my perspective just the tiniest bit, and the perfect piece for that moment comes to me and allows itself to be shared. What will inspire you today? What will it inspire you to do? The world awaits your amazing results. JBB

Coming soon to a blog near you (psst! This one!): A-Z Blog challenge!

I am so beyond excited that I really need to get out my thesaurus to find a word to express how I feel right now! I heard about a blogging challenge for April that involves 4 days off (I think they are supposed to be Sundays), and the other 26 are each given a letter in the alphabet for bloggers to use as inspiration for their blogs. Full disclosure: I write a huge amount. However, I have a tendency to not share my writing as much or as often as I should. So, I accept this challenge and am looking forward to seeing what happens with my blogging tendencies during the challenge and then afterward! This blog is designed to be family friendly - I'll save any cursing and/or explicit content for another blog - so you won't have to worry about anything being unsafe to view at work or around your children, in-laws, or pets. Thanks for reading my mind's adventure through the alphabet! JBB

Writing is my bliss...

Over the years I have heard quite a few references to the tidbit of advice - follow your bliss. Well, writing is my bliss, and I've made it a huge part of my life for quite some time. This blog will have some, but not all of my writing. When anything might not be suitable for some audiences, I will do my best to warn you and to tag things appropriately. All writings, unless otherwise credited, belong completely to me - Jo B. Bo. Yes, it's a pseudonym - I like it! =) JBB