The Sea, NaBloPoMo and a Story??

February arrives tomorrow and I'm fully convinced it is a self-centered-attention-hog sort of month. I swear it bullied January into passing as quickly as possible. Wasn't January 1st just last week? What happened to this month???

 When February arrives tomorrow, pushing and shoving no doubt, it will bring with it yet another NaBloPoMo opportunity. I participated in the writing-every-day challenge back in November - the anniversary month of NaBloPoMo. It was fun, interesting, hard, frustrating and I'm so glad I did it. NaBloPoMo introduced me to some incredible writers to which I feel very connected.

The more a person writes, the better they become at coaxing the thoughts from their brain to have them travel down their arms and through their fingers to race along the keyboard *tippitytappity* - depositing those ideas onto a blank screen.

It is oodles of fun. Until it isn't.

There is always an, "until"...in everything we do, isn't there?

So, right now I'm trying to entice the story that is in my head to live in my computer instead. These things tend to relentlessly occupy my thoughts! While I'm doing that, I am also contemplating another run at NaBloPoMo. Maybe.

While I write, I am resisting the ever present urge to flee to the ocean. It has my number, the sea, and it keeps calling me. There is only so much nagging I can take before I cave in and give it what it wants. It misses me...I think.  So it should come as no surprise that my little story (??is this really a story??) has everything to do with the sea.

The Story

She fashioned herself a crown - not of rubies and pearls, but of bottle caps and sea glass.

With it She sat upon the shore commanding the waves to greet her feet with a caressing curtsy. She would then cast them away with her gnarled driftwood wand, only to watch their devoted return - the waves couldn't keep away, so devoted they were to her. She bid the seahorses to gather the diamonds that bobbed upon the swells, glittering in the sunlight, which She would then feed to the sharks - keeping their teeth strong and plentiful, should She ever need to declare war upon the destroyers of her realm. People pass by, with headphones and cellphones and chatting partners, blissfully unaware of her. They might imagine seeing a girl seated upon the sand, gazing toward the horizon. 

Did they see the diamonds? What about the chorus of turtles, or the jellyfish ballet?  No, they didn't. Her Queendom performing for her eyes only. When it came time to leave and do things that are required, expected and necessary, She knew the sea would pine away for her. "Fear not," she says, "for you belong to me and I to you."  And so it waits for her return.

Happy One More Day Closer To The Weekend, my peeps.

The Dawn of Day 6

Hello, Day 6. {In my head I sound like Newman, greeting his arch nemesis, Jerry - my thoughts dripping with snide contempt}

I'm sitting here gazing out my sliding glass door, which I'm SO happy I cleaned just before it rained, looking at an overcast sky with more chances for precipitation. (I really do love rain, if ya want to read my story about it, just click here).

I'm also sitting here sipping coffee and eating English muffins that I made last night. I say, "muffins" in its plural form because I screwed up AGAIN and made them too small. S'ok...it's hard to eat just one anyway, so the smaller the muffin the smaller the guilt. I dare you to find fault with that logic [you are welcome to use it toward fun size candy bars (plural) as well].

So, why this contempt for a Sunday that is starting out so mahvelous, dahling?

I'mma tell you why...this writing every day thing is hard!

Harder than I expected it would be, at least in the first damn week...which isn't even over until tomorrow, Day 7.

I may sound like I'm whining, well...because I am, but I do realize I took on this challenge and it is only me that I am held accountable to. But, Whiners love company and there is a good chance that other NaBloPoMo writers will be reading my blog and thinking, "I know, right!" So, this is for them.

Thinking about how fleeting inspiration can be has made it clear that some of my posts are likely to meander into randomocity, and yes even more so than is typical.

I've spent much time over this week reading other blogs and I'm happy to learn that I am not alone in trying to find my niche. To be clear, I read 'food blogs' and 'review type blogs' and 'mommy blogs', all of which have an overall theme which makes it clear what they write about.

For awhile, I thought I didn't really fit anywhere.

Blissfully wrong, was I. Or, how would Yoda say that? Wrong, was I, blissfully. Meh..anyhooo...

There are tons upon oodles of blog writers out there just tapping into their inner whatever and writing about everything and nothing. There is an art to writing that unstructured, letting whatever random idea guide you. I've decided to embrace my ability to not be labeled into a certain 'genre'?? of blog writing. Free-form, willy-nilly, footloose and fancy free - that's gonna be me.

You may be thinking that I already write that way and you are right, but remember I couldn't figure out what to write about today so nothing is as good as anything. Right?

This project, while I anticipate will make me want to tear my hair out some days, is so exciting because I see blogging has made it into hands (and typing fingers) of average folk, who are not so average in their ability to draw you into their lives. I see people like me out there in the blogosphere. And plenty more NOT like me, which is even better!

What about you?
Are you trying to develop a themed blog?
Do you have your posts for NaBloPoMo all planned out?
Or, are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-just-wing-it kind of writer?
(psst...if you are, we'll form a club, secret handshakes and passwords and stuff)

So, I believe I've rambled on enough about nothing and my coffee cup is painfully empty.

Blog On, my friends.

Peace

p.s.
Whew. Made it through Day 6. Even though I have NO idea what I said, or meant to say or...ya.

p.s.s.
What the Hell am I going to do for day 7?

p.s.s.s.
Who's going to get me more coffee? And maybe some breakfast.