I'm going to take a stab at this A to Z April challenge.
Today being the exception, the rest of the month you post Monday through Saturday prompted by the letter of the day. You're supposed to pick a theme. Random thoughts and memories are my theme, I guess. If you can call that a theme--LOL! Hopefully with the purpose of maybe revealing a little more about myself and my life. Now the "short and sweet" part might be a problem for me, though--ROFL!
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The first one will be no surprise, though.
Alphabets.
I have a love of the written word...down to the alphabets...those symbols you can combine to represent objects, thought, and conversation. I remember being absolutely fascinated from the moment I realized symbols on a page were me...my name! And that if you wrote those symbols down they represented my name...me...to someone else who didn't even know me...without speaking at all. The entire concept of putting symbols that represented objects...people...thoughts...feelings...down on paper to communicate...well, it was magical to me.
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Of course, it grew in complexity pretty quickly from crayons and printing my name. You rapidly discover that symbols can be misinterpreted, too. The written word is interpreted by each person. For example, if you say "tree"...each person will visualize a common tree that they know and that generally represents trees to them. Depending on where you grew up that tree could be a palm, oak, olive, pine, orange, manzanita...whatever that person's personal experience has presented to them. Fascinating!
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I used the alphabet. I wrote from the age of nine to sort my thoughts...to ponder...to wrestle with decisions...to spill out my joy and sorrow and frustration in a safe place. I wrote to discover who I was...to communicate with myself.
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There is no greater compliment than for someone to say that something I wrote touched their heart or effected them on a soul level. That is where I write from. Imagine the gap those symbols managed to cross!! We may all see different trees, but deep down there's that fragile, beautiful, private place where we are all the same.
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Touching souls?
That's an honor I take very seriously. :)
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This was our dark, cloudy morning...
...with the rays streaming through the gray gaps.
Last night Karma and I sat in the meager light of my oil lamp for earth hour...
...thinking about this precious planet...
while I (probably cheating) caught up reading blogs on my laptop. ;)
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It's supposed to get up to 70 today and then be back down to the 50s. Windy...so it feels colder...but the sun is still struggling to shine. Looks like a very good day. :)
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"Turn your face to the sun, and the shadows fall behind you."
Maori proverb
17 comments:
Congratulations on joining the big challenge. I couldn't commit to daily blogging, I already blog far too much as it is.
Clever of you to choose a theme at random, you can't go wrong.
I wrote my post already. Beautiful pictures you took!
This seems a great idea, I am thinking about doing it myself.
I love words and reading, but I can't understand why or how someone in this day and age still cannot read or write.
Punctuation has always been a thorn in my side too.
Loved this post, Rita.
i, too, fell in love with the written word when i was young. what a fascinating concept to me that we could convey our thoughts and ideas, put in place for thousands of years...
One of my greatest pleasures in life is reading. I starting reading at a very young age and am still going strong.
Bravo to you and Karma!
I look forward to your take on the challenge. It's pretty cool to think of using Alphabet for your first one. I've seen a couple of others but yours is perfect for you. :-)
Hello! Stopping by for the A to Z Challenge.
Susanne
PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER
So glad you decided to join this Rita! I like how you wrote about the alphabet. I was just thinking the other day when I was reading something how amazing we can see all these letters and they form words that make sense when they are put together. So glad we have a written language to share things like with each other!!
looking forward to reading more in the month ahead!
betty
Have fun with the challenge. Looks like you're off to a good start. We all know your love of writing, and you draw people in when you write.
We had pouring down rain on and off all day today and again tonight. It was in the low 40s today. It was really foggy before dark, too. I imagine the morning drive to work won't be very pleasant.
Wow, I really love that proverb. :)
Hadn't heard of the A to Z challenge! I love stuff where I can make a commitment that forces me to do something! (Much like the class I'm taking :)
I've been fascinated by the written word for a looooong time, too. I kept an every-day-journal from fourth grade until the end of high school--it's a window into a me that doesn't exist anymore...
I'll enjoy seeing what you come up with every day!
Good luck with A-Z. I am trying it for the first time and have no idea if I will be able to do a post a day. However, I like the idea of it and will give it my best shot. Regards to Karma.
What a fun project! Alphabet makes perfect sense for you too!
I think we're all recovered from our trip and ready to face the week. (Hope so, anyway!!!!)
I'm not sure what the weather is going to do today. On one side of the house, blue sky and sunshine. On the opposite side, dark, dark storm clouds! Crazy!!!
Great post to start the challenge off with! :)
I was sleeping during Earth Hour, so I definitely didn't use any energy. ;)
In the last year or so I learned to write to communicate with myself- how wise you are to have been doing it since you were 9!
An alphabet (as in font) can be a work of art as well as have strictly utilitarian aims.
I look forward to your A-Z challenge posts!
I know what "D", "K" and "L" are going to be! And probably "C" too!
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with for each letter of the alphabet. That's interesting that you've been writing/journaling since you've been 9 years old.
Many years ago I ran an art camp for children right here at my farm. One of the artists focused on the alphabet and lettering. His presentation was absolutely fascinating. He was a calligrapher as well and what he did in terms of using letters decoratively was impressive.
Good luck with that challenge! I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up. I'm doing good to get one post a week done!
Can't wait to see the rest of the alphabet.
Deanna
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