I Choose You

There are places I long to see

People I long to meet

Things I long to do

Oh life, today, I choose you

The Stuff Stories are Made of

I’ve heard people speak of viewing life as a story and yourself as a character in it. I think this is a beautiful perspective. Similarly, each life is a book within that story. Though we are the not the sole authors of our own book, as we are part of a much larger story, we do bare much responsibility for our own tale – our will, our choices, our mistakes, our gifts, and our weaknesses all contribute to what’s being written.

Life is not perfect. Looking at life through the prism of a story allows room for the conflicts, the struggles, and the tragedies. Indeed, what is a story without conflict? What if the characters in our favorite stories shied away and hid from all their struggles? We probably would not have enjoyed that story. We are not moved or inspired by the character that runs away, clams-up, and does not face the adventure at hand. Those are the kind of characters we don’t write about. But they too are reflective of us. We are not simply heroic protagonists. We are human, and we have weaknesses.

Life is not a choose your own adventure story where you can always go back and make a different choice if things don’t work out. We must live with the choices we make and their consequences. Though we may not like where we are, we have only one way to go, and that is forward. If we stumble on this adventure we must catch ourselves, if we fall we must get back up, and if we get lost we must find our way again. There will always be help along the way, when we need it most.

Never give up completely, no matter how bad your story gets. Remember, it’s those stories, the ones in which the character chooses to weather the darkness, that always mean the most to us. Surly we all feel hopeless and down sometimes, like things are not as they should be, as if we are failing in our part of the story. But take heart and remember that things never stay the same. Dark nights always give way to new days, struggles give way to understanding, and facing those hardships is the very stuff great stories are made of.     

The Many Sides of Me

I’m at peace, but not fulfilled

Confident, but unaccomplished

Driven, but unaware to where

Grateful, but still determined

I’m not lonely, but I am alone

Not without love, but still not in love

Not without gifts, but what good are they without giving

Not without friends, but most are far away

I am not young, but not old

Not frail, but very careful

Not aloof, but a recluse 

Not religious, but not atheist

I am lucky, but not always

Eccentric, but not narcissistic

Liberal, but not gullible

Kind, but not always to myself   

I am not perfect, nor pure

Nor the worst one here

The best I can be is to simply be me

And better the faults that I do see 

When Creativity Calls

People have many opinions on where creativity comes from: the soul, God, muses, the collective unconscious, our own past. I don’t know if any of these are true, maybe they all are. It doesn't matter to me. I’m not sure if my creativity comes from the same place yours does. Are you sure? Do you know where it comes from? All I know is it’s a mystery, and that’s OK with me.

What does matter to me is that I recognize when it’s present. I try to harmonize with it, try to bring forth what it inspires. As a spider spins its incredible web, does it wonder where its inspiration comes from? When bees make their symmetrical combs do they reason why they do it? They do it instinctively. Creativity comes and goes, it’s never constant, and can never be truly controlled. In a strange way it seems to know what it wants. We are but its instruments, its orchestra.  If we reject it, or in other ways fail to recognize when it calls on us, we miss out on participating in a fantastic adventure!      

The Things I Never Did

The things I wanted to say but never knew how

The things I wanted to do but never learned how

The people I wanted to know but never allowed the chance

The places I wanted to go but always feared the chance

The things in life I never did

Yet, I’m still young and have much to live

Will I now be strong enough to do the things I never did?

My Elusive Dreams

Where are my dreams

Those things so dear to me
Those forces hidden within me
I look out there, yet see them nowhere

Where are my dreams
Those things so dear to me
That ocean of vastness buried within me
I look to others, yet I only taste a piece of what I seek

Where are my dreams

Those things so dear to me

Always there waiting for me to see
I know they’re somewhere within me

I saw them once

I held them close                                     

But a time came

When I had to let them go

There will come a time
A light will shine
Where darkness is now

Clarity will be mine

Inspiration for the Introverted!

Inspirational Talk on Introverts

Hope you find this as motivational as I do.
Cheers

Music: A thing so dear to me

Its seductive lure I cannot resist

Emotion filled

Passion imbued

Pure ambrosia, the nectar of my muse

It dances through the air

Through the shells of my ear

Onto the strings of my own heart

Where it awakens that divine spark

I close my eyes once more

Allow my mind to wonder free

The beauty, the grace

The calm that I so need

Music: A thing so dear to me

Hello!

Thanks for checking out my blog. The Literary Adventure is a personal blog. It is comprised of writings of mine which I hope you will find intriguing, helpful, cool, entertaining, or even in need of revision! Please, don’t be shy to comment – all feedback is welcome.

*Some of these works were written a couple years ago, some are more recent, and others will be brand new.