“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”
Okay – so I know I know – it’s been almost a year! Almost a year since I last wrote…and that is way to long. It’s been a busy year, obviously if I haven’t made time to write. I think I got disenchanted with the idea of blogging – and realized it would take a lot more work to make this blog a spot people would want to read on a somewhat consistent basis amidst their busy hectic life.
So in true Holli fashion – I went on to new adventures for a while this past year and yet find myself back here once again, my fingers burning with the pulse that runs from my head as ideas pass between my two ears faster than a bolt of lightening. Short of ideas – that is something I have never seemed to be short of. And I know that perhaps no one else may ever read these lines, these posts…and I am actually okay with that. In fact – if I stop to think about all the many different adventures I pursue I might be quite embarrassed as I can literally hear people say, “Here she goes again, on another one of her adventures!”
So, I won’t stop to think about it – and that way I won’t be embarassed! For really, I think I am the type of person that must try out 101 different things before I find that one thing that really fits me. Okay – well I am realizing that I am not a “single interest” type of gal. I have many varied and different interests – and instead of fighting that tendency in myself like I have for most of my life – I’m going to give into it, jump right into the mix of all my interests, roll around for a bit and see where it leads me. I’ve often asked myself why I can’t just be happy with pursuing 1 area in my life? Now, instead I’m going to ask myself what new thing that I have been dying to explore shall I try next?!
Instead of looking around at other moms and being jealous of the fact that they seem satisfied to be a mom and that’s enough – I’m going to allow my heart to help me figure out who God has intended me to be.
* A mom – yes – and one of the most fulfilling jobs in the world.
* A wife – absolutely – and I’m learning more and more what a sacrifice it takes to be a good wife – one in which her husband wants to continue to live with her (and her with him, of course :-)!
* A devote follower of Christ, who practices “true religion” by taking care of the less fortunate and keeping myself pure from the tanting “fun” of this world – thank heavens God allows WIPs (work in progress) here!
* Fitness guru who can’t wait for her next consistent gig to help people have a fun and effective workout
* Health enthusiast who loves sharing ideas on how to live a healthier life and inspire those around her to do the same by creating healthy snacks that EVERYONE 0-100 can enjoy (shameless plug for one of those new adventures I started this past year www.snackablez.com)
* And last but not least – unleashing the creative spirit that God has given me but for some reason has been in hiding, squashed into the depths of my soul for way to long! Lo and behold, I even got inspired by Psalm 27 (or maybe it was 57) this summer to paint – and went after that inkling and realized with a few basic skills I can paint something that is recognizable!
And that brings me to the point of this blog…the power of the written word. I started to write what I hope is my first book this summer. I submitted it for a contest…and was informed it wasn’t the right content. However, the man running the contest was nice enough to give me some feedback – well, let’s just say he did get $65 for the work he did for me. And it led me to realize that while many say I have a natural gift for writing – I have a long way to go before I can jump into publishing a book. He suggested I do several things in order to help myself along – one of which was to subscribe to Writer’s Digest …which I did. Guess how long I have been getting the magazine before I actually even popped open the cover of one? Guess how many emails I have deleted from this business due to lack of time? Well, I can’t remember the first, have no idea on the 2nd – but let’s just say it has been a few months now.
Nonetheless I did finally crack open the cover of the latest because it had 3 ideas in there on how to turn a passion for writing into money. Of course that got my attention.
Yet, as I was reading another article and feeling overwhelmed at the shear amount of people who are obviously trying to break into the market and get a target audience just to themselves – I realized that I can’t be in this for that. That I have to write because of the mere amount of thoughts that run thru my head every day – and this is the best way to make sense of them. That I want to write yes to help me and entertain others – but that I also want to write as a way to inspire others to think deeper than what they currently do – to reach a deeper level of consciousness about who they are, where they are going, where they have been and what they want out of life.
I don’t want to just write articles, fiction and non-fiction merely for entertainment value – but to leave an impression on others as to what in the world is going on in this world. I think this stems from my erratic childhood – but the most poignant memory of this desire stems from the viewing of Schindler’s List.
You know the movie, right? A man in war torn Europe who owns a factory that he converts to a safe house for Jews so that he can save as many as he can. Yet at the end of the movie you see him breaking down realizing that his car, his ring(s), his lifestyle he kept – those material things could have been at least one more Jew that was saved from the awful death that was before them. The survivors comfort him having him look at how many people he did save.
I left the theater so moved from this experience that I thought – if I could only be an actress and star in one movie – I would want it to be a movie such as this one. A movie that would impact the way people think and act when the leave the theater – and for the rest of their lives. An actress that stood against what the typical Hollywood scene portrays and stood up for people thinking hard about who they are and what they do in this life and how that affects all of us.
And who knows (well I believe God does) – but maybe I will get to be in my movie some day. But for now, I believe that I am to hone my skills of writing and editing – that this is one of the ways that the Lord is grooming me to touch other people’s lives in the way I so desire.
For words in their spoken form have the power to unite or divide, to bring love or hatred, to build up or tear down those that hear them. And while the written word can also do the same – I believe the written word is more often used for good for those that read them.
The power of the written word runs deep, deeper than flesh and bone – it can pierce down to the very marrow of a person. Words in their written form can bring freedom and healing, allowing the reader time to ponder and think about what is being said, to stretch and to challenge a person in some way to become a better version of their self.
Written words cannot be hidden from, once they are read – and they have a tendency to help one bear all they have to those words, exposing the nooks and crannies of our soul we so desperately want to be hidden for a life time. Written words are like taking a plunge into the deep end of the pool – going down, down, down till the water has engulfed you – the force of your body momentarily going against the true nature of the water’s properties. You feel heavy, overwhelmed by the weight of the words that you have read – you feel like you will never hit rock bottom as the remorse, regret, pain of a lifetime on earth takes you further down. The written word is what reveals to you that you are on the path downwards – but Lord almighty! – it also is the word that once given time to work, becomes the very thing that bobs you right back up to the surface again so you can breathe. The written word gives you a lifeline to realize you are not going to drown in this abyss called life. It replaces those wrong thought patterns in your mind with the truth of who you are and what you are meant, if you will, destined to be.
I opened with an old chant I know many of us are taught as kids to say when others, friends and enemies alike, allow their words to cross boundary lines of decency. I’m not sure who coined this phrase – but isn’t it ridiculous? I don’t think it could be further from the truth! The older I get the more I realize the power of my words for both good and bad. I pray that I continually learn to do more and more good…
For now, I am off to bed so I can get up early enough hopefully to …. no, not do more deep thinking – but to make it to a 9 am BodyPump class at the Y!
