Month: November 2018

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Publicly Speaking Out

carolyncordon

I am a wordsmith, a writer, poet, blogger, but I also want to become known as a Public Speaker. I think about things, and I certainly feel the things I think, and the thoughts and ideas I have are worth sharing.

I have recently begun attending meetings at the closest Zonta group to me, and I am extremely interested in working with that very worthy group to assist women who have suffered sexual abuse, through the healing use of creative writing.

I have a blog, which is related to this issue, sexual abuse, especially the sexual abuse of children. Recently I have posted a heartfelt poem, dealing with the necessity of being able to speak out, by the victims of sexual abuse. This blog is named after my first poetry collection “damaged children, Precious Gems”, in which I look at my linear journey from a victim of sexual abuse as a child, to being a survivor of that abuse, and in fact a person who has gone through that painful time and is now thriving.

This is where you can see this poem, and read a little more about this. Being able to tell our own stories is so very important to us, we victims. Because of course none of us are only victims, that is not our only ‘thing’. We are women, wives, mothers, friends, and a great many other roles. We have stories and we have voices. We deserve to be heard, we must be heard.

This abuse must end. I know men too suffer in life, but I am not a man, I do not know their stories, they have to do that, not me. I have my story though, and I will tell it to anyone who wants or needs to hear it. I will also do all I can to assist others to get their story written, because I know how healing it can be to get your own story out.

Other people will tell us what our story actually is, as far as they see it, but they cannot know the full truth of that story, only the person whose story it is can do that. When they have that opportunity to tell that story, then their healing can proceed …

 

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Writer Creates New Word

carolyncordon

I am a writer, and that means I am a person who writes. I write blog posts, poetry, articles and books, and of course I write on social media, because, well doesn’t everybody, these days? Yes we do, happily, excessively, dedicatedly, and in many other ways too.

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Being a writer who wishes to have their words read, you have to get involved with the wider world, at least sometimes. But many, or at least some writers, can create a brand new word, that ventures out into the world, and becomes ‘just the wanted and needed word’ for particular times, persons or situations. Certainly Shakespeare had great a great aptitude for doing this and a great many common words and phrases are there because of that great wordsmith.

Over the years, I’ve come up with one or two myself, but I never did anything much with them and that have faded away, and now, I can’t even remember what they were … But I’ve come up with a new word today, and I love it so much, I’m going to do all I can to get this word the admiration and use it deserves. It’s a fine word, and is perfect for a particular kind of person. I know a few people like this and I’m sure many, many other people know or know of some of them too!

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This new word come to me in response to some thoughts I’ve had about the word ‘philosopher’ and how some people may use that term to describe themselves, because they consider themselves to be deep thinkers, whether or not they’ve had any actual training in the complex subject of philosophy. These people may expound loudly and at length on the subject of themselves, and expect others to be in awe at their wisdom.

But of course philosophy is more than just that. This is a good explanation of what it is, from people who certainly know a lot  about the subject. “… philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.” This is from this site https://philosophy.fsu.edu/undergraduate-study/why-philosophy/What-is-Philosophy, which can lead you to more on the subject, if you are interested.

My new word though, won’t be in that website, which is a learned one, my word is in fact decidedly not a learned word. It is a word that describes those fake philosophers, the ones who simply talk of themselves, as I wrote earlier, the ones who are full of their own self importance, and I call them not a philosopher, but a “phullofhimselfer”. What do you think of the word? Pretty clever, right? I think it is, but I don’t want to get too full of my own cleverness! Every now and then, I do something smart, but I know it doesn’t always go that way, and I can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes too!

Anyway, that’s my new word, please feel free to remember where you first saw it, and where it was!

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Getting a Picture Book Published

carolyncordon

I’m sure I’m not the only person who has a picture book skulking around in their head, waiting for the best moment to emerge and so be released out into the world, right? I have this idea that seemed like a great picture book, but it was rejected by a publisher and it has been sitting in a drawer ever since.

I have another potential book for children in my head, in the early stages, but I haven’t really done much about getting it thought through, and have spent no time in thinking on how and where it may ever be published.

If this sounds familiar to you, you can probably understand how excited I am about the workshop I’m going to be involved with later this month. The Gawler Poets at the Pub event takes place at the P/A Hotel in Gawler South Australia, on the last Sunday of every month. The main event is the Poetry Reading and open mic in the afternoon, and there is often a workshop in the morning.

For November, there is a workshop, and it is all about making your idea for a picture book or other genre, absolutely the best it can be, and then getting it published. I am one of the presenters, the other is the writer of a beautiful new picture book that is just out. Her book will be there for attendees to look at and be amazed by, and I will have copies of my own books there too.

This workshop will cover various modes and methods of making a book beautiful, and then getting that beautiful book published. There are more methods for these things than you may realise, so if you’re in the area, why not come along! I’d love to see you there, and if you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me via email at kittycordo@gmail.com