Category: New Ideas

Philosophy

Looking Back, and Satisfied!

carolyncordon

It’s been an interesting year, this year. 2019 – it was filled with opportunities, those taken, those left, and I’m satisfied with what I achieved, even though there could have been more.

There can always be more, of course there can. But less is another option, and sometimes taking less leads to deeper, more meaningful things instead of the big and shiny things. And of course, there are the things that life throws at us, unexpectedly, and we have to try to deal with them, in the best way we can.

So in this year, I attended book launches, included my own, I lead a writing group that put on monthly Poetry Readings, sourcing Guest Poets to bring new interest to the event. The group Adelaide Plains Poets Chapter and Verse, also successfully put on out fifth Festival of Words. Good things happening, with words, are excellent!

I wrote much poetry, and probably have enough quality poetic words for a new full size poetry collection, and will  into taking that further in 2020. I also broke my right ankle, in September, which could have been terrible, but instead lead to a completely different kind of poetry collection being written, and launched in this final week of the year of 2019.

“Angles on Ankles” is a chap book, all about my broken ankle, and contains my thoughts about this whole broken ankle ‘thing’, all written poetically, 21 poems in fact. This book has been declared to be a good little book, and given I only wrote it initially as a kind of therapy as I was in rest and heal mode in October after doing the damage, I’m happy to have got the book published commercially here, or by leaving me a comment below.

20191122_122645-2

Other members of the writing group have also had success with their own writing, and I am so glad for them for what they have achieved. What else? Well after breaking my ankle, I have begun an exercise/rehabilitation program, using exercises given to me by the physio I saw when I was actually able to stand up and walk.

I added in a couple of my own physio kinds of exercises, including using our family Wii Fit exercise machine. I’ve been doing most if not all of these exercises every day now, for the past week or so, and I hope I can keep this habit going, because it is certainly a good one.

I have also got more into the habit of blogging much more often, on at least a few of the blogs I have. This blog, focused on me as a ‘wordsmith’ – writer, poet, blogger, etc, is my most important blog, but the blog I began when I was diagnosed with MS, has morphed into a blog that took on things related to my broken ankle, because of course both MS and a broken ankle have mobility issues happening, and falls can be lessened with strengthening of the body …

I was going to work at becoming a writer of Cosy Murder Mysteries this year, and did in fact do some planning, and writing in this particular genre. But it was bad timing, because that broken right ankle happened, and my brain couldn’t focus on fictional problems, when my own physical problem was right there with me … But 2020 is a new year, and certainly I’ll be looking at getting back into my “At Talloola”  murder mysteries!

I am happy with all of this, for sure. 2019 has also been a year of becoming serious about becoming a Stoic. Holding to Stoic thought, thinking about things and acting in a Stoic way has certainly aided me in my life, this year. As I was ‘getting over’ this broken ankle, I had a Stoic outlook, rather than a ‘woe is me’ outlook, and so the time went well for me, with the poetry happening, and then the book.

Stoicism helps in so many ways. Thinking things through, then acting in wise ways, rather than acting with no real thought at all, is almost always the best way. It is a work in progress, and I know some of my thoughts are still far from in keeping with Stoicism, but my actions almost always are more considered than those initial thoughts may have been.

I was pleased that a bit of Stoicism made it’s way into that ankle poetry book, and hope to continue working hard at moving upward and onward with my Stoic Wisdom. This is my Stoicism blog – My Stoic Life. I will be using it more and more, and will endeavour to post there much more often, as I go … I look forward to reading comments on my blogs, often! I will follow, if you give good and thoughtful comments

The theme for our writing group’s Festival of Words next year is “Vision”, and I have my own personal vision, of 2020 being the year my writing really takes off!

New Ideas, Writing

A Writerly Confession

carolyncordon

This is  little bit embarrassing, but I have a confession to make. I have been writing a book, a thriller in fact, for a long time. A very long time. I think about my main character sometimes, and especially when I’m at my weekly writing group, where I usually use the writing exercise prompt, to write some more of my novel.

I have many of these little snippets of my novel in (not much) progress, each snippet anywhere between 200 to 1000 words or more. If I gathered up all of the snippets, I might in fact have enough words to make a novel, in word count, anyway. But mere words do not a novel make. You need a coherent plot for that.

I have a kind of a coherent plot, I know what is happening, so some extent, and I have an idea of how it is all going to go. I have characters I love, and I have a snippet (or maybe more) of a love interest. I’ve written bits about the main character chatting to the love interest character, and I have little bits about other characters, including the bad guy.

This novel in progress is a thriller, did I mention that? Anyway, I have a bad guy, I have secondary bad characters, I have an interesting surprise person from the main character’s younger years, I have a wise older character, and a flamboyant and lovely transvestite.

So I have all of this stuff, but what I don’t have is the will to get on and get a thriller written – I have a plot idea, with the mayor being a bad person, doing terrible things, but I’m not feeling the passion for writing that story, because I know that a good thriller has many words, and I don’t feel like writing one story with all of the necessary words. I have ideas for dead bodies, though, and other interesting ideas (I think they’re interesting, anyway).

Now though, I’m thinking about and have done a tiny bit of looking into the idea of writing cozy mysteries, rather than thrillers. Cozy mystery sounds twee and sweet, doesn’t it? I have fond memories of reading many of Agatha Christie’s books and gee, I wonder if I could get into writing them?

It seems these kinds of books have become bigger these days, and while Ms Christie may have gotten away with a mere 40,000 to 60,000 words, publishers these days are looking for at least 65,000 to 90,000 words … So much for an easy little few months to write my mystery … Ah well, given that I already have a setting, and characters, as well as some ideas, and interest in the project, who knows.

From further investigation, it seems a Thriller Mystery could/should be in the 70,000 to 90,000 word range … So lots of words, but hey, I’m a writer, so I love words, yes? Yes, in moderation, that’s true. A further thought, as I sit here typing, bearing in mind that my m main character is a youngish, but not too young woman with a career, I could think about a genre cross Chick Lit/Mystery novel or series of novels.

The idea of having a series of books with my main character/setting I already know much about, is certainly appealing to me. I’ve been writing about this person and this place for I don’t know how long really, five to six years? maybe longer, not sure. It’s funny, I am using a different bag than usual today, and I found yet another snippet about young Meredith, and the town of Talloola, where all of my action takes place!

So, there’s my confession, I am going to abandon my book because of lack of interest. But my interest in the people in the book, and the town it’s set in are certainly still very strong, so that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on them. So don’t worry Meredith, there will still be much more action to happen for you! You and young Travis, who I’m very fond of too! And who wouldn’t be fond of a dark haired, blue eyed, very buff man, who knows how to keep his favourite lady happy!

 

meaning in life, Philosophy

Searching for Your Soul

carolyncordon

Today, I’m a bit excited, because I’m giving a poetry workshop on the theme of searching for your soul. We will look at what the soul is, what it means to those present, and ways it fits or could fit into our lives.

Doing good for ourselves, in materialistic terms is ‘good’ to do, but the good in that is only temporary, and does not much at all for the soul, as far as I see things. It may seem different to others, and of course, we can all see things in different ways.

Living a safe life, with money matters all under control, so that you always have food and shelter, these are certainly important things in life. But that is what animals aim to do every day, we are humans, and surely we have a need to search for more than that?

That is where the search for the soul comes into things, as far as I see it. The soul, higher purpose, raison d’etre or however you refer to it, that takes you much higher than mere animal level of existence, into the more thinking levels of being, into ideas of more Spiritual leanings. These are the things I expect we will be talking and writing about today.

I have another workshop with the same community group next month, which if it goes as I plan, we will be looking at the words we write today, and turn them into absolutely perfect poetry, meaningful and magical!

Finding words, talking about things, writing things down, these are the first stages in the writing of meaningful poetry, and of course if your theme is ‘Searching for your soul’, you would expect much of meaning to be written about for the session.

20190901_124204

The process of editing words into something better, that is where mere words can become literature. Using poetic devices such as assonance, alliteration, rhyme, simile, metaphor and such things, this is what can turn initial words into fine poetry.

Helping other people to do this, that surely is a part of my own raison d’etre! Helping others to turn the everyday and ordinary into more meaningful and important things, finding the soul, examining ways to do the best possible thing in life, these are surely what every person should be working toward? I thing so, and I’d love to know how you feel about these things. Please leave a comment, we can discuss these higher matters here.

New Ideas, Story Ideas, Uncategorized, Writing

Themes in a Writing Life

carolyncordon

I have been ‘a writer’ for perhaps twenty years. Over my time as a writer, I have written about a variety of different things. I tend to write about what my mind is connecting with, at the time, and I think about many things.

An early theme was Sexual Abuse, which resulted in both a poetry collection, and a blog. Another theme has been Dogs, and that has so far resulted in three books with at least one more book in the same series to be published perhaps next year. Since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2010, I have published a book about it, and again, have a blog regarding that theme.

My current theme, one I have also begun a new blog about, is living a Stoic life. I began thinking about stoicism around two years ago, and I based much of my early thought around a book I received for my birthday last year (or it may have been a Christmas present). It is the book “How to be a Stoic” by Massimo Pigliucci, a well written book and very informative.

I am enjoying looking at my life, and considering it in regards to Stoicism. I wrote a blog post on my Stoic blog this morning, which shows this, I would love you to go there and read it, it tells a bit about me and how I live my life!

Being a writer means you have to have things to write about, and living a life made up of many different things means the range of your writing can be a diverse one. And exploring different genre means you have more options and avenues for your words. I am a writer, as I have said, and I write different things.

I am currently working on an adult novel, I have an idea for a Young Adult novella, I am a poet, I am a blogger, and I’ve written short stories too. I also have a memoir, which was the book mentioned previously, about multiple sclerosis. I am also the editor of a newsletter for the people living in the town closest to where I live, Mallala. This newsletter comes out monthly, and I enjoy putting it together, with my own writing, and the articles sent to me for it.

My life is one of writing, and also of working with and for my various communities. It is a good, simple, and Stoic life, and I love it!

Philosophy

Thinking About a New Niche

carolyncordon

This year has been a good year for thinking about who I really am, and what I believe, and believe in. Writing always helps me to do this, as does reading things, that are new to me, but set off the bells in my brain, and light up my mind in new and good ways.

One of these new to me things is something that’s been around for more that two thousand, and goes back to Ancient Greek and Roman times. This olden times thing is something that resonates with many of us still, and is something that I want to look into as deeply as I can, and to bring it as completely as possible into my life.

So what is this wonderful thing, and will I make lots and lots of money from it, you may ask, breathlessly. Well, let me be brutally honest here, and deal with the money aspect first. No, I will not make lots and lots of money from it. But the more I adopt this thing, the less the fact of not making all of that money matters.

Money is a tool, a useful too, in this day and age, and of course having the money to pay for all of the bills that keep me fed, and sheltered, these are important things. And being able to move around from place to place is extremely important to me too. So, food, house, car, my current situation easily ticks all of those boxes for me.

And my writing life gives me little bits of money too, at certain times of the year, so that helps to pay for extra non-necessary things. But the thing that is firing up my synapses (metaphorically, and perhaps literally too, maybe …).

To get to the ‘guts’ of this blog post then, the thing that has been exciting me these past months is something many people consider to be a dull and boring thing. Those people though, fail to see the full depths of the idea, I feel. The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, considered as the last of a line of great Roman emperors, firmly believed in this thing, this thought process, this way to live a good life.

So finally, here it is. The wonderful thing is Stoicism. Being a stoic, is explained well on the website that gave me these words to share with you:

“A brief synopsis and definition on this particular school of Hellenistic philosophy: Stoicism was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but was famously practiced by the likes of Epictetus, Senecaand Marcus Aurelius. The philosophy asserts that virtue (such as wisdom) is happiness and judgment should be based on behavior, rather than words. That we don’t control and cannot rely on external events, only ourselves and our responses.”

If you’d like to read more, the site the above description comes from would be a good one to read. I get emails from this site from time to time, and appreciate the insights I gain from the words I read. This particular part of the site gives some ideas to practise in life, to assist in achieving a more stoic attitude to the things life throws out. I was given a fantastic book for my birthday, and it told me much about how to be a stoic.

20190611_162519This is the book, and I thoroughly recommend anyone interested in Stoicism should get their hands on a copy of the book, and learn more there about it, as seen by the author Massimo Pigliucci. 

So that is what I am, or trying to be, a Stoic. I like ideas, I like philosophy, I like the idea of scaling back the ‘stuff’ in my life, and increasing the valuable things in terms of living a life that meets properly with Stoic ideals. An idea I like a lot, is to think on what it is I want to achieve in the day in the morning, first thing, and then to think on whether these things were achieved, and if not, to think on the reasons why they weren’t achieved. I’m not at that level yet, but I’m trying to get there. In small ways, both Facebook and Twitter prompt me to think on things wished for and actually achieved.

And of course, regular blogging can cover some of these ideas/ideals too, but in a rather slap dash way, I must admit. So my idea is this – to begin a new blog, focusing on Being a Stoic. Do I need to do this? Of course not. But looking at it as a stoic should, I can see this would be of assistance to me, to do regular posts about things I want to do, and then look at what I achieve. Like a diary in fact, but one that has an aspect of honesty, both to myself and others, as I put my thoughts and words up for consideration and comment, by others.

I will talk about this journey on this new blog, considering ideas, giving opinions, thoughts, and other things, always from the point of view of myself, and how I see things as I learn more about stoicism. I have thought about this plan, and can see no obstacles to achieving it.

A note to anyone not certain about the meaning of the word ‘Stoic’ or ‘Stoical’ the dictionary definition below gives clues, but doesn’t say much about the fuller truth of this philosophy:

“STOIC”

 noun
sto·​ic | \ ˈstō-ik  \

Definition of stoic

 (Entry 1 of 2)

1capitalized : a member of a school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium about 300 b.c. holding that the wise man should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submissive to natural law
2: one apparently or professedly indifferent to pleasure or pain

stoic

adjective

sto·​ic | \ ˈstō-ik  \
variants: or stoical \ ˈstō-​i-​kəl  \

Definition of stoic

1 capitalized : of, relating to, or resembling the Stoics or their doctrines Stoic logic
2: not affected by or showing passion or feeling especially : firmly restraining response to pain or distress  – ‘stoic indifference to cold’

So there you are, the word stoic is not only to be indifferent to cold, there is much, much more about it, and I hope you can learn more about it in my new blogsite!

The name of my new Blog will be “My Stoic Life”. When I have set up the new site, I will post a link to it on this post, and on other relevant places online. So please feel free to follow me on this new path in my life. And feel free to comment here, if you have anything to assist me in this journey!