Tag: life

New Ideas, poetry, Public Speaker, Writing, writing prompts

Stand Up, Sit Down and Write, Move, & Write Some More!

carolyncordon

The title is a list of what I do, or want to do in my life. My Stand Up career is not actually a thing I’ve ever done for money, so not a career at all, not yet anyway.

This image is of me, getting in touch with the character I ‘am’ when I do my Stand Up Comedy act. Her name is Nanna Carreau, she’s considerably older than I am (twenty years or more) and I love acting as her, it’s so much fun to think about what she thinks about things, and to ‘be her’ sometimes, and making peopl laugh when I do it!

My Writing ‘career’ though, that is something I do make at least some money from. Not enough pay our household’s bills, but at least enough to be able to pay for my coffee and meals when I go out. Book sales, and an annual Government payment cover that …

That Government payment is called the Educational Lending Right, and is a payment to writers who have a book in a school library. It’s a fine payment, I love it, I write the book, do the necessarly things, and it goes on this program, to be looked at every year, and paying out the relevant amount to me, straight into my bank account! Money for nothing, to some extent because books in libraries can last for more than one year, so those books will bring in the money for more than just one year – Bonus!

If I were to tout myself as an interesting Puublic Speaker, talking about my books and a variety of other important things in my life, that would be a good money-making option for sure. I haven’t done that much at all though, and while I have in fact done that, it’s mostly been when doing presentations with my writng group, where I have a voluntary position as the President, and as the group is a not-for-profit group, members are unable to be paid.

When I’m doing that kind of thing, I make sure I look far better than do when ‘being’ old grumpy bum Nanna Carreau!

So what’s next? Ah, Move … The image shows my canine walking partner, Lenny. He’s our dog, and my husband and I walk him at least five times a week. We don’t cover as much distance as Lenny would have walked or run as a racing Greyhound, but it’s usually more than one kilometre. And doing the things good dog ownes need to do means more moving.

And I like getting outside regularly to be with nature to look at the sky as well as our trees and other plants, and other trees, crops, and other people’s gardens when I go for a walk. I’m usually looking at the birds out and about as well, I’m an interested bird watcher for sure.

And seeing things that interest me can give me ideas to write about, and I in fact have written poems that have then been published. Having my poetry in books, whether self-published or published by others, well that’s a good thing, for a writer!

Nature, Life, and Thinking About It All gives me plenty to write about, and I love it! If you enjoyed reading this blogpost, why not have a look at what else I’ve written?!

Thanks, maybe you have your own things in your life you’d like to tell us all about, if so, leave a comment!

Uncategorized

What Am I Going To Do Next?

carolyncordon

I more or less ‘retired’ from the nine to five working for someone else world back in 1993, when I quit my govenment job to be a ‘stay at home mother’. My son is now almost 33, and living a good life, so I must have done a good job at being a mother.

He has moved away from home, living a good life, in his new home he had built, and married to the love of his life. I love visiting him, aor having him visit my husband and I, but both he and I have the things we love to do, that are apart from our wider family unit.

Family life is important for sure, but there is far more to what I I want to do in my life than simply ‘family’ things, no matter how important that aspect of life is.

I’ve been exploring ways to keep myself interested and doing ‘stuff’ ever since my son started school and then moved away, trying things out, working on the things that seemed interesting, and doing them, while moving on from those of less interest.

Some of those things have been paid jobs, but those jobs were either only short term options, or were not wanted I enjoyed, or wanted to do.

Making money is not the thing that fills me with interest, it’s merely a side benefit. The things that light a fire in my inner self are creative things, particularly those with a literary edge, such as poetry and writing, and being in contact with others also interested in those same things.

I have have a variety of things to show for my efforts. Books and poetry written, and published either by a publisher, or self-published. With those books, I have never lost money over publishing them, breaking even, ore even better than that.

Money isn’t a problem for me, so that side of things is under control, I’m not having to sell my soul to a boss who doesn’t understand what I need in life to feel complete! I’m currently living a life that meets my needs for creative expression, with more than adequate finances available to me.

I’m enjoying life, without having a business or job, so I’ve now come to the conclusion that I may as well go on as I currently am. I’m not only doing that though, I’m always open to new things, new says to spend my time. Trying things out, meeting new people, fun times for sure!

Looking at what comes next, in calendar of things to do, and finding interesting things that look like fun, that is how I see myself spending the rest of my life, and who mightn’t want to life their own life in a similar way!

The other creative things I’ve been enjoying lately is the Art Installation I’ve created, and am curating – the Redbamks Rust & Found Art Installation, which is my front fence with a great many rusty items on or near it. These days, I’m often looking for new old things to put on display, such as those in the photograph below!

That is a small selection of the many items on display, and every time I’m out, I may find another to add, fun!

Finding the fun in life, what a blast that is!

Uncategorized

Art Is A Many Labelled Thing

carolyncordon

When I used to say I was a writer, I didn’t also consider myself to be an artist, wrongly so, as it turns out. Because of course, writing is indeed an Art, the Art of Literature.

The book pictured above is one made up of writing, both poetry and prose, from people connected to my writing group, and I am proud of each one of them!

It is filled with responses to writing prompts given at our various events held, and the book is certainly correctly labelled as literature, such is the quality of the chosen pieces.

I am as proud to be connected with this book as I am of my own personal published books I have. But a couple of years ago, I took my first steps to another form of Art, that of Visual Art. I took up the idea of perhaps writing and actually illustrating children’s picture books.

And to do that, I would naturally need to actually draw the pictures to go in the picture book, right? Right! Well that idea, while a fun change for a while, didn’t really take off in my mind, and while I’m still open to the idea one day happening, it is off my list of things to to NOW!

But the idea of being a Visual Artist as well as being involved in Literature stuck in my head, and I decided it was somethng I had to do, and how I was going to do it was to take something I’d already been doing for a bit of fun, and treat it in a much more serious way.

I am a dog owner, and as my husband and I have been walking our dog (Lenny, a Greyhound, retired from racing), well I’d been picking up bits and pieces of rusty “rubbish” and putting them on our fence.

Over time, there were more and more things there, and as the fence itself is made of iron, and much of it has rusted. I thought about it all, and decided I would put it all together, thinking of the many important contexts touched on by what I was doing.

In the image above are some of the items that make up this Art Installation, a tiny section, some given to me, some found, but all of them either rusty, found or both rusty and found. That chicken now has a name, Chicky Chook, and she may well be the ‘star’ of a picture book, using photos rather than drawings … My mind comes up with so many different ideas!

Anyway, back to the Art Installation:
Obviously, recycling and reimagining items otherwise looked on as trash, and now considered as items put on display, and so assist in the creation of the “Redbanks Rust and Found Art Installation”, all went toward my thinking on what I was doing as Art.

Initially I was Creating an Art Installation, and now, having more than 750 individual items on display, with more awaiting placement, and of course more found every week, I am thinking more closely about what I am doing, and where the best place may be for each item to be put on display.

Previously I would just put things anywhere, now I consider the most effective way to place each item, filling gaps in the display, to make it more visually appealing to onlookers …

So yes I am indeed a Visual Artist, as well as being involved in literature. I in fact have been bringing the two Art forms together, and intend publishing a collection of written responses to this Art Installation, and launch it at a Festival put on by my writing group.

Writing will always be a much loved aspect of my Art, but Visual Art is becoming more and more important to me as well!

Those two frogs were giving to me by a friend who’d had some rearrangement in her garden and no longer needed them, and she automatically thought of me! I’m becoming famous about this Art Installation, in my immediate community anyway, and am thinking about ways to extend my breadth of connections regarding this, and turn both it, and my other Creative things I do into a paying business!

Exciting times, and I am gathering as many supporters together to assist in making this installation into a fun and interesting place for tourists, whether they’re intrastare, interstate, or overseas visitors. This idea is taking up much of my thinking at the moment, and I truly feel it may actually work!

I don’t need thousands of visitors, I just need enough visitors committed to what I have to present, and happy to pay for it. I’ll be working at making my site one for not fust looking and walking on, but getting involved in what is on presentation, as a form of Experiential Tourism.

This is really appealing to me, and I hope it will be of interest to many others as well. If anyone is interested in knowing more, feel free to contact me, I’d love to tell you about it! And tell your friends too!

meaning in life, Uncategorized, Writing

Finding Meaning …

carolyncordon

I’m finding some sense of control, as I work through putting together this anthology “Plague Invasion – Creative Writing Responses to Covid-19”. I can do this one thing, and I can stay at home to do it, and that’s what I know how to do, staying home and putting words into order.

my view if I get off my bum and look … part of our front yard

It helps me to do this, and I hope it’s helping those who are getting working on it with me, writing their own story about how their life is right now. These are not good times. Stay safe, maintain your social distance with other people, wash your hands …

And if you write anything that relates to Covid-19, and would like to share your words with others, please consider submitting it to me!

My view out in the front yard again. I love these lovely tall pine trees, that the Galahs also love, when it’s time to check out the pine cones in the trees, to eat pine nuts.

As in the image just above, the creatures are going on with things, finding food and shelter where they can, and they’re not having to thing about this pandemic that humans are having to think about, and deal with. Animals have their own things to worry about, and that road just outside of our driveway, has often been a sad scene, when the Galahs are eating the pine nuts, from cones knocked down onto the road, and fall victim to a car. Life and death, right there …

It saddens me to see that, but well, we have to die from something, and chowing down on food you enjoy eating, would be a good enough time to die. It would be quick, and so painless, I hope. I wouldn’t want to die that way, and really, can’t see any point in thinking about how I may eventually die. I just hope it doesn’t happen for a long, long time.

But back to more positive thoughts. I hope we can get through this together, doing the best we can. And I want to catch up with friends again, and share hugs with them!

inspiration, writing prompts

From Small Things …

carolyncordon

I’m quite excited about what the month of February might bring – a little work for me, in the posting of a new creative writing prompt on this blog, every single day of this month of February, as well as the birthday of my super dooper bestest ever best friend, also known as my husband, Graham.

I hope that by the end of the month, I, and anyone who wants to come along for the ride, will have at least 29 new pieces of creative writing, that one hopes, might go on to become something more than just the small thing it began as. From a single writing prompt, may come an entire novel! Or, as in my case, the improvement of a poetry collection, that goes on to be published!

If you’re reading this post, and are excited about what may happen for you, for this month, I’d love to hear about it, please feel free to leave a comment, and we may begin a worthwhile discussion about writing related things – hopes for our writing, ideas about how to improve what we write, anything. We are writers, and we write – may our words bring worth to us, and to all who read our words!

I have dreams, I have ideas. If anyone reading this blog is interested, I love to give workshops to small groups, especially those who aren’t really sure about the scribbles they do, when they feel the need to get the stuff in their brain out, and onto the page. This writing can be rubbish, at times, but it can also be wonderful.

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Sometimes you can match the rubbish up with something else, give it bit of a polish, and it can become something far larger than the individual parts! Dare to dream, dare to write, dare to be your most fabulous self! And remember to tell people I helped you! Haha.

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An image I took recently, when there were so many very important things going on, that I knew I had to capture images of, but I felt impelled to take a photograph of the ground at my feet, and in that image, are so many individual things. Stones, pebbles, sticks, leaves, sand, dirt, and who knows what else. There’s the toe of my foot, and part of the chair I was sitting on, and a tiny piece of the pants I was wearing …

Is it, could it be, inspirational, who knows, but right know, at this very moment, I’ve begun thinking about the series of Cosy Murder Mystery books I’m thinking of creating, and maybe this image could have been taken by my amateur sleuth, Meredith, and it turns out to contain a vital clue to the question of ‘Who done it?’

Inspiration, what a lovely word it is. If I can inspire more loveliness in February, how awesome that could be, would be, should be! I ask of all to help the awesomeness manifest, for the month of February! Let this blog be inspiration for a more awesome world, filled with the awesome creative writing from February!