Catching up: Back to the Altar

 So one of my earliest posts, and probably at least one post after that one went live discussed my Altare de Muse. Or my Altar to the spirit of inspiration. Let's revisit that. My own religious and spiritual beliefs follow a sense of divine polytheism, but that doesn't mean that your beliefs are the same as mine. This altar isn't about worship, it's about veneration. Not so much crediting a divine source away from the Creator, but a place to call up or pray for specific energy or guidance, in this case, the creative spark or Inspiration. I am an intensely spiritual person, and I have the drive to include that spirituality in every aspect of my daily life, with no exclusions, with writing being such a large part of who I see myself as, setting a specific place for prayer regarding it just makes sense for who I am.

Where I am currently, I don't really have anything that I would call personal space, so I can't really set up an office or writing room. This means that many of these comforts for my writing space are just unrealistic at the moment. No matter how much I love having my fun collections, what I have now is a single shelf that is everything that inspires my work. 

I do find that having something to draw my eye helps' to remind me that I need to get my writing done, but for the foreseeable future I have combined my relevant Sea Shift props in one place, that I can look to while working from my laptop. As Pinterest and other sites are filled with flashy shots and how-to guides for creating a Writer's Notebook. I thought that you might appreciate some more on this visual practice.

My shelf contains the figurine that I use to represent The Muse, Inspiration herself, something a nib pen and ink, an empty journal to represent all the words never written a token or nod to how frightening a blank page can be when you start something new. Then a journal with things that inspire me, and a few books that I love and am likely to reread at least once a year: JM Barry's Peter Pan, The Art of War, An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope (which I keep meaning to read, but keep on hand for Quotes), and the book my Grandmother wrote and published  "Drop Something?" by JAEDL.

The shelf has a purpose beyond being pretty, it reminds me of what I'm doing on those days when real life decides to remind me that I'm almost 40 years old and have wanted to be a published author since I first learned how to read. We all struggle, we all ask ourselves "Is it worth it?" or "why do I keep trying?" and the truth is we keep trying because at one point or another a book changed us, the dream within the words affected what we wanted for ourselves. The shelf, while not necessary is grounding it helps you shed the energy that comes with the doubt and reminds you that the dream is bigger than ourselves. It's not about fame or wealth, it's about crafting letters into words and collecting the words together in a way that might affect somebody else. It's about love and immortality that can only be achieved in the memories of others.

I have my playlist on Spotify for my current project, because music remains important to my process. Most of my writing remains a combination of Method and Creative, and I like to maintain an active voice in presenting either a story or technical information. My Cookbook is still in development, I keep getting distracted, let's face it, writing out and formatting recipes and instructions is a little tedious.

I'm Writing! Well, again, I'm writing again.

 I have always loved the gentle flow of words, in fact, I am rarely at a loss for them. Being a Bibliophile sort of forces a person to also love language, and words in general. To not love all three is like being a painter that is color blind and only uses a single brush. As it is with many who love books, it doesn't take very long at all for the love to shift from consumer to creator.

Across the decade that I have been recording my thoughts in this blog, in my opinion, I haven't changed all that much. I don't have as many friends, well not many who are geographically close; and from a perspective of geography, I have seen a lot of change. There has been a number of changes in my family life as well, while I am not physically close with my siblings we have discovered and made tentative connections with two long lost siblings, I have another brother, and *gasp* while I grew up an only girl, the discovery of all discoveries, I have a sister.. as a result, I also have four more nephews whom I have never met bringing that tally up to sixteen. There are seven of us. Both my parents have passed away, though I may have mentioned that in the past. My brothers have married, divorced, and been widowed.

In the last year, I have almost completed a book on Tarot, which I feel I will be able to publish very soon. I have taken on work as a beta-reader, and am in the process of contemplating a Stream. Though one of the things that probably won't change is my dislike for being on camera. I have also started writing a work of dark fiction, which I never thought I would even try, regardless of the reading that I most enjoy, my best writing is by far more technical than creative unless you count poetry.

But I have also become more comfortable with expressive writing outside of poetry, and enjoying some exploration dabbling between first person and second person narratives without diving into a vignette style or lecturing the reader.. otherwise known as exposition.

I have noticed that while many writers appear to have an issue with prolixity, my vocabulary has made obtaining high word counts a struggle as I tend to be more frugal in my choices and more exotic in the application. Though with all that I have returned to keeping a pen and paper journal, well several of them and I have to say that my "Voice" is more clear than ever.

As I find time I will likely be revisiting some of my much older posts from this blog to discuss topics and discoveries in better detail. But until then, I hope that this personal update finds you all well,

COVID-19: Quarantine, Social Distancing and other Restrictions...

 So a bit of a catchall post, I had about 6 more Quarantine posts that were eaten by the internet or the software that I used to create them. But to summarize it was a lot of the same as the stuff I already reported. On Day 18 my First Responder RN sister-in-law developed symptoms and was quarantined away from my brother and their children in a hotel while she was tested, and kept there until she was symptom-free.

Pfizer had their COVID-19 Vaccine approved for human use on 20 Nov. 2020. Though the order to restrict business occupancy, business hours, social distancing, and the mandate for the use of PPE continued through June 2021, unless an individual was fully vaccinated.

I have not yet had the vaccine.

I currently have two friends under Quarantine who tested positive for the virus just before July 4th.

In Michigan of the more than 1,000,000 cases, there have been more than 600,000 deaths. COVID-19 continues to have a mortality rate of close to 60%.

The two-part vaccine has been received as a mixed blessing. Many are relieved that it is finally here, while others fear its side effects because it was rushed to market in almost half the time that a vaccine usually takes to be developed, approved, and administered.

I don't fear the Vaccine, though I admit I haven't rushed to get it either. I don't like being the first, particularly with things like this, though I plan on being vaccinated by September. After a year we should know more about the vaccination side effects.

I wait because I have questions. Primarily, most vaccines have an effective window, and immunity doesn't last a lifetime. Like MMR, Tetanus, Pertussis, and a few others with their 10-year immunity. Pneumonia with its 5-year, or Influenza A with its yearly... With this virus being as fast to mutate and as aggressive as it is, I wanted a window of time to pass so that when people who have been vaccinated start being susceptible to the virus again, I won't be in the first wave.

I also wonder if those who have had the vaccinations will have to face a yearly antibody test with their annual blood work?