The Presence of Love
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
And in Life’s noisiest hour,
There whispers still the ceaseless Love of Thee,
The heart’s Self-solace and soliloquy.You mould my Hopes, you fashion me within;
And to the leading Love-throb in the Heart
Thro’ all my Being, thro’ my pulse’s beat;
You lie in all my many Thoughts, like Light,
Like the fair light of Dawn, or summer Eve
On rippling Stream, or cloud-reflecting Lake.And looking to the Heaven, that bends above you,
How oft! I bless the Lot that made me love you.
Month: April 2022
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ Beginning Your Novel
It’s hard to begin a novel. Heck, it’s even hard to begin a blog post. Why? You only have a few lines to grab a reader and draw them into your world, and the pressure is on.
While we often obsess over plot, pacing, and other mechanics of storytelling, the open is one of the most important (and difficult) elements to master. It’s a promise that you offer to your reader. Nail it and readers will stick with you, even if other elements of your story aren’t perfect. But if you don’t start your novel off in the right place, readers will grow bored or get confused and eventually give up. Not good.
A lot of writers make the mistake of starting out with background information, but you should delay that until later on in your story. Don’t spend time with too much preamble. Plunge your reader into the heart of the action to hook them right away.
🍎 Today’s Health Tip ~ Strength Train for a Longer and Higher Quality of Life
Regular physical activity promotes general good health, reduces the risk of developing many diseases, and helps you live a longer and healthier life. For many of us, “exercise” means walking, jogging, treadmill work, or other activities that get the heart pumping.
But often overlooked is the value of strength-building exercises. Once you reach your 50s and beyond, strength (or resistance) training is critical to preserving the ability to perform the most ordinary activities of daily living — and to maintain an active and independent lifestyle. The average 30-year-old will lose about a quarter of his or her muscle strength by age 70 and half of it by age 90. “Just doing aerobic exercise is not adequate,” says Dr. Robert Schreiber, physician-in-chief at Hebrew SeniorLife and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Unless you are doing strength training, you will become weaker and less functional.”
Source: Harvard Medical School, Healthbeat Newsletter (Issue #4)
💡 Something to Think About
While I was walking I passed a couple returning home. As they exited their pickup truck, the man said to his female companion, ‘Why do you try to psycho-analyze everything?” She became defensive, and said, “I don’t.” I could see they were not in a good place. Imagine how this may gone differently if the man said, “Could you explain a bit more what you were trying to say? I don’t fully understand what you are saying.” In this case, a dialogue begins and they address the issue peacefully.
🤗 A Better Life ~ Take Ten Minutes
Life is better when we have a cheerleader, someone who believes in us, has our back, and encourages us at every turn. Take ten minutes and be a cheerleader for someone in your life. A quick text or email encouraging them may be all that person needs to have a great day and maybe do something special. It all happened because YOU took ten minutes.
🌞 Today’s Inspiration ~ Learn from Mistakes
“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: 1. Admit it. 2. Learn from it, and 3. Don’t repeat it.” ~ Bear Bryant
🍎 Today’s Health Tip ~ A Great Couple: Vitamin B12 & Folate
Vitamin B12 and folate form one of nutrition’s best couples. B12 helps the body absorb folate, and the two work together to support cell division and replication, which allow the body to replace cells that die. This process is important during times of growth in childhood, and throughout the body of adults as well. Cells that line the stomach and the cells of the hair follicle, for example, divide and replicate often. Good food sources of vitamin B12 include:
- meat
- eggs
- milk
- Leafy green vegetables
- beans
- other legumes
Nutrition guidelines recommend 2.4 micrograms of B12 and 400 micrograms of folate daily. This can usually be achieved easily by eating a reasonably well-balanced diet. However, vegans — people who don’t eat meat and other animal-based products — may have B12 deficiencies. And people who eat poorly or drink too much alcohol may have folate deficiencies. . . . Deficiency in either or both vitamins may cause a form of anemia called macrocytic anemia. B12 deficiencies can also cause mild tingling sensations and memory loss.
Source: Harvard Medical School, Healthbeat Newsletter
🌾 Today’s Poem ~ somewhere I have never travelled
somewhere I have never travelled
e. e. cummings
somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond
any experience, your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility: whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens; only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands.
✒️ Writers’ Wisdom ~ What is a Point of View?
Point of View
A point of view is the perspective an author uses to give a glimpse into the world he’s created. The reader may experience this world directly through the inner thoughts of a character or distantly from the perspective of an objective observer. Point of view is an important literary device for exploring a story. The point of view an author chooses can determine how the reader understands and participates in the story. Point of view can be used to express the feelings, thoughts, motivations, and experiences of one or many. It is the angle that the story is viewed through.
🤗 A Better Life ~ My Fig Tree’s Lessons
My fig tree is showing off with new green leaves. I see the promise of a rich harvest of figs later this summer (if the mockingbirds don’t get too greedy). The fig tree teaches me patience. I had to be patient through the winter before the the fig tree began to bud (ah, the cold weather didn’t kill it. It was playing possum). I have to be patient to wait for figs to appear and ripen. I have a job to water and nurture my fig tree if the harvest is to happen. Thanks for lessons fig tree.
