Day: July 24, 2023

Blogging Insights — Self Doubt

Fandango4 Comments

For this week’s Blogging Insights prompt, Dr. Tanya has given us a quote about writing and asked us for our reactions to the quote.

This week’s quote is from American poet, novelist, and short story writer, Sylvia Plath.

“The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt.”

Self doubt can certainly be debilitating. It occurs when we lack confidence or feel incapable of doing things we need to do. I think we have all felt self doubt to one degree or another when there’s a lot on the line. Maybe it’s a job interview. Maybe you’ve met someone and are looking for a relationship with that person.

I suppose, though, when it comes to blogging, I’ve never suffered from self doubt. Probably because there’s nothing on the line. I have enough confidence in my mastery of the English language, rules of grammar, and my imagination, that I know I can create decent blog posts that others will find engaging and compelling.

But it’s not like I’m making a living by blogging. What is the price of my failing at blogging, other than maybe a bruised ego? On the other hand, if I had to depend on blogging or writing in order to put a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table, I might be overcome with self doubt.

So I can understand someone like Sylvia Plath saying what she said. Her livelihood was contingent upon overcoming self doubt.

WDP — Music to Live Life By

Fandango2 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What do you listen to while you work?
View all responses

I’m retired, so the question doesn’t really apply to me. At least not the “while you work” part.

That said, I do listen to music a lot. Most of the time it serves as background music to other activities I’m doing. For example, as I’m composing this post, I’m listening to SiriusXM’s classic vinyl channel, one of several SiriusXM’s channels devoted to Sixties to late Eighties rock and roll music.

When I started this post, “Run with the Pack” from Bad Company was playing. Now it’s the Doors’ “L.A. Woman.” I hear songs like these and they momentarily transport me back to the music of my young adulthood. Sometimes I’ll pause whatever I am doing and flashback to something the song I hear reminds me of — what I was doing, who I was with. And those memories make me smile as I recall the soundtrack of my more youthful days.

I’ll end this post by noting that the classic rock song that just started playing is “Listen to the Music” by the Doobie Brothers. And that is precisely what I’m doing. Listening to the music.

Image credit: Bing Image Creator.

Share Your World — 07/24/2023

Fandango5 Comments
Share Your World

Di, at Pensitivity101, is our host for Share Your World each week. Here are her SYW questions for this week.

1. What makes you smile at the drop of a hat?

My grandson is three years and two months old and I love listening to the things he says. He surprises me, amuses me, and makes me smile the whole time I’m around him.

My granddaughter is 20 months old, and while she knows a lot of words and what they mean, she’s not yet that verbal. But her expression, mannerisms, and reactions to things are precious.

2. What makes you angry?

Politics. Politics used to be about negotiation and compromise in order to get things done for the politicians’ constituents. Now it’s become radicalized and extremist and words like “negotiation” and “compromise” are considered to be weaknesses that will not be tolerated. Strict ideological positions have taken precedence over the needs of the public and the greater good.

3. What saddens you?

Related to the above, we seem to have become a nation of extremists in the United States. We are either/or. Either you’re “woke” or you’re “anti-work,” And it extends to almost all facets of life. It saddens me that so few people these days appreciate my philosophy of “whatever floats your boat.” They’d rather sink your boat if it’s not floating in the same direction or in the same waters as yours is.

4. What do you find most frustrating?

What I find most frustrating is the close-mindedness of people who have formed an opinion and stick by that opinion regardless of the facts. And I worry that such close-mindedness and willful ignorance of the facts will have disastrous consequences.

Gratitude

I’m grateful that most people I know and interact with in the real world do not fall within the bounds of those who are in my responses to questions 2 to 4 above.

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #229

Fandango17 Comments

Welcome to Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenging bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the photo. There are no style or word limits.

The photo below is from sandas04 at DeviantArt.

For the visually challenged writer, the photo shows a young girl sitting on a bench in a retail area with a shopping bag next to her and a sad or bored expression on her face.

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Maximum

Fandango18 Comments
FOWC

Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “maximum.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.