Writing prompts - March 2011

After a bit of a break I started doing the writing prompts again, albeit not so frequently, which I am trying to get to do daily again. Here are the pieces I wrote for the month of March.

Silence

Silence is noisy

When there’s no one around me

I speak to myself.

***

Thoughts fill up my head

Distracting me from silence –

A prelude to sleep.

Ending to a story

Sam died silently last night. It was painless and peaceful. There were no tears and no goodbyes, just an understanding. The silence that followed had been unexpectedly eerie. It threatened to envelope me and break my defenses. And the only way that I could stop myself from falling apart was to make my way towards this spot of the house.

I have been sitting here ever since, watching the fish swim aimlessly around the tank. Sam had always loved this fish tank. It was one of the first things we had brought into the house. And it would be one of the last things that I would leave behind, along with the chandeliers and the rest of the memorabilia. That was what Sam wanted. Take nothing. Leave everything. Now all I had to do was make that one phone call that would further change my life forever. Sam wanted that and I had no choice but to respect his final wish. But for now and until that moment, all I wanted was to watch the fish, alone, one last time; the fish that Sam loved.

Movie theatre

The little boy sitting in the front row could not contain himself much longer. His tiny fists started shaking in the air as he leapt out of his seat and let out the loudest cheer ever heard in a movie theatre. And at almost the same moment, the audience started clapping and cheering on, faces glued to the screen, watching as the leading character made it through to the finish line. Jim was right; this was much better than being at the races.

Mirrors

They show me a face that I don’t recognise,

And in genuine grace, I try not to despise,

Though my face is a blur, I resist a refrain

And throw back a smile of proper disdain.

The Accountant 

“This balance sheet just won’t balance! I’ve tried everything!”

He looked at the intern thoughtfully, behind his thick glasses, eyebrows raised. Being a mentor was just not fun anymore. He would rather deal with numbers than with people and he really had no idea how to respond to this. And this particular intern just had no clue. Honestly, he wondered at times why he worked for this firm.

The intern looked up at him again pleadingly.

“Alright, let me have a look,” he said with a deep, impatient sigh. But he only needed a moment before he felt a raging bout of sarcasm rise within him. Controlling his frustration, he took off his glasses and proceeded to polish the lenses with the utmost of precision and care. After he was done for a good five minutes and at which point he felt calm enough to deliver his analysis of the situation, the accountant slowly rose from his chair holding the document carefully in his hands and looked at the intern sternly.

“The reason why your balance sheet will not balance,” he paused taking in a deep breath, “is because you are trying to balance a profit and loss statement. This.is.not.a.balance.sheet!”

And with that he placed the document on the desk before a confused intern and walked out of the room.

A Bridge

I stood at a crossroads,

Not knowing where to go,

One way would lead me,

To find myself and grow,

While the other way would give me,

Fearless courage to say no.

A choice to make I likened,

To crossing a burning bridge,

Once crossed it is destined,

to never wallow in regret.

What's Important

True to the spirit of reflection I have started to question my life. Here is what really matters to me. I have to write all this down so that I can come back to it and read it again in times when things cease to flow. In times when the world seems like a dark hole. When change leads to confusion and I start feeling lost. These are the things that should matter to me. 

Being true to my values and my beliefs. In the face of so many conflicting notions and ideologies that we wade through, I find comfort in my own values and beliefs. In the wake of people who come across as intolerant or unwelcoming just because I may appear to be different to them, I exercise patience and understanding. Celebrate diversity by respecting and embracing differences while remaining true to your own values and beliefs.

The power of dreaming. Once a childlike notion, events of late have proven that dreams do come true. All that is needed is sincerity of intention and the courage to take a leap of faith. And when things continue to look doubtful as you take that leap of faith, trust in the fact that things will take a turn for the better. Dreams do come true no matter how long you work on it. All you need is a persistent and positive attitude. I must come back and remind myself to read this point and hammer it into myself.

Breaking personal barriers. Limitations in the form of fear and stereotypes stop growth. They take you down a dead end and if you've found yourself turning back over and over again, realise that you've come across a personal barrier that is stopping you from advancing. But once you know what that barrier is, all you have to do is break it down, though it might be hard.

Family. The people who matter most to me in my life. Those whom I should not take for granted. Those who fill my life with meaning and act as my daily mentors in the little things before the big things. Those who influence and those who listen. My family and the people who really do matter whom we call friends.

Happy memories. They take you through to another place and another time. They remind you of who you are and what you like. They shape you. Memories can teach you how to move on when you've forgotten why you're here.

Every day is an opportunity and it passes bringing us closer to an even greater opportunity. Context is important and attitude defines how we move from one opportunity to the next, from one day to the next. And they make up our lives.

Realignment

It's March. We're still in the first quarter of the second decade, of the new millennium and so far 2011 has been unstoppable. Whether it is revolutions or natural disasters, the world is changing. Perspectives have changed. Sands have shifted. In the desert of constant familiarity where injustice or comfort, despair or security, tyranny or a feigned sense of superiority lived for years, decades at a time, the sands of that desert have now shifted. A realignment is needed - most of all within.

I watched in horror as a tsunami swept across Japan. The water just devoured everything in its way. It showed no mercy and it brought to my mind a scene from the Day of Judgment. I had been so caught up in the revolution in Egypt that it jolted me back to a fragile world. The world we all share and live in. This temporary world where we continue to charge through or survive, whichever way you may choose to, on a daily basis. A world where we are given a temporary feeling of being in control but then all of a sudden something happens and reminds you how small and fragile you really are. 

Water. It quenches your thirst but yesterday it was a destructive power obeying the will of God. It made me think of the double-edged swords that we each hold in our lives. The blessings that can suddenly turn into curses if we get carried away for longer than a moment and forget or choose to turn a blind eye to The One who was gracious enough to grant us all these blessings in the first place. 

Then there is the revolution(s) that is(are) sweeping across the Middle East at the moment. Rulers who never imagined that the day would come when they would be overthrown by the power of the people came to see that day. Power that had been in these rulers' hands for years, for decades, was transferred to the people, almost overnight. Without warning. Just like a natural disaster that strikes without warning.

History is filled with such stories and lessons. History does repeat itself to the masses.

It really is time to reflect on all what is happening and to tap into my own life. What blessings do I have that I have failed to acknowledge and be grateful for? What have I taken for granted? What have I stood before so stubbornly and what have I focused on so dearly at the expense of that which really matters? Life is short and if any a valuable lesson is to be learnt from 2011 (so far) it is that I do need to ask these important questions. Most of all, I do need to find their answers.

I feel a new world forming before my eyes. I sense new beginnings and new lessons to be learnt. 2011 is going to be a year that defines a new world order. The tragic shifting of land masses as what happened with Japan along with a positive shifting in stereotypes. New attitudes. New beginnings. New perspectives. And the only way to grasp all that is new and all what this year and the coming decade has to give, is to realign ourselves and be prepared to realign our lives.