Writer’s Quote: On Defeats & Victories

The theme for this week’s writers quote Wednesday writing challenge is “strength” and for it, I chose to share a quote by a poet whose works I admire, enjoy and gain inspiration from- Charles Bukowski. Below, is a poem I wrote inspired by the quote.

It’s like this-
Some nights,
All you can do is
Curl up under sheets
With a burning lump
Stuck in your throat
Of all the things
You shoulda said-
But didn’t.

Your cheeks
Stained with droplets
And the darkness
Offering little comfort,
Wallowing
in self pity- you are,
At the what ifs,
And the could have beens.

These are the days,
we focus on our defeats.

But the sun,
It’ll rise again as it does,
And golden rays,
Will stream at the break of dawn.
And just as the darkness
Departs
I hope you keep last night
Where it belongs-
the past;
You may wallow at times,
At your defeat
But do remember- defeats
Are what make up victories.

Writer’s Quote: Innocence

This week’s theme for writer’s quote is innocence which for me is synonymous with children. I remember coming back from school as a kid, and eagerly awaiting 4pm which is when the cartoons start rolling on the TV. I wasn’t a big fan of Winnie the Pooh back then, but looking back, I realise there’s so much wisdom in that cartoon. The character’s showcase diversity and at the same time create a hidden awareness to mental health, while still retaining the innocence associated with childhood. A.A.Milne did an amazing job in writing Winnie-the-pooh.

The above quote reminds me of two people- Joy, who gives us a weekly dose of inspiring quotes here on WordPress which more often than not, contain a Winnie the Pooh quote. And a friend of mine, Leila, who is my partner in crime when it comes to things like food.

It’s an amazing feeling, when even reading a few words, bring back memories of a time, place and people. I guess that’s the power of words. No matter how few or insignificant they may seem, to someone, somewhere, it may their first reason to smile that day.
Here’s to writing even on the days we don’t feel like we can.

This post is in response to Writers Quote Wednesday Writng Challenge hosted by SilverThreading and RonovanWrites. 

Writer’s Quote: Believe

At the end of the day, all we are left with is our thoughts. Friends leave for their various houses, family goes to sleep, the noise drowns out except for the faraway sounds of crashing waves; birds return to their nests.

My prayer for you, is in that moment when the silence gets too loud and there’s solitude about, you can embrace it for what it is. Breathe in, breathe out; feel your diaphragm expand and contract, hear the slight wheezing form your nostrils, listen for that far out sound of the waves and let it take you to beautiful places, places your mind deserves to go.

And I know it’s not an easy task, trust me I know, but I want you to believe. Believe that you can beat this, you can bear to dwell in the silence without that voice in your head nudging you that silence is something to be feared because it’s not. As long as the steering wheels are in your hands, it’s not.
So believe that you can and I bet you… You will.

The above post is in response to Writers quote Wednesday writing challenge hosted by SilverThreading and RonovanWrites. This week theme is “Believe“. 

Writers Quote: Hope

When I saw this week’s theme, “Hope“, I knew I had to write on one of my favorite poems, “Hope is a thing with feathers-” by the late Emily Dickinson. Here’s the full poem below,

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to share an Emily Dickinson poem. Many a times, I see and read stories and poems bordering on the statement, all I’m left with is hope. I think, what we sometimes forget is- hope is all we need.

This thing we refer to as “just hope” is what keeps us going every single day. It is the light at the end of a tunnel which enables us to wake up every morning, believing the coming day is going to be better than the previous one. It is the motivation and zeal which gives us the strength to put a smile on our faces after a tear filled night. This little thing, hope, is in fact what separates us from falling in to the abyss of despair, which is a tough well to climb out of.

Hope is not just a word, it is the fading voice in our head reminding us amidst the storms, we’ve got this, the sun will rise at dawn and everything will be alright again.
Hope is much more than a four letter word, it is the thing with feathers which helps us to fly despite the tumultuous wind dragging us down; it is that bridge which help us to trudge out of our miseries one baby step at a time.

Hope is the greatest gift we could ask for because without it, there would be little meaning to life knowing each day is a disaster waiting to strike. Hope truly is a thing with feathers, which gives us the wings to fly.

This post is in response to Writers Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge, hosted by Silver Threading and RonovanWrites

Writer’s Quote: Memories

 

MEMORIES
And there we were,
Under the night’s blanket;
Wrapped around your arms,
In a loving embrace;
Swearing, I’d never fall in love again,
It’s just a big mistake;
And you say, hush baby,
Listen to winds-
You’d be alright again.

Mama, I miss you
All over again;
And you were right
I’d fall in love again
And I miss
You saying, well I told you so…
And how we’d laugh,
Like friends not mother and kid.
I miss you,
Every now and again.

And here I am now,
With life’s pieces fitting into place;
And your memories,
Your laughter,
Keeps me going anyway;
And though tears sneak out
when I’m reminiscing you,
I know, like you said to me
once before-
I’d be alright again.

The prompt for this week’s Writers quote Wednesday writing challenge is memories. This is an event where you share a quote and write a piece, anything, inspired by the quote.

Writer’s Quote: Inspiration

“Sometimes in life you are put in a test, not because you are giving up, but to realize your worthiness”

Someone typed the above quote into my search terms a while ago and I felt an obligation to write on it. Dear whoever searched for this, I don’t know who you are or why you are searching for quotes on this, I don’t even know if you are a real individual or just one of these cyber trolls, I don’t know if you’re searching for a consolation or just a reminder; but I am glad you typed this in and gave me something to sleep and write on.

Hell and back was a statement,
She once heard in a song,
And she wondered how a human,
Could survive that chaos;
But, he did, as he wrote,
In lyrics, word by word;
And she admired such bravery,
To go through hell and back in one.

She was ripe with innocence,
Seeing life through colored lens;
Deemed a frail little Barbie,
And she molded to its form;
That was until life took charge,
Throwing lessons non stop;
Till she thought death was better,
Cause living couldn’t be that tough .

At the brink of despair she found,
The strength within to hold.
And discovered, even barbies,
Have their bone made of tough stuff;
Now when she hears “hell and back”,
Her lips curve upward,
In remembrance of a girl who trudged,
Through hell and was back stronger.

I wrote the above poem a while ago and thought it befitting to share on Writer’s Quote  Wednesday Writing Challenge.

Writer’s Quote: Gilda Radner

I wanted a perfect ending, now I’ve learnt the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.
-Gilda Radner

I find that there is something beautiful in not knowing- it leaves room for hope and as Emily Dickinson famously wrote, “Hope is a thing with feathers”.

It’s being honest in admitting, yeah, at times we chase perfection. We want that perfect scenario, the perfect family, perfect kids, perfect draft (though I’m not sure how realistic I’m being here) and it is okay to want that.

In the chase of perfection, we shouldn’t become blind to the reality that perfection is a relative term. Not all poems that rhyme are perfect and not all perfect poems rhyme- I hope I’m making sense. And if I’m not, take it as this- you could lose your senses chasing perfection.

At the end of the day, what you’d remember most of all, what would fill the bulk of your memory is not the ending or the look of the book once you’ve written that final sentence, but the journey it took to get there. The mishaps, the spilled coffee, the messy desks and Pajama writing; it’s the smiles that curve on your lips when you recall how you ditched a friend simply because you needed to edit that first horrible draft; it’s the days when the muse decides to be your best friend and you write for all you are worth and the days when the muse takes a break and you wonder if surely, you are a writer?!

In the journey of chasing perfection, it’d do us a lot of good to remember, A perfect puzzle piece is in fact, made up of many imperfect and irregular pieces fitted together, without which it wouldn’t be possible.

This post is in response to Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge

Writer’s Quote: Enid Blyton

 

One of my Guilty pleasures is reading Enid Blyton’s books. I have a feeling, it doesn’t matter how old I get, I would always find pleasure in immersing myself in her fictional school life.

Her books, Malory Towers and St Clare’s which are about life in an English Girls boarding school are full of wisdom, advice and a lot of inspirational quotes like the one above. You meet so many different and realistic characters on the way- it is a journey.

There’s the sensible Sally, the hot tempered Darrel, the joker Alicia who’s best friend Betty isn’t much better either. There’s the scatterbrain Irene, the conceited Mavis, the Horse-mad Bill, the shy Mary Lou, the french carefree Claudine and a whole array of other interesting characters.

Reading these books, you learn about responsibility and what it means to be a team. You learn that being smart and top in class are all good things, but being sensible, responsible and kind hearted people are equally important. You learn, it doesn’t matter how rich your parents are or how angelic you look on the outside, as long as the inside is rotten. You learn that being spiteful gets you nowhere in life. You learn lessons that’d stay with you for the rest of time.

And that’s it for this week’s Writer’s quote Wednesday writing challenge , hosted by SilverThreading and RonovanWrites. Till next time 😄

Writer’s Quote: Hugh Laurie

Yesterday, I posted a poem about “truth being a bitter pill to swallow” which was inspired by an event that occurred with my sister. I rarely share the inspiration behind my posts, but this time, I want to make an exception.

My sister and I were conversing and she pointed out a certain flaw I struggle with; of course being me, I got defensive. It wasn’t until later on that I realized what she was trying to say. She wasn’t condemning me, merely stating a fact.
Now, this certain flaw is something once I became aware of, I try my best and go out of my way to overcome it.

I am not where I want to be in regards to it, but those who matter in my life know, I have come a long way from where I was. They know I try and If I was a zero few years back, I am a 6 now. Which even though is not a 10, it’s certainly better than being stuck at that zero.

We all have things we struggle with and traits we’d like to change, but the truth is- knowing our flaws and overcoming them are two different things. It’s not enough to say “okay I know that”, we’ve got to try to change it. Now I realize, there is no need to get hot headed over certain things. Change is a gradual process which doesn’t happen overnight. The fact that we are trying makes all the difference and those who matter in our lives know it.

This reminds me of a quote by Actor Hugh Laurie whom a lot you may know was the Genius sarcastic Doctor we can’t help but love- Dr Gregory House. He said,

-Time changes everything. That’s what people say, it’s not true. Doing things changes things. Not doing things leaves things exactly as they are.

Just thought I’d share an event which inspired me this week for Writer’s Quote Wednesday.

Writer’s Quote: Kahlil Gibran

The theme for this week’s writers quote is “Wisdom“. It was a befitting choice personally for me, cause I’m currently reading a poetic prose book which I would say is full of wisdom. The book in question is, Kahlil Gibran’s “The prophet”.

At first, I tried to binge read it and get to the end but quickly realized, this wasn’t that kinda book. The prophet, is the type of book where you read a chapter, drown in the beauty of the words and pause at the end to let the all too clear message sink in and resonate with your soul.

Kahlil Gibran talks about majority of things pertaining to our daily lives in his book. Each chapter is dedicated to a struggle- pain, joy, family, love, passion, work and a whole lot more.

The quote above is a passage from the chapter where he writes about friendship. To think that this book was released in the year 1923 and here we are, almost a century later and his words are living on and inspiring. I guess, that’s the beauty of writing. It has no expiry date, it simply lives on…

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The above post is in response to Writer’s Quote Wednesday Writing Challenge hosted by SilverThreading and RonovanWrites. For more information On how to participate, just click on the highlighted link above. 🙂