“Huh?” is not an unreasonable response.

Just do it. Don’t worry about art. Get yourself a piece of paper (which itself might be a challenge for some in this digital age) and draw yourself a rabbit hole. Make it big enough to put some words in.

Done? Great. Look at your rabbit hole and write down the first thing that pops in your mind. Maybe it’s a word, maybe its a phrase. Don’t think too much, just let it appear.

And so an adventure begins …

My rabbit hole

The path I followed:

• The word ‘asteroids’ randomly appears in my mind.
• “What a funny sounding word,” I think. Immediate perverse mind connection: Asteroids -> hemorrhoids
• “Shouldn’t ‘hem’ be ‘ass’?” I think. Shake my head in bemusement at my own thought processes.
• Look up the etymology of ‘asteroid’ …
  aster = star
• Look up the meaning of ‘hem’ There are a couple of meanings. The one that gets my attention:
  hem = restrict
• Restrict -> lock -> hemlock
• Bring back aster. Asterlock. No. Starlock.
• Search ‘starlock’.
• Turns out ‘Starlock’ is a brand of power tools.
• Search for videos about power tools …
  How to’s. A song. Kids with Power tools. CRAZY adults with power tools.
• Humans with power tools -> human power tools -> human power ->

Self empowerment

Deep in MY rabbit hole I found the concept of self empowerment, and that is where I stopped. Sometimes, the best way to get where you want to go is to head nowhere in particular. This is a particularly strong theme in my life and one I have often explored before.

Where does YOUR rabbit hole take YOU?

The post Empowered by a rabbit hole first appeared on thrumyeyes.

Perhaps I have it backwards, I am living the life I should,
to allow all these other mes to be the mes they would.

Perhaps my dreams are alternate mes, the mes of other choices;
the dreams piercing the veil that separates me from my other voices.

Does the powerless me, the purposeless me, the me that has grown resigned,
allow the Freedom Fighter me to pursue the future that I seek to find?

Or maybe the sad me, the confused me, the me that despairs for humanity,
allows the vibrant, optimistic me help others return to sanity?

Are there many mes in a multiverse greatly varied and wide,
with me the counterbalance here on the other side?

And the biggest question I have of the mes I so often see,
“Do the rest of you, my other selves, also dream of me?”

The post Alternity first appeared on thrumyeyes.

Change is essential to our perception of reality.

I have never expressed the idea in quite that way, but this is a concept I often share. Change provides the contrast that allows us to differentiate between now and then. It provides a template for our understanding of improvement (or its lack). Without change, we cannot truly learn … or even understand … ANYTHING, simply because the very act of learning and understanding IS change. Change is inherent in the very definitions of time; life; existence … basically all the core concepts that define reality.

Without change, everything simply stops.

Recently, I have found myself exploring both extremes I mentioned above. I have both been denying much that is changing around me; WITHIN me. I have also been fighting against it. Both are not norms for me, but that in itself is one of the changes I face. Where once I thrived on frequent change, I now see more clearly the value of a certain level of constancy as well. I look back at my life, much of it shared by means of my creative endeavors, and I both see how much I have changed, and how much I have NOT. The very world around me has drastically changed even as it remains the same. Part of that is the essence of change itself, part of that is my perceptions of the world change as I do. Thus I become more and more human, yet never felt so distant from the rest of humanity.

And only I can change ANY of that.

Taking part in the challenge this year has reminded me of all that I have just rambled on about. I needed to remember that change is inevitable. I also needed the reminder that I have very much input in what changes FOR ME, and what does not. For that matter, I am the ONLY one who can choose those changes for myself. By abdicating from life, I am giving away this fundamental right and essentially casting myself adrift in the flow of time. In many ways, I am the same me I was as a child … I just understand THAT me so much better now. In other ways, I have grown so far beyond that child that I no longer recognize him in me. This is neither right nor wrong … just the way things are. I recognize the “flaws” in me that have shaped my path through life. More importantly, I recognize that they are only “flaws” if I choose to see them as flaws. I am, and always will be, me and the only change that I require of myself it to let myself be the best me I can be.

So the very short answer to the questions I posed: I would not change anything. I would continue to be me, which itself is a constantly changing concept, and allow me to take me where I will go. For no matter how much we might change, we are still we. It is like the flow of water in a river. The water is ever changing, but the river remains a river. And even if that river dries up to be a mere creek, or disappears entirely, the river that was is still the river that was. I will be the me that is, even as I am still the me that was. I will continue to create because being a creator is how I have defined myself. Whether or not the rest of the universe even notices my contribution is immaterial, because I was, I am, and I will be for a bit longer, and this simple reality is one that is immune to change.

I have no idea what to expect from the future. I cannot bemoan the loss of the past, because it is not lost. I can only continue to create my present. The rest will fall in place on its own.

The above image is a digital expression of what I have just written. It is my own creation, emulating the wonder that is inherent in nature. It is far from perfect, yet still has its own beauty. The me that was has become the me that is through learning the skills necessary to make this image, and I will continue to learn and change into the me that will be (with future creation). The image well portrays changelessly changing, in the form of flowing water. Thus I change as I remain the same

The post Reflections and (in?) a bit of digital art … first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I am ending at the beginning.

This is the cyclical nature of the mysterious thing we call life. Nothing ever truly ends. It just transitions. And while from our own small perspective, we might see a beginning and an end, we are just continuing a story that may have no ending … or beginning. The vastness of existence is not really an uncountable number of stories. It is rather ONE story with uncountable chapters in it. Each of us represents the smallest part of that story. I am not sure we even qualify as a chapter. We are more like a few sentences from an (extremely) small section of a chapter.

Even as I call this an ending I am about to begin another word in the few sentences that are me. I do not even know yet what that word may be, for all too often the word does not become apparent until it manifests. Thus I will not know what I have begun until I have finished. I might be able to choose a letter or two, but even that is not guaranteed. I end, I begin, I begin, I end. Sometimes I end before I begin, and there are also those times that I begin before I end. The whirlwind of letters forms into words, becoming sentences that help move the story along. But those few sentences will really give little information about the Grand Story; it’s only a few sentences after all.

The odd thing about this Grand Story (maybe one of the odd things would be more accurate) is that many sentences are being written, and read, at the same time. Thus whole chapters of the Story might appear to be one garbled sentence, or even a simple word. Maybe even a letter. Part of the joy of being in this story is learning how to read it. There is also joy in learning how to write our part of it, especially if we all manage to write our sentences into a harmonious whole.

I am about to end this little ramble on endings and beginnings. Whether this is truly an ending or a beginning is really a matter of perspective. Maybe it is really the middle. But for this moment in time I do know what letter I am working with. Here’s to the letter A.

THE END.

or

THE BEGINNING.

The post A beginning in An end first appeared on thrumyeyes.

Normally I would post photos on my photo blog. But I need to do some work on the site, and these  were just a quick bit of snapping as allowed by the dog. But if you like these pictures, you might like some of the others than I have posted over there. The link goes specifically to my nature photos. Enjoy!

The post A Bit of Beauty first appeared on thrumyeyes.

Simon had always been a curious fellow. That is to say, Simon had always been a fellow with a lot of curiosity. Character-wise, he was no more curious than the NEXT fellow. Curiosity had shaped his life from day one. He had been born so quickly it was as if he had rushed out of the womb on his own to see what the outside world had to offer. His constant curiosity was well matched with a quick brain, so that he was always learning something new and, hopefully, USEFUL. Unfortunately, his curiosity also got him into a lot of trouble. It was a good thing that he was NOT a cat, for otherwise he would have lived a short (if curiosity filled) life. Simon had more than his fair share of luck. His curiosity had yet to cause him any serious harm.

Because of this innate need to learn new things, Simon never really managed to carve a specific place in the world for himself. He always wanted to know how things worked; who made them; why they were made … suffice to say he had a lot of questions about everything. As a result he had quite a few skill sets, without being a master at any. He was a good person to have around if one wanted a capable helping hand, but if one was looking for a committed soul to become their protegé and inherit their life’s work … it was best to look elsewhere. Thus Simon survived by being willing to help when others may not have been, or by being crazy … er … um … curious enough to take on projects that more cautious people might avoid. Because his curiosity would just as likely inspire Simon to take something apart as to try using it untrained, he usually had a few handy pocket tools. He felt like part of himself was missing when he DIDN’T have a way of tinkering with something. This tinkering also meant he was quite good at fixing things … when he wasn’t breaking them. He was the very definition of a Jack of all Trades, or maybe a Simon of all Trades would be more appropriate.

The town Simon lived in was rather small. This fact, combined with his nature, pretty much ensured that not only did Simon know everybody in town … they all knew him as well. If something unusual or unpleasant needed to be done, the first question on anyone’s lips was, “Where’s Simon?” It was not so much that they took advantage of him; he was after all a rather likable fellow. But when you have someone so willing to do just about anything … it was a kindness to LET him. If he got into trouble, the townsfolk would gladly help him out of it (even if some a bit reluctantly). No they knew Simon’s worth. They just didn’t want it to go to waste.

There came one afternoon when the generally peaceful town had an occurrence. Anyone outside was surprised by a sudden streak of fire that started high up in the sky and ended somewhere over there. Anyone inside was soon outside when they heard the sudden ear hurting clap of thunder, followed by a ground rattling explosive thud. Those recently inside were told by those already outside that the culprit was somewhere over there. Everyone headed to the center of town, sure that an explanation would be waiting. The town square soon filled with a multitude of excited voices (with attached bodies), one clear question oft-repeated: “Where’s Simon?” The town elders, just as disturbed as the rest of the inhabitants, soon had everyone at least more quietly excited. They assured the restless townsfolk that the mysterious occurrence would soon be investigated. By the way, does anyone know where Simon is?

Simon was already well on his way to somewhere over there. The townsfolk realized the likelihood of this once their reason overcame their initial mental disturbance. The soon chosen investigation squad fully expected to find Simon already there (once they figured out where there was), ready with some answers. They were quite willing to give him the time to find those answers, if their lack of hurry in setting off was any indication. Meanwhile Simon was so excited by this unusual occurrence that he rushed out of his house without any of his usual pocket tools, a fact that he did not even notice until he was already in sight of the whatever he was in sight of.

With caution, Simon approached the point where the streak of flame had not doubt landed. His version of caution was to anyone else a leisurely stroll. In the rolling hills up ahead he could see a billowing cloud of dust, centered on a ring of mild destruction. Getting closer, he could see a small crater had been carved out of the hillside, with a circle of felled trees and upturned bushes cleared around it. Considering how fast the thing had come down, it was not very big, or the destruction would probably have been much worse. Simon was soon at the crater. There was a glow in the center of the crater, not quite identifiable as yet. Simon could not get too close at first, as he realized that the glow was from the heat of passage of the unidentified object. He would have to let it cool before he could truly get a look. It was as he waited for the heat to subside that he realized that he had forgotten his collection of useful items. The glowing thing started to take a more identifiable form, and the heat it generated became bearable fairly quickly. Simon got closer, and his curiosity was peaked even more (if that was possible) upon seeing, sitting there in the center of the crater against all odds, what looked like a jewelry box. He reached for it, his unusual luck ensuring that it was already cool enough to touch, and found that it was solid but not too heavy. It was also very clearly locked.

Simon had just the tool needed to open such a lock. It was sitting right where he left it, back in his home. Curiosity winning over patience (normal for Simon) he opted to find something here to open the box, instead of having to go all the way back home. The very thought of doing this seemed to cause the box in his hand to start warming up again. Suddenly there was a buzz, a pop, and a flash, followed by a stark odor. Simon was so startled by this that he dropped the box. He laughed at himself when he worried that he had damaged the box, considering it had survived its dramatic arrival seemingly unscathed. Picking the box up again, he noticed a glitter on the ground not too far from where he had dropped it. Bending closer, he saw just just what he needed to open the box. Not letting his curiosity of how that happened to be overcome his curiosity about the box itself, he picked up the screwdriver and attempted to jimmy the lock with it. Try as he might, he could not get the lock to budge. The screwdriver was just not the right shape. As if responding to his thought, the box warmed, buzzed, popped and flashed again. Less startled this time, Simon continued to hold the box. He dropped it one more time when something landed on his foot. Picking up both the box and the something, Simon found another screwdriver, this one possibly the right shape to manipulate the keyhole. Again staving off the whats, wheres, and whys that wanted his attention, Simon tried the new screwdriver. With a satisfying click, the lock opened.

Just as Simon was about to open the box, words appeared on the cover. They said, “Insert payment here,” with an arrow appearing, pointing at a hole that was not there before. Simon had left any money he had right there next to the useful tools, at home. Suddenly inspired, he grabbed the pendant he had around his neck. It had been payment for a favor he had done a while back. While he liked it enough to wear it on occasion, Simon was not so attached as to fear losing it. Somehow, it fit right in the hole that had appeared. The hole (and the words) disappeared. With a buzzing, popping, smelly flash, the box opened.

Before he could get a look inside, Simon heard someone calling his name. The investigation squad sent by the town had finally arrived. Carefully setting the box down, Simon went to meet them. No doubt they wanted to know what he had discovered. At least this time, their curiosity must match Simon’s!

TO BE CONTINUED (AGAIN MAYBE) …

The post Continued in curiosity first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I have not written anything in months. For that matter, I have not done much of anything in months. There are many reasons for this. I could write a quite a few words on this subject alone. But I won’t, because  … well … who would wanna read that? Show of hands? Even MY hand is not raised.

The least wordy reason for my lack of participation in life is I have misplaced my purpose.

“What,” you are no doubt not really even thinking of asking, “do you mean by that?” Just your luck, I am going to tell you.

I don’t believe in destiny. I don’t believe that there is some sort of cosmic H. R. department that assigns us our life duties, with all sorts of hell to pay if we stray from our assigned path. I also don’t believe that there is some grand meaning to existence that keeps just out of our reach just for the sheer pleasure of torturing us (or teaching us if you’re more of an optimist) that its creator receives.

Purpose and meaning are things we need to create for ourselves.

And I seem to have run out of ideas. No, that’s not quite it. I have plenty of ideas. I just ran out of a good reason to pursue any of those ideas. Thus I have stopped living, like so many others in our society. The Zombie Apocalypse is actually already here. All to many of us simply go through the motions of life, without really showing any proof that we are LIVING it. We somnambulate, searching for brains to eat, many not even realizing that this particular food source is in rare supply these days.

Not only is this a REALLY depressing way to (not) live, it is extremely BORING.

Now that spring is pretending to appear in my part of the world (it has the same precision of scheduling that the average cable company has), and I’m acknowledging that I am not getting any younger, I have decided to shift gears and once again create a purpose. The main difficulty with this decision (one that I often make I might add) is determining which of my over-abundance of ideas has any chance of being even reasonably considered an obtainable goal, and then figuring out if I have what is needed to obtain said goal. Once I have accepted that I probably do not, then I will have to figure out how to find; get; create what I need, and start the whole cycle of life over for my silly self.

This is generally not a simple process.

So, considering how much time I have on my hands, the fact that today is April Fool’s Day (a prime day for ANY fool to start afresh), the influx of emails reminding me of the A to Z challenge that helped me enter the blogging world, and the sheer boredom that threatens to complete my zombification, I decided last night mere hours before last call that I would attempt to participate in this year’s challenge. Thus here I am, rambling on with no clear purpose of words or intent, starting another new journey.

“Why,” you are still probably not really asking, “have you started with Z?” Another of my beliefs is that the passage of time really has no beginning or end. When we claim to start or finish something, we are really just continuing along our journey, setting reference points along the way to keep us believing we actually have some control over the journey. Following “traditional” paths has rarely gotten me anywhere I wanted to be, so I switch it up a bit, to see if that will make a difference. I still usually don’t end up where I think I want to be, but at least the ride will be an interesting one. Who knows? Maybe doing things “backwards” is just what I need this time around.

Onward to A.

The post Z end in Z beginning first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I was looking at this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups prompt with this motive in mind, and …

… drew a complete blank.

Determined, I put my thinking cap on, or … more correctly … took my thinking cap OFF, and slept on it. My subconscious kicked in, resulting in this bit of creative nonsense:

This week’s prompt:

…why does the world fight back when…

Arphixdimonk rubbed that space between the third and forth eye stalk that always collected stress. Why does the world fight back when Arphixdimonk just wants to help it? They always do. You’d think they would welcome the chance to explore the cosmos after being chained to a sun for a few billion years.

Folk think that preparing a planet for interstellar travel is as simple as equipping a powerful enough jump drive and some force fields. They don’t realize how set in their ways the average planet IS. The hardest part of planet wrangling is convincing the planet it WANTS to travel!

Arphixdimonk needed a vacation!

The post Yipee ki-yay! first appeared on thrumyeyes.

That said, my current process involves:

• starting my life over (yet again)
• redoing all of my websites (yet again) specifically thru my eyes by taochild and PAX Nation at the moment (standard blatant plugs – yet again)
• getting fit (yet again)
• finishing my (now 3) manuscripts (yet again)
• attempting to publish said manuscripts (yet again)

Considering the above, this week’s 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups is eerily appropriate (yet again). Let’s see if I can do it some justice![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”9164″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”http://juliasplace.org.uk/100-word-challenge-for-grown-ups/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_message]This week’s prompt:

…a blank page but what to write?…[/vc_message][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_btn title=”Prompt home” align=”center” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fjuliasplace.org.uk%2F100wcgu%2Fdread-new-beginnings%2F||target:%20_blank|”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

The author woke up, ready to get started immediately. He found the page before him empty. Had he not written much yesterday? How could he continue the story if he did not recall what had already been written? He had room to work, a blank page, but what to write? No matter, he would just create something. He worked hard, well into the night … a story emerged. Tired from his effort, a whole lifetime in a day, he went to bed.

The next morning, the author woke up, ready to get started immediately. He found the page before him empty …

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The post Re-re-re-re-rebirth first appeared on thrumyeyes.

He quickly proved to be fond of all the best things …  food, sleep, and a good book … and in no time at all he was outgrowing his clothes, let alone the box that he was supposed to thrive in (according to those who decide such things). This too seemed to be a pattern that would be oft-repeated as he rode the ride. He fully embraced the path less traveled, thus convincing himself (and possibly others with a seeing eye) that he would not manage to stay on the roller coaster past his 25th birthday.

Somehow this self-made prophecy never came to pass. Not being one to tempt fate, or rather, being one who liked to wholeheartedly tempt fate, he decided that he would start over, figuring that fate would be too busy searching for an annoying 25-year-old than focusing on yet another “new-born”. Thus he started his second ride on the roller coaster. Having done this all before, he figured he was wise enough to successfully put his arms outside the ride and such, and the second ride was even crazier than the first … with the odds of survival definitely decreasing.

Suddenly the second 25 years has come to an end, with all still surprised that our hero has managed to stay on the ride. Fate still seems not to have caught on, so the intrepid, mischievous wanderer has decided to start fresh once again. Maybe if he keeps resetting every 25 years fate will simply write him off as a lost cause and he can continue wreaking havoc to clothes and boxes unmolested.

I admit it, that little tyke is me. I have just achieved my second 25, with dubious claims to success. The mysterious THEY claim that three times is a charm, so maybe I will get it right this time. So today is day one of the next 25 years. This time, if I don’t make it is just as likely because the roller coaster itself collapsed, and not my personal ability to stay on board. All I know is that I am going to do my best to enjoy the ride again!

P.S. I actually planned to use this post to blatantly promote some other posts on two of my other blogs, but seem to have gotten sidetracked (generally not a good idea on a roller coaster). So, to get back on the “right” track, here are two even MORE blatant plugs (for a good cause as you will see) …

• BLATANT PLUG 1 (it involves a cute dog)
• BLATANT PLUG 2 (it involves push ups)

The post Here we go again! first appeared on thrumyeyes.