09.30.08
Best writing advice
What has been the best writing advice you’ve received? Or, if you could pick one piece of advice to share with others, what would it be?
~Melissa 
09.27.08
Do you write to remember?
Several posts ago I asked the question “Why do you write?” I asked this question not because it was a new question, but because there really are so many different responses for why we write. We have reasons that are different from one another, but we each also have multiple reasons of our own.
In planning lessons for my students, I try to give them as many reasons as possible to write. I hope that through these opportunities to write for different purposes and audiences that they will develop an answer to the “Why do you write?” question for themselves, as well as foster the necessary skills to write well in a variety of situations.
At the same time, I am teaching my students other concepts beyond writing itself, and can’t help but think that writing with and about the concepts will also help them to remember these other concepts. We journal, we document, we archive, we write to record information, but does the act of writing ever help you feel like you remember what you wrote about even better? Does the act of writing about something create a relationship between the writer and that thing? (I am not necessarily referring to copying or taking notes in class – though there is a correlation there – but actually generating the ideas and writing them down.) I do think/know that it does for some people and to an extent, but I am curious to know what you all think and if you have certain strategies that you use which involve writing and remembering. Please share your thoughts.
~Melissa
09.23.08
“Man’s love is of man’s life a part…”
“Man’s love is of man’s life a part; It is woman’s whole existence!” Byron
Comment and discuss, please!
~Melissa
09.21.08
“Remember there’s no such thing…”
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
- Scott Adams
Random Act of Kindness and Gratitude #5 – This act is something that my mother does, but I only recently learned about. Many people clip coupons, but not all of us do. There is a lot of money that can be saved using coupons, but it is a time consuming process of sorting through them and cutting them out, (or finding them online and printing them out) keeping them organized and then remembering to use them when you are in the store. My mother is actually quite good at it. She collects coupons each week to take to the grocery store with her and has gotten the system down to a science. Since most coupons have an expiration date, that also has to be accounted for in the process because sometimes the coupon is not needed to be used before it expires.
What my mother does if she has a coupon that is not yet expired, but probably will expire before the next time she goes shopping, is find the item in the store and leave the still good coupon on top of it. For example, if she has a coupon for peanut butter, but does not need to buy it herself, she finds the peanut butter that matches the coupon, and puts the coupon on the item so that someone who is coming to buy the peanut butter will find the coupon and be able to benefit from it!
Apparently she has been doing this for a while, but I only just learned about it. It doesn’t take very long to do, but it may help out someone else and give them a pleasant surprise while they are doing their grocery shopping. I was so proud when I learned about my mother doing this random act of kindness that I wanted to share it and suggest it to all of you.
Again, this idea is an easy idea that requires no money and very little effort. We can do things like this in any (clothing, home improvement, pharmacy, etc.) store that sends out or offers a coupon. Before you throw away a coupon that you don’t need, stop and see if you can leave it for someone else to use.
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On a similar note, today’s Word of the Day from dictionary.com was beneficence. So, feelings of kindness and charity are already in the air…
Happy Sunday. ~Melissa
09.19.08
More Quotations From My iGoogle
Inspiration and Motivation
“We first make our habits, and
then our habits make us.”
- John Dryden
“They can conquer who
believe they can.”
- Virgil
“To accomplish great things, we must
not only act, but also dream, not
only plan, but also believe.”
- Anatole France
“There’s only one way to succeed in anything
and that is to give everything.”
- Vince Lombardi
Love
“Only love lets us see normal things in an extraordinary way.” Anonymous
“If we deny love that is given to us, if we refuse to give love because we fear the pain of loss, then our lives will be empty, our loss greater.” Tanis HalfElven from the Dragonlance saga
“Life is a journey from one point to another. You know where you will end up, but you don’t know what route will get you there.” Jennifer Robinson
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“The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” Victor Hugo |
Melissa
09.18.08
iGoogle – I love it!
I recently discovered the iGoogle feature from Google. This Google product allows you to create a personalized page full of widgets that you select from a pretty large variety. There are plenty of widgets that are helpful for writers such as a dictionary, thesaurus, and a widget that gives you a Word A Day from dictionary.com. I have an assortment of things on my page right now including weather information, phases of the moon, puzzles, pictures from National Geographic, and quotations…I love quotations!
I have three different quotation widgets on my page. One is all about literary quotes, one is about love, and the other is inspirational. I thought I would share a few of the recent ones that I have read courtesy of the iGoogle widgets with all of you.
Please leave any comments about the quotes or iGoogle.
Inspirational
“The only limit to our realization of
tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Everyone who got to where they are
had to begin where they were.”
- Richard Paul Evans
“Long-range goals keep you from being
frustrated by short-term failures.”
- James Cash Penney
“You are today where your thoughts have
brought you; you will be tomorrow
where your thoughts take you.”
- James Allen
Love
“It is impossible to love and to be wise.” Francis Bacon
“Love is the expression of simplicity in emotion, the unattainable longing that comes so unexpectedly, with great subtlety and bliss.” Luen Dao
Literary
“My entire soul is a cry and all my work is a commentary on that cry.” – Nikos Kazantzakis
~Melissa
09.13.08
“Many of life’s failures…”
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
- Thomas A. Edison
Happy Saturday, Everyone!
I found this quote today on a blog, www.successforrealpeople.wordpress.com, and it got me thinking! Of course I thought about my own successes, but also my students’. I often tell them that I don’t believe there is such a thing as failure. I tell them that when they think they have failed, they simply have not succeeded, yet. I don’t think it is ever too late to work at a goal or a dream that you have, even if you yourself have given up hope. Hope is something that you can always find again, if and when you want to.
Like Thomas Edison has said, I do think it is true that many times people give up right before they would accomplish their task. It is very similar to Randy’ Pausch’s idea of “brick walls” (if you haven’t read The Last Lecture yet, please do!) and how they are put in place to really test how badly we want what we are going after. I think though that if we allow a “brick wall” to get in our way, or we do give up on something, we still can go back to it later on. I don’t like to hear people who say that they will never be good at something, or that they missed their opportunity at something. There is no such thing! For example, I let some brick walls get in the way of my own writing and publishing for a while, but I have come back to it a little stronger and more confident than before and am working at my goals from an even a better place than I did the last time. I never felt like I had failed because I stopped writing or working on certain pieces, but that I had just not yet succeeded, that the time was not yet right. I kept the faith and the hope that someday I would come back to these goals and achieve them. I am now making that someday today.
Look at Thomas Edison himself; this is his quote and he is a perfect example of someone who had tremendous success in his life as well as a considerable amount of “failures.” But, because he persevered and succeeded in the end, we do not view him as a failure. We know of him only through his successes and accomplishments.
Think about your own lives today and see if there is anything that you had once really hoped to accomplish, but didn’t. Do you see a way to do it now? Do you still have part of that dream alive inside of you? If so, go for it. Don’t give up. It is never too late!
~Melissa
Keeping track of 1,000 words a day…
Keeping track of 1,000 words a day is much more difficult than I thought it would be. I have been writing every day, but I haven’t necessarily kept count of the words. I think that’s actually okay, because keeping count at least got me to recognize the threshold of where I wanted to be and the progress I would like to make on my projects. I know that I already wrote 1,000 words for today (because I remembered to keep track). So, I will modify my pledge (at least for the time being) so that I continue to pledge to write each day, but I won’t have to count the words. Maybe if I feel like I am slipping a little, I will start counting again. But, for now, the counting doesn’t seem necessary.
Does anyone else have any progress they would like to share or any struggles that they are facing and would like help with? Any writer’s block or other frustration? Anything recently completed or published that you would like to mention? Let us know!
~Melissa
09.11.08
Random Act of Kindness and Gratitude #4
Reflecting on the tragic events that took place in our country on September 11, 2001, and all of the people we lost that day, has also made me remember some of the kind things that took place on the days that followed.
I can remember marveling at how considerate people were to one another in the wake of those horrible terrorist attacks. People looked each other in the eye and said hello as they passed by on the streets, they held doors open for each other, they let cars merge in front of them on the highways, and so on. It was a strange few days after 9/11 in so many ways, but the kindness that was displayed is what stands out in my memory today the most.
I hope that others also remember not only the fear and sadness of that time period, but also the kindness that we are all capable of. Please try to remember that kindness and be grateful for each other (friends and family of course, but also strangers we encounter each day).
The random act of kindness that I will suggest for us all to do is to simply smile at strangers and say hello when you stop for your cup of coffee in the morning, or when you are on line at the grocery store after work. Hold the door open for the person behind you and say hello to them when you walk into your office building or the gym. Just acknowledge each other and try to be tolerant, patient, and kind.
I know we can do it.
~Melissa
“What have you done for me lately…”
Posted in Quotations and Reflections tagged appreciation, blog, comments, Janet Jackson, song lyrics, writing at 12:02 am by Melissa Morris
“What have you done for me lately? Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah!”
I have had this Janet Jackson song stuck in my head for days! Really. Days.
But, it has actually got me thinking about how we are all looking for the newer, bigger, better versions of everything – fashion, technology, and so many other things are constantly being updated and replaced. In all of the excitement of the new, I think we tend to lose sight of what we value sometimes because we are so busy looking to see what comes next. It is nice to slow down every once in a while and appreciate what we have right in front of us, right now. I think this is actually called stopping to smell the roses.
It has also got me thinking about some of my “older” posts on this blog. I know that the blog is still under two months old, but I feel a little badly for the first few posts and the ones that haven’t received very many hits or comments. So, I am just throwing it out there and suggesting that you click through the archives and take a look at some of the older posts. I know that I try to click on early posts when I visit blogs…I enjoy seeing what the first few posts were about and how the blogs have evolved – even in just a short time.
Happy reading!
~Melissa
PS…I apologize if the song gets stuck in your head!
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