This
meme was started by Delores a long time ago. Computer issues and then life issues led her
to bow out. The meme was too much fun to let go, and now
Words for Wednesday is provided by a number of people and has become a
movable feast.
Essentially
the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice
of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music or an image. What we
do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, a
poem, or treating them with ignore... We can use some or all of the
prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.
Some
of us put our creation in comments on the post, and others post on
their own blog. I would really like it if as many people as possible
joined into this fun meme, which includes cheering on the other participants. If you are posting on your own blog - let me know so that I, and other participants, can come along and applaud. And huge thanks to those of you who come back, sometimes time after time to cheer other contributors on.
The prompts will be here this month, provided by me.
This
week's prompts are:
- Wonderful
- Resilient
- Worse
- Pain
- Valid
And/or
Have fun.
The prompts will be here next month too, but have been provided by Sandi
I selected these prompts weeks ago. Serendipity at play? Just before Christmas I got some unexpected and unwelcome medical news and will have to adapt to a new normal.
ReplyDeleteMy Pain, your Pain, the world’s Pain;
all Valid.
But
Dwelling on them makes things Worse for me.
So I turn to the hope and beauty captured by
Rainbows
Wonderful, hopeful things
Which give me the Resilience
To keep on keeping on.
I'm sorry about your medically induced new normal. As always, I love your writing and love you.
DeleteLove,
Janie
I'm so sorry to hear you're confronting yet another medical challenge (as if you didn't have enough already). But your attitude and your writing are both wonderful! Sending you good wishes for strength and resilience.
DeleteI am holding you in my heart.
DeleteI am so sorry to hear another challenge has been placed in your basket :(
DeleteYou didn't deserve this, Sue.
DeleteSometimes I find no proper words, do feel fucking helpless.
DeleteI wish I were a magician.
Sorry for your new pains. Rainbows are too seldom seen, but they sure make everything better. I am with Sean Jeatings on this!
DeleteHi EC - just so sorry to read this ... with thoughts - Hilary
DeleteI'm sorry to hear this. Good luck with the new normal.
DeleteElephant's Child: I'm sorry to hear that. I"m sure you're resilent enough to handle it. 'To keep on keeping on,' is right, the only way is keep on.
DeleteHave a lovely day.
Pain
ReplyDeletePain is when you lose a child from suicide. You can never forget the good times and bad. My worst fear is slowly forgetting in my older age. I shall remember always.
When I am sad I remember all the good times we had. We played we laughed and we cried together. He was one of a kind. His smile always brightened up a room. I just wish I could see him one more time.
Anonymous: I am so sorry. That is a pain that never ends. Never, ever.
DeleteI, too, am very sorry. Losing a child is one of the most horrible pains that a person can experience.
DeleteLove,
Janie
Losing a child is a special agony, my heart aches for you.
DeleteFun reads and that's a beautiful rainbow! Great photo!
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: Thank you.
DeleteIt always feels me with joy when I see you here or at my place. Thank you for putting a nice energy into my world!
ReplyDeleteIt is Wonderful to be
Resilient! It could always be
Worse!
Feeling great because one is largely free of Pain is very
Valid!
Oh! And I was struck by your wonderful photo!
DeleteCloudia: Thank you - and you are the queen of rainbows. Resilience is a gift isn't it?
DeleteYou look on the bright side, i like that.
DeleteCloudia - well crafted and fun to read ... Hilary
DeleteWishes for you:
ReplyDeleteWonderful peace.
That you would be Resilient and strong.
Not Worse for the wear!
Pain free, pain flees from you. 💙
Valid. What do I do with this word? Your concerns are valid, but they will met with the good things above and vanquished. In their place, a double rainbow, which is a promise of peace times two.
Sandi: Thank you so much. What a beautiful and positive (and kind) use of the prompts.
DeleteI hope these things for us all, and especially for our wonderful Words for Wednesday hostess.
DeleteWell wishes well written!
DeleteHi Sandi - I battled with the word 'valid' too - so well done for including it this way into your comment ... excellent read - cheers Hilary
DeleteGetting to work now, back to read and link up in a bit.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: I look forward to seeing where today's prompts take you (and us).
DeleteThe words reminded me of a day i once had.
DeleteSeeing a dbl rainbow is so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: I totally agree. Seeing ANY rainbow is wonderful.
DeletePain will pass, I am told.
ReplyDeleteIt could be worse, they say.
Seeing the beautiful, the wonderful,
The soul grows resilient.
Hearts will become valid and strong,
You can do this, I am promised,
It is entirely possible
To hold onto those wishes..
Susan Kane: Some pain doesn't pass - but beauty and wonder ALWAYS help.
DeleteWe should all hold them, as much as we can.
DeleteSadly, pain often stays with us; many times it just gets worse.
DeleteWell written, hope it was true.
DeleteI so agree ... and well written Susan K ... cheers Hilary
DeleteBoth wrapped in a thin blanket, on a foggy morning a homeless pariah carries her child in search of food through the freezing city; past indifferent passers-by. Here and there, at most, a displeased or pitying glance. She has never heard the word resilient, never dreamt of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. All she knows is that she has to find food for her child and for herself.
ReplyDeleteAny valid argument that will ever change?
What a wonderful world. Happy New Year!
Sean Jeating: This is heart rending. And often sadly true. I hope/I believe that some people waste no time on pity but try to provide practical and immediate help. I have to believe that - and hope for their numbers to grow. Exponentially.
DeleteThe problem is, it could change if everyone had the will to work together to do so.
DeleteSad, but true.
DeleteSad story. Wy are we - as a species - so cruel and heartless?
DeleteHi Sean - echoing the others ... sadly very true - and so often not their fault ... cheers Hilary
DeleteThat rainbow is quite brilliant. I'll get the brain working on it.
ReplyDeleteRiver: That rainbow was a joy and a delight - and even looking at the photo I still feel it.
DeleteWonderful, I consider myself resilient but the pain is worse and I think it's valid.
ReplyDeleteMike: Captain Succinct rides again. I do hope you are feeling better than you did yesterday.
DeleteStop tossing your cookies!
DeleteWell done, i also hope you are feeling much better now.
DeleteAfter getting this out of your mind, I hope you feel better. :)
DeleteHi Mike - Captain Succinct is so appropriate - cheers Hilary
DeleteA rainbow is of course a perfectly natural phenomenon caused by the reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets. But, really, is that all it is – for some anyway? This WONDERFUL manifestation of nature that has awed humans since the first hominids began to contemplate its meaning. Those early humans were RESILIENT and faced PAIN and WORSE as they struggled to eke out an existence in a world populated by an awesome array of predators bent on making them lunch. It was perfectly VALID for them to seek comfort in the metaphysical, and invent other-worldly reasons for the aftermath of a rain shower. And if you’re going to invent a god to explain everything, why not cater to avarice and greed too and conceal a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Now that’s worth looking for. Just ask Donald Trump!
ReplyDeleteDavid M. Gascoigne: Perfectly natural, perfectly wonderful. Without god, and definitely without the mythical pot of gold.
DeleteAnother fine read, David.
DeleteThe third to last sentence is simply excellent!
An excellent story with a point. By the way, the original legend of the Irish was not that a leprechaun hides his gold at the end of the rainbow. They would say, "You're as like to find a leprechaun's pot of gold as you are to find the end of a rainbow," leading people to believe they located the gold there.
DeleteWhat is a tribe without dreams and hopes? The gold pot and the rainbow is what keep us going.
DeleteHi David - nature's joy ... the rainbow ... wonderful inclusion into your comment - cheers Hilary
DeleteGreat how you worked in all the words in a plausible way. And the ending was just right.
DeleteHi EC - again I will be back ... at the weekend ... but so sorry to read about your backward step - yet always taken with a smile and in your stride ... my heart reaches out and over the curve to give you a hug down under! With thoughts ...
ReplyDeleteNature is resilient … it will not subject itself to the worst of times … Spring is ahead … longer days are a-coming.
I tripped badly spraining an ankle … the doctor said it was valid for me to be anxious … but he also said if I could be resilient, like nature, by Spring it would have healed; so new wonderful memories would be ahead for my future life."
PS I have not fallen over, nor sprained an ankle ... a 'story' didn't come easily ... the ones your participants have entered are all pretty extraordinary ... excellent story-telling ... cheers to everyone, especially you EC: Sue - hugs xoxox Hilary
May you never trip badly, dear Hilary. And I'm not only thinking of your ankles...
DeleteFor a made-up story, it certainly rings true.
DeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: I love it - and am glad to know that your story is fiction. Stay upright dear friend - in mind and body.
DeleteMay your fiction never become true.
DeleteDone with your usual style and flair, Hilary. We are all glad it's not autobiographical.
ReplyDeleteThanks commenters all ... yes - I'm glad it's true I'm still on two legs - ready to face 2023 ... no doubt some new tricks up its sleeve ...cheers Hilary
DeleteI just continue my meandering tale of Susan and aunt Jemima.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): I have read it already - and thoroughly enjoyed it.
DeleteI read this too late to participate, but I enjoyed the stories others came up with. Including yours, E. C. Love your positive use of the selection.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth Varadan: You are still not too late to participate. The prompts go up on a Wednesday (or a Tuesday or a Thursday depending on where you are). What we make of them can go up any time.
DeleteFinally, I wrote something, though late again. Here's the link: Fiction: Not the end of the world
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prompts. I do check them out even when I didn't write anything.
Have a lovely day.
lissa: I have read and thoroughly enjoyed your very positive take on my prompts.
DeleteWelcome to 2023, dear Sue!!!
ReplyDeleteBleubeard and Elizabeth: Thank you for your multitude of good wishes.
Delete