I was very shy about letting anyone know what I wrote.
by Jonathan Hilton
I was scared to death! Petrified! White knuckle, grab a hold of something, close your eyes and scream scared of what other people would think of my writing. So much so, I really hesitated to ever show it to anyone. I had one friend who I would “let” read what I thought. They were very safe and supportive.
Finally after a bit of coaxing, I started to take a few tentative steps out into the world of blogging. It was a world that is very strange to me, I just never realized how many other people write and share their work. What an amazing discovery this world has been. It is a world of dynamic personalities, interesting thoughts and great knowledge.
I was pensive at first because I am careful by nature I guess, and looked at a few blogs, and finally got up my courage to leave a couple of comments. I was amazed that not only did most of the blogs I commented on read my comments but they replied back!
I read another bloggers account of reading spam and pretending that it was real interaction, because at least it felt like someone had read my thoughts. That was me for sure. So getting actual feedback from real people was like winning the Super Bowl!
Thank you so much for following one of my blogs in any way!!
Other people actually read what I wrote. What a great feeling! Now even though I have never met in person any of these people, their stories and writing is a vital part of my daily life.
Finish a job at work, sneak over and see what is happening in the blog world. See a story that inspires, a video that puts me in awe, or a picture that makes me scared of reptiles. What ever it is generally, specifically I am inspired. Creativity comes from this inspiration and I want to express my gratitude for those who have followed me in as special a way as I can!!!
Thank you so much for making my life a richer experience. I placed each person in a random order because I love all of you so very much. If I forgot anyone it is not because you are not in my heart, because you are, it is because I somehow missed you!
Lost in a flow of unfamiliar folks. Found in an instant by you.
Thinking and resigned to my fate, there is a waking up that leads me here.
I don’t know where I’ve been for so long, now I am sure it’s time to move on.
Moving on into the abyss of the dark, scary, exciting and inevitable.
not possible to know if circumstances will improve, but moving forward is the only thing to do. It is then you will find the message with only your name, left just for you.
The loneliness of life can at times totally swallow your soul, if you are not careful, there will be only a weak surface joy in life. Digging deeper with all you have will reveal the truth.
Try not to fear this change, and fight the instincts to run for safety, move boldly.
Strength of nerve will bring understanding so move boldly without hesitation.
There is no limit on your path, your potential is infinite, unless you choose to struggle.
All barriers before you fall, loneliness leaves, contentment grows, as it should.
When your beliefs are working with our dreams, this is a time in your life when …..
It has long been one of my long standing beliefs that people come into your life for a reason and you merely need to allow things to play out to find out why. Sometimes they come in to stay for awhile, and some times they just pop in teach you something and then disappear on down the line.
I have been doing a super secret writing project with Hope Rose of Hope is Something You Can’t Live Without, well at least it is super, not really all that secret. I wanted to take a moment and evaluate our progress. She wanted to write and needed a little push, and I always like projects. So I devised the rules which looking at I have broken all the time, but I never liked rules anyway.
Rules of The Project
Hope writes like a dancing machine. Cheap use of the prompt but a use none the less.
I will provide you with a prompt each day.
You will have a reasonable time to post something,using any creative medium you want, along with your writing. You can take pictures, you can draw pictures, you can paint pictures, you make macaroni pictures, or you can take them from Google, videos from youtube, whatever expresses what you feel inside. I will also complete the assignment. The commitment is for 30 days, that means until March 9.
But there must be writing that answers the prompt.
So we started this journey of very few rules and no real idea of what would come out of it. I am not sure if I expected to write like I was some sort of dancing machine or what, but it has been interesting. I have enjoyed it and I hope that Hope has as well. There are still ten days left as far as I can tell because we missed a few and I see more writing on hope’s blog then there were prompts. But I may be mistaken which one goes with which.
So here are the prompts so far and links to our answers:
I made my own adventure pack, just in case. I use it in case of danger. Click the image to learn more
by Jonathan Hilton
I thought, “This looks like trouble.” When I saw this tag game going around. I want to participate and yet I have this daily writing prompt to take care of because I am committed. When I was tagged by the illustrious DJMatticus I had no choice to respond. I don’t have time for two posts today, what am I going to do. (Visit Matticus Kingdom HERE)
Then the trouble continued as I was tagged by the wonderful Kim of Tanquil Dreams, and since I write on every post she makes, I have no choice but to answer her questions as well. It really looked like trouble, trying to answer all of those questions. (Kim at Tranquil Dreams HERE!)
Being flexible in my actions and as dexterous as a cat, my solution took away any trouble I had, combine the two into one grand and exciting post that will inform and entertain all that come this way today, tomorrow or next week.
The rules of this game:
The Rules –
Post these rules.
Post a photo of yourself and eleven random facts about you.
Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
Create eleven new questions and tag new people to answer them.
Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.
Note*********There is a post coming later to describe my new social demographic that I created this morning, but suffice it to say, we make our own rules so I am doing what I want in the case of entertainment. I am tagging everyone in the world, everyone in the galaxy, everyone who has ever lived. If you know my philosophy, either you will answer some questions or you will keep them to yourself. I will love you no matter what you decide to do. Free will, baby enjoy it!!
This was taken today, February 20, 2013
So the picture of me? I love pictures of me so I am giving you a few, because I look different all the time depending on length of hair, facial hair at the moment or the peace within my heart. 🙂
Eleven Random Facts About Me:
Until yesterday I had no idea what a hipster was.
I enjoy thinking about thinking
I like the color blue because of my personality
This is what I look like without a beard.
Music is important to me. (see link)
I am a positive thinker
I have been best friends with the same person since kindergarten
I am very stubborn sometimes, apparently when others are wrong, and don’t listen to reason.
My uniform numbers for various sports I played in high school were, Soccer #10, Basketball #14 then #12 as a senior and baseball #4.
There were only two things I liked about high school, sports and girls.
I taught high school history for 14 years, loved it for 13 hated it for one.
I have fought a chicken. Read the details here.
The Questions from Kim at Tranquil Dreams:
1) Cookies or Cakes?
Cookies, chocolate chip are my favorites.
2) What was your first Blu-ray or DVD you ever purchased?
No idea. I have Netflix.
3) Whats the most inspiring book/movie you’ve ever read/seen?
Into the Wild, I really don’t know if this is true or not, but I am thinking about that movie, it is pretty great if you haven’t seen it. Alexander Supertramp!
4) Cats or Dogs? Or other pets?
Dogs, they are like big (or little) people who never learn to use the toilet.
5) What type of music do you like?
All types at some point. I can listen to most anything.
6) Whats your favorite Grimm’s Fairy Tales?
Hansel and Gretel
7) Console, Handheld, PC or Arcades?
None of the above. Because I understand myself enough to know I would be addicted, I refrain from playing any games.
8) Favorite flavor of chips?
Salt and Vinegar
9) What animal do you visit first at the zoo?
Sea creatures of any kind, or apes, or apes fighting any type of sea creature.
10) What food could you eat every single day?
Chinese food
11) Who is your favorite superhero?
Kim of Tranquil Dreams
Following are Matt’s Questions
My questions for the unlucky few I just tagged:
1) What does “inconceivable” mean to you?
That what you are seeing can’t possibly be happening. but it really doesn’t matter because when I hear that word I think of the Princess Bride and many quotes enter my head.
no more rhyming now, I mean it!” , “Anybody want a peanut?
You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you. You seem a decent fellow, I hate to die.
On and on it goes!
2) Have you ever had fun storming a castle? If yes, please elaborate.
No, because I was unfortunately caught without a Holocaust Cloak.
3) Can you name the three terrors of the Fire Swamp?
Bursts of fire, they make a popping sound before they ignite, easily avoided.
Lightning sands- must be avoided
R.O.U.S. – Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.
4) If you were named “Buttercup” would you keep that as a name or change it once you could legally do so?
Yes I believe I would.
5) Have you ever been walking around and just happened upon four white horses?
This ironically happened to me today and I thought, there are four of us, if you count the lady. hey lady! So it worked out wonderfully. RIP Andre the Giant
6) If you could pick new actors to play Inigo and Fezzick, who would you pick?
Antonio Banderas to play Inigo and The Rock to play Fezzick. He really isn’t a giant but with today’s technology it would be good. He could layeth the smacketh down on the castle.
7) Have you ever pondered if you would make a good Dread Pirate Roberts?
I have, in fact I have been thinking of a career change. All you have to do is never make exceptions because once you do, its nothing but work, work, work.
8) Do you prefer your magic pills coated in chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate, they always go down smoother, you just have to wait 30 minutes before you go in the water.
9) Do you have a wheelbarrow or a cloak?
As I mentioned before no cloak so I guess that leaves a wheelbarrow to help me find the tourture chamber where the man in black is being held captive.
10) Have you ever said “As you wish,” and really meant “I love you?”
Not once, but I think this is a practice I am going to start.
11) What could quite possibly be the greatest movie ever made?
The Princess Bride could be the greatest movie ever made. Either that or A few Good Men, I only included that for Matt because it didn’t make his list. I’m difficult like that.
11 new questions that anyone who feels moved by the Universe to answer are:
What is a hipster?
Are you a hipster? (if you answer yes, you clearly aren’t, if no then maybe you are.)
Who is your hero?
Which planet do you like the best and why?
What president of the United States do you admire the most excluding Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington?
If you were in charge of the world for a day what is the first thing you would do?
Describe your Mental image of the state of Maine in two sentences.
Are you tall or short? Explain your answer.
If you were a car, what kind of car would you be? Explain.
Why is love important to you?
Aren’t you glad you have answered all of these questions.
If you are still reading way down here you are certainly dedicated and you deserve a special Kozo hug. Have a great day!!
You don’t have to go through the whole tag thing, because I make up my own rules, but you can answer my 11 questions in the comment if you want to share your knowledge!!
There are a lot of people who look at a book and make a judgement based on the cover and fail to even open the pages and read even a little of the story that is contained inside. That is something that I try to avoid doing all the time and I appreciate it when it is done for me.
The insight about me that is offered here is to let you know what my guilty pleasures in life are. These are defined as interests and likes that you have that may be embarrassing for others to know about because of their low brow or uncultured appeal. Everyone has these interests, here are my top guilty pleasures in life.
The Big Bang Theory
There is a little Sheldon in all of us!
This is a show that I just recently became infatuated with. It is the tale of four nerds and their good-looking female neighbor. Pretty basic plot lines, but I seem to enjoy watching Sheldon Cooper struggle through life. From his fear of birds to being unable to understand sarcasm. If this is on and I have a moment I will watch it. I can’t stop myself.
The Music of Taylor Swift
I would not mention this anywhere else, but for some reason the music of Taylor Swift that is about nothing I can relate to, I really like. It has been going on for years and I have secretly liked songs as old as Tim McGraw and as new as We’re Never Ever Getting Back Together. Her act of continually getting dumped is going to have to end eventually. If it never does, that will be fine with me.
Red Sox Baseball
This is not a shock to anyone who knows me but I love the Red Sox. I watch a part of most games and follow the side stories that the team provides. Even though I have never played Major League Baseball I am like many people I think that I know what is best for the team. I have always been infatuated with the statistics of certain players and am not ashamed to say there were a few tears when they won it all in 2004.
Duck Dynasty
“Everybody, happy, happy.”
Another show that I happened to accidentally see and now I watch them quite often. There is something interesting about watching Grandpa Phil try to kill beavers and talk about the old times being , “Everybody, happy, happy!” I was born and raised in Maine so there is a bit of red neck in me that I can’t escape from. This show touches this. A lot of the situations are clearly created just for television but that is OK, it entertains anyway.
Country Music
Up until I turned 39 I believed that all country music was really a joke. I was one of those that laughed about playing a country song backward, you get your wife, your dog and your truck back. Then it all suddenly changed as I was listening to a song once and thinking, “Wow, that makes a lot of sense.”
From that day on I was hooked, and even though I enjoy all types of music, country music is high on my list. Kenny Chesney, Dirks Bentley, Tim McGraw, you name it and if they have a good song I probably like it. I think my rural heritage has a lot to do with this, but there is something about a country girl that is indescribably beautiful!
Romantic Comedies
I hate to admit this but the more of them I see the more I think I am a hopeless romantic. Recently a fellow blogger had been reviewing her favorite romantic comedies which got me to watch a few. The more I watched the more I liked them. Not all of them but most of them. I did have someone in my past who liked those types of movies and I would watch them with her. If I am by myself and Sweet Home Alabama is on I can’t help but watch it. There are a thousand others but lets suffice it to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. Don’t tell anyone!!
Learning Stuff
This is one thing that makes me kind of a super nerd because I find learning new things fascinating. Especially in the realm of psychology, human behavior, quantum physics, string theory or any science what so ever. This is not only in substance but I like learning how to do new things as well, particularly in the field of technology.
I am old enough to remember life before there was an internet and having access for the first time and asking,”What do you do with it.” Even though no one gave a satisfactory answer back in 1996, we figured it out. I am not one of those who sees technology as something you fear but I see it as something new to master. I enjoy learning how to do things from working on new platforms to building websites. Learning stuff is fun!
Reading and Writing are a Good Time
Along with the learning new stuff revelation is my love of reading and writing. It probably wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who reads this blog, but to people who just know me from any endeavor in my life, it would be a shock. Reading to me is not done to read a story or something like that, it is done to teach me something. Expose me to a new idea. I can’t remember that last book I read for “fun”, it seems I just don’t have time.
Writing is an ongoing process for me, as I expand my comfort with words and let the emotions and thoughts I have in me, flow freely without a filter. That has been the biggest challenge of writing for me. The fact that I have a biggest challenge of writing would surprise many of my “friends” from the past.
I am sure that I can come up with about fifty-five more but I am out of time for this writing experience. So that will have to do. I am sure that I am not the only one who has embarrassing interests.
B4 Peace: Peace Begins Within You!
Awards and Gratitude
