It’s a strain on my brain when writer’s block happens. But it happens to the best of writers. It’s normal. Period.
Why is it that we try to strain our brain so hard?
Sometimes we should just sit back and watch life happen. Instead of curling back into ourselves, we should let the curious parts of us reach out and discover new skies.
That’s when the obvious is sometimes right in front of our faces? Just look up.
Case in point. Me. I was struggling this morning with the strain prompt. Then I thought of yesterday and our walk around the yard.
And Copper. And a determined little bird. Copper was so focused on sniffing that the bird was able to just keep on digging on the ground for nest material.
When I’m struggling to find words, I resort to my photos. They always inspire me to see a way of putting words onto the page.
Tiny buds of thoughts sprout. Sometimes they make a mess of my thoughts. Eventually, something will start to race across my brain and stand out.
Yesterday, I took a lot of photos. A walk around the yard, and boom…there was so much to see popping up in the yard. So much inspiration curling its way to the top of my thoughts.
As I looked through my plethora of photos, there was a theme of strain.
Don’t worry about me, I didn’t strain any muscles as I squatted low to the ground. WOW – my bleeding hearts are starting to get ready to bloom. I love these little flowers.
And I looked up too. Soon the flowering crab trees will bloom.
One can reach for anything worthy to write about if they look hard enough. And play with the ideas to see what interests us.
Or not.
It’s okay to let the ideas rest a bit.
Then right before our eyes. A funny thought appears – don’t strain so hard, just tell a stupid joke.
So…why did the turkey cross the yard?
To help me get to the other side of a Stream of Consciousness Post, of course!
Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Strain
PS – Do tell, what photos did you enjoy the most? Which one would you have used for the prompt of strain? Have you ever watched a turkey run? They are hilarious to watch. What do you do to get inspired?
My brain is so full of misery, complaining, and bad mood, so even though I have PLENTY to say about what has me all irked, I think it’s best if I stay off WP and don’t share my misery. No one needs to hear me moan and complain… 😉 I guess in some ways, that’s writer’s block too.
On the positive side, we have sun and warm weather for exactly one day. I’ll take it. 🌻☀☕
I feel like that’s been a general theme for a lot of us – this weather has been so relentless. UGH. I’ve been dumping much of those feelings into my 3 morning pages everyday and that helps. YAY – so happy you have sun and warm – go out and enjoy it!!
I agree that sometimes, pictures help us express what our brains are straining to find the right words for. You take very nice photos, so it works well.
Thank you, Dan, I appreciate your feedback!
It was a beautiful morning stroll around the yard, Shelley. Wonderful photos. What a gorgeous cat. Happy Caturday to her from Crystal. Hugs!
Thank you, Teagan! Happy Caturday to Crystal from Tizzie and Dessy – Caturdays are the best days!
Your photos are always such a source of joy and inspiration! Great handling of the prompt!
Aw, thank you, Maggie, I appreciate your feedback. I also enjoyed your take on the prompt, way to work through it!
I admire anyone who can take any writing prompt and go with it. You turned strain into gain! Also, how’d you get that circle of bricks as a planting bed? That’s cool.
Thank you, Ally! The Mr. drew up the plans for the circle. The bricks are shaped to build circles, we just had to know how big we wanted it to find the right number of bricks. That’s the part that I did NOT contribute to. I helped carry them and stack them, and then fill the garden bed with violets that took it over. They ran with the idea, I guess. 😉
A delightful post! Your photo have a subtly soft quality that I like, yet they tell interesting stories. I love the ones of Copper and the kitty. Great idea to use photos to jump start writing. And play is one of the things I like about SoCS.
Thank you, JoAnna. I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Yes, those two pets have a fun relationship. I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time. I’m still smiling thinking about you and your friend singing in the car! Happy Saturday – hope you have many moments of joy today!
Always love your photos, Shelley! The beauty of nature is a constant source of inspiration for writing…especially when writer’s block sets in. All it takes is a stroll around the yard, a bike ride down the trail or the sight of spectacular scenery. You can never go wrong with any of it.
Nice job on the prompt. Have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you, Mary, glad you enjoyed the post. You’re right, you can’t go wrong using nature for inspiration. Hope you have a awe-inspiring weekend!
I love your close up photos. If you don’t mind a technical question, do you use a macro lens? I agree – photos can really help jump start the writer’s blocked brain. The photo challenges have been an interesting discovery in this respect! Yes the turkey walk is hilarious 🙂
Thank you! I’m glad you like the photos. I do sometimes use a macro lens, but these photos were with the lens that came with the camera. I shoot in manual mode, adjust the ISO and white balance, and use the little red (highly technical terms) to decide what to focus on, thus creating the depth of field effect. Hope my description makes sense! Yes, photography challenges are fun. You’ve found several of the best ones to join! That lady turkey was a hoot to watch. I wonder where the rest of them were – we have about a dozen that live in the woods nearby.
Thanks for the technical tips – I am researching a DSLR camera, so any tips are helpful. I wonder if that turkey was lost!! If so, I can relate 🙂
I love my Canon – many people love their Nikons too. Good luck on your research!
I love this. I have always said a picture is way more expressive than I could ever be and it tells a different story to each reader. But that turkey is amazing. He almost looks like a pheasant except for size. Great shots.
Thank you, Anita! I agree, photos are a wonderful way to express thoughts. That silly turkey – I have no idea what she was doing. She must’ve lost the rest of them? There are about 12 of them and one male that struts for them each evening.
I miss seeing the wildlife I had at my other house. The deer slept in my yard as it was the back of a reserve.
Aw, that would be cool to see. I’d miss seeing the wildlife too if we moved.
Hands down it’s the kitty photos, kitty love! Turkeys are seriously dumb birds, great fun to chase through the wood on a quad! heh…
Aw – Tizzie is so happy you voted for her photos!! Yeah, turkeys are turkeys that’s for sure.
A turkey?
Yes, a turkey!
I hadn’t thought of photos as a way to impromptu write but it would definitely work for me. When writing my mystery books I always search for pictures of what I think my characters would look like as well as setting photos. Same thing with my flash fiction, I need a photo prompt in addition to a prompt word. So, going to use the impromptu post photos to up my blog standards! Thanks…
DB McNicol
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Yay – congratulations, I’m happy to read of your appreciation of the idea. Happy writing to you – thank you for stopping by to read and share your thoughts!
Beautiful photos, Shelley. I could never choose just one!
Thank you, as you can see I had a hard time choosing too ;-)!
Your question leaves me in a tizzy Shelley. I’d say my favorite photo was Tizzie and her wide-eyed wonderment photo, then the post of Tizzie with Copper. I don’t know how you come up with a post every day, especially based on a challenge.
LOL! Tizzie wins again! She’s so happy when that happens. I dunno how I do it, I just write whatever pops into my head with my pictures. Or the word prompts for the challenges.
That is amazing to do that … I can’t do the prompts as I stray too far from the theme of my blog, though I make an exception like I did today for Mother’s Day.
Thanks, I try. Your post about Mother’s Day was a joy to read. I love all of your pictures. Your mom was one tough lady to endure what she went through and to raise such a strong young lady like you. It was heartwarming to read!
Thanks for saying that Shelley. She endured a lot in her lifetime – life was unfair at an early age and just kept getting more difficult the older she got. I’ve got no use for my father; she had no use for hers and my grandmother had no use for her father – his wife was getting the horses hitched to a buggy to go to town and church and one horse reared up then stomped on her foot and shattered her foot and he deemed her no use to him around the farm and basically had nothing to do with her the rest of her life (after raising 9 kids … my grandmother had 8 siblings) … I have no words for the paternal side of my family.
I’m sorry to hear of such unfair lives they lead. And that your dad treated you so poorly.
Yikes, not exactly role models. I’m thankful not all men are like that. I hope you see glimpses of the good they can do/be by the stories I share.
Yes I do see glimpses of good men through you and others and I am sorry they never graced my family tree. It caused me to be exasperated by it all and not willing to make the same mistake that three generations in a row did. I have watched close friends of my mom’s or family friends through the years, who remained together decade after decade ,”death ’til we part” … surely you know the relationship is not going to work before 30 1/2 years passes? But “gray divorce” as it is known is becoming more and more common. Kids are raised and couples realize they have not one thing in common, especially when they retire and spend more time with one another and discover they are just polite strangers.
Way to stick to your decision to not repeat history in your family. I’ve never heard of ‘gray divorce’ but can certainly understand how our aging lives and our comparisons with ‘perfect’ can lead to dismay in long term relationships. Sad.