Various ramblings by the small hobbit

I'm currently taking an online course and this week we were looking at artistic responses to feelings/emotions.

We made a collage:



which we then reflected on, using some of the phrases in the reflection to produce a poem:

Colours are drawn together
It had to be finished
With the right colours
The dynamic bursts out

It had to be finished
Colours being drawn together
The dynamic bursts out
Bursting into vitality and life

Colours being drawn together
With the right colours
Bursting into vitality and life
Colours are drawn together

This month's challenge for story_works is to find a new perspective on something.  Since I've been trying this in various ways, I decided it merited its own post.

First of all, I believe all lives matter and therefore this means BlackLivesMatter, which is why, as I wrote in yesterday's book review, I've just read Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race.

Secondly, as we come to an end of the initial reaction to Covid-19 and realise that we're facing a much longer term problem, which will mean making amendments to the way we've always done things, for me this specifically applies to the church.  There is a tendency to look back and want to simply tweak what we were doing, but I believe it's time to look for new approaches.  Which means, when I was speaking about the Good Shepherd the other week, I was emphasising being led into new pastures rather than going back to the ones which had been fully grazed already.

Another way of finding a new perspective is one I used when asked to write a short reflection on Jesus walking on the water.  Instead of looking from the outside and condemning the disciples' lack of faith, try to imagine yourself as actually there and see how it feels and discover there's rather more to the story.

My third way of finding a new perspective has been on writing.  One of my current FutureLearn courses is on fairy tales, and last week we were encouraged to look at an alternative to Red Riding Hood.  My Tigger Holmes series tends to do just that, so I wrote Tigger Holmes and the Case of the Missing Grandmother.  In addition, there's an interesting story in the book of Joshua in the Old Testament about Caleb's daughter, so for fan_flashworks 'Safe' challenge I decided to expand it a little: Caleb's Daughter

I.e. Three things make a post!

Firstly, a couple of pictures from last week's full moon:
( moon, thoughts, rainbows )

I can happily report that I have successfully cut back on my church involvement.  I refrained from going to a last minute 'we're short on help' on a Friday afternoon, didn't attend a Saturday meeting (with lunch) planning for the autumn, and didn't go to a meeting (with dinner) to discuss things the day before I went to London.  And I'm very happy about it.

I did run a four week evening course, which went well.  So well those attending want it to continue.  I've said I'm not able to commit to leading something every week and have passed it to the vicar to follow up.  It's good to feel that what I was doing was successful.  And I will be running an Advent course again.

I've also continued to help at the monthly Family Praise.  Last month I was doing the talk and took along the parrot hand puppet I've acquired.  He/She is brightly coloured and squawks and we had a lovely conversation.  We'd also had a church welcome for a baby (baptism will be in a few months time) and the baby slept through our last song, which was accompanied by all the musical instruments.

Yesterday we had a playlet, which J, the reader, had written.  We began by singing a children's chorus (which dates from 1917) 'Wide Wide As The Ocean' complete with actions.  Three children and eleven adults and they all joined in.  A woman had come with her future mother-in-law because she'd booked the church to get married in but hadn't seen it, so thought they should come along (the children had been left at home).  As they were leaving after the service MIL said 'It was nothing like I expected' (I refrained from saying J and I have that feeling every month) and that we were very friendly.

We sing badly, we do odd things, and we're friendly - can't ask for much more!

Well, it is if the year begins in April, which is when I set my current goals.  So how are they going?

Goal No 1 - Write all the things

Wordage for 2017 is now at 130,000 which remains ahead of both last year, and my target to date.  I wrote less over the last couple of months, but I'm still pleased with where I'm at.  There's been a drop in the things I write regularly, which has partially accounted for the fall in words, but I've taken part in ACDHolmesfest, Stage of Fools, and Spook Me.  (All of which I have to thank Okapi for beta-ing for me).  This year I've signed up for Holmestice, and I've just got my Yuletide assignment, which I'm happy with.

I've also achieved four more Fan Flashworks badges, including my 200 posted works, which can't be bad.

         


Goal No 2 - Write a monthly pastoral assistant post

This is continuing, although interesting I doubt I will be continuing to post as regularly next year.


Goal No 3 - Try twelve new things

I visited the Sky Garden in London back in August, and last month I began a sewing craft, which is still ongoing.  I've also started something else, of which there will be more next week.  In the meantime here are some more of my craft photos, beginning with the final quilting, to which I added some chain stitch because it seemed to be missing something:

( Craft photos )

Easter Monday, and time to select my goals for the year:

Goal No 1 - Write all the things

Because the emphasis continues to be on the 'all'.  Not just number of words, which really should be a secondary condition because crafting a decent drabble can take as long as writing 500 words, but at least attempting different things.  There are still a number of badges for fan_flashworks  I want to earn.  One I'm struggling with in particular is the Prognosticator, which is for stories post canon.  This can be difficult when a good proportion of your main characters die in canon, even if you habitually write them otherwise.  And there's only so many ways I can kill Dr Watson (sorry scfrankles ).  So any suggestions gratefully received.

I've signed up for an AO3 'All In The Family' exchange, which is a new one for me.  And there are a couple of exchanges I did for the first time last year, so they will still be a challenge for me this time round.  I'll also probably pinch-hit for a couple of exchanges.  And I'm intending on writing the next part of Master Baggins the Baker's Son (Hobbit AU) for my new Gen Bingo card.


Goal No 2 - A Monthly Pastoral Assistant Report

A number of you were kind enough to say you enjoyed reading what I've written so far, and since we are supposed to reflect on matters, this would seem like a good way of encouraging myself to do so.  These will be friends locked - not that I will be sharing names - but the views I express will not be shared by everyone.  (Not that I object to friends having different views from my own, I fully expect some of you to do so, but I haven't got the time to wait for the sun to turn the trolls to stone.)


Goal No 3 - Try Twelve New Things

One of the dangers of finding a balance of life which works(ish), is that of stagnating.  I've therefore decided I shall try some new things this year.  And this is where you, dear flist, come in.  Because it requires outside input to find new thoughts.  I have some free time (but nothing regular), I have some money (for the odd little thing), and I have a curiousity and a wish to do different things (even briefly, before deciding it's not for me).

It could be to write something different, to read something different, to try a new (simple) craft, to see something different (I'm in London for a few days in August).  I'm prepared to consider most things.

I'm hoping some of you will have some ideas, and to that end, I'm planning on putting up a post in a couple of days to expand on this and further solicit your ideas.


Here's to the next year!