Writing holds a unique gift. It is my quiet time to meander through the back channels of my mind, a time to allow words to ruminate and float in a circular pattern. A sequence of thoughts builds within only to be mulled over and splashed across a page like an artist's brush on canvas. With each stroke, a new layer forms until a single thought develops into an expression of joy. Digital tools enhance my word weaving process adding a different look while poetry adds enough zest to radiate my thoughts in many directions.
Welcome to my New Gardens
A guided tour of my perennial and herb gardens will be uploaded when I can get access to my account but for the time being join me at Two Writing Teachers for the Slice of Life.
When I was young I used to dream upon a dandelion, calling it my wish flower. Today, I still stop to pick a dandelion in the spring and watch my wish float into the universe. During a #whatisschool Twitter conversation about dream tools, I wondered about digital resources of the future. I recalled an image of me as a child blowing my wish out into the world. Now in my adult years I am still wishing upon a dandelion but realize that:
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. -C.S. Lewis
If I had a dandelion weed now, I would wish for a digital dream tool in the shape of an interactive app. It would be an all-inclusive word-weaving resource with capabilities to immediately pull content on a topic and spin it into a digital inspiration. Being more specific, the app would be able to capture all of my photos and tag them into different topics for easy access. It would also have a button to link to free photo sites (the photo above came from Photos for Class). When designing an inspirational message, the app would intuitively match nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs together. It would also be sound activated so I could direct the app to blend certain words together to form a motivational quote, eduinspiration, or haiku. For Twitter aficionados, the message could be spun into a 140 character twihaiku or micropoem to be sent out into the Twittersphere with or without a photo. If I had my druthers, this digital dream tool/app would sit at my creation table and assist me in sending random acts of poetry out into the universe. It would be so much easier than the process I use now: finding a photo, digitalizing it with effects using PicMonkeyor other photo-editing tools, weaving words into a haiku (paper and pencil-old school style), transferring the poem to the image so it matches the flow of the photo, and then signing off.
But until then I will continue to wish upon a dandelion
for my digital dream tool as I weave words.
Do you have a digital dream tool in mind?
Please visit Two Writing Teachers where you will find the Tuesday Slice of Life. An anchor chart, Strategies for Generating Ideas for Personal Narrative Writing, is found there.
There is wonder in words as they combine into thoughts. I call this merging, word weaving. One word intertwines with another until a finely crafted tapestry is created. When I happened upon two events in the world of poetry this week, Random Acts of Poetry Day (October 7th) and National Poetry Day (October 8th), I stopped, wondered, and began to weave words into poems. Twitter hashtags, such as #NationalPoetryDay, #poetrydayuk, #poetrydayuk, and #thinkofapoem, were venues open to poetically speak so I decided to fully immerse myself in the fall season and create.
In hopes of finding the beauty of the season to write about, I walked local paths observing natural objects. From what I collected, I crafted autumn decorations, adorning the inside and outside of my house with seasonal visuals. In between the DIY projects, I wove words to celebrate my love for poetry. Then, I digitalized expressions of the natural beauty and sent them out via Twitter as part of Random Acts of Poetry Day with hopes of brightening others' lives. Beside those acts, I virtually celebrated poetry with young students in Texas who showcased their work at a Poetry Cafe. I even went so far as to design an invitation with a poem for the finding fall gathering at my house this weekend.
While becoming one with words, I joined hundreds of tweachers and tweeps who celebrated poetic language this week. This led me to one tweet showcasing Mary Oliver reading her poetry. One video led to another. A NPR interview caught my interest and provided me with a fountain of thoughts to satisfy my thirst for beautifully crafted words.
As Oliver talked about her fondness of the natural world and how she finds new words, I felt as though she was reaching out to me.
I pay close attention to things, see new details...I love the choreography of the poem on the page. To find a new word you have to be alert.
Mary Oliver's advice will continue to inspire me to find fall this season as I design Autumn's Palette Gallery. I do hope you will write alongside me for a global gallery of artistic expressions. One digital expression to provide a perspective on the majesty of autumn's colors is all it takes to bring the natural world to the page.
Please visit the Poetry Friday Round-up here. It is being hosted by Laura Purdie Salas,an inspired colleague. Laura is showcasing one of her two poems that have been included in an inspired book of poetry, the Book of Nature Poetry, edited by J.Patrick Lewis with National Geographic.
