Postcard Poetry

At the turn of the 20th century, "post cards" were the rage. People would write lovely short notes to each other on beautifully decorated cards and send them by post as in the example below. 

The above "Post Card" is part of my ephemera collection and speaks of the value of reading poetry. When I was teaching reading to elementary children, I would share cards like the one above with my students who delighted in reading what people "in the old days" wrote to each other. 

Since I did not know what a magpie was, I researched the bird and found out the following. Magpies are:

• small to medium sized birds that have a long tail with black-and-white or brightly colored plumage
• known for their chattering
• live across the world
• symbols of good luck and good fortune in China and Korea 

To honor the tradition of the 20th PostCard, I wrote the following poetry postcard to my Twitter friend and host of Poetry Friday, Margaret Simon.

I am happy to see that Jone MacCulloch, another Poetry Friend friend, encourages her learners at Silver Star Elementary in Vancouver, Washington to continue the tradition of sending postcards through the Poetry Postcard Project. I was delighted to receive the poetry postcard below from 4th grader Lexi V.

If you feel creative, you might enjoy creating a poetry postcard like the one I composed above for my spring gallery, Spring's Seeds. The deadline to submit a digital composition is at the end of May. You can access the invitation and information here. 

Please visit the Poetry Friday Round-Up at Margaret Simon's blog  here.

Peaceful Prospect

Everyone needs time away from the routine to recoup and refresh. Mother's Day Weekend was my time to savor family moments and discover a peaceful prospect. 

On a dismal-looking Friday before Mother's Day, my husband, son, and I traveled to Virginia to visit my daughter and son-in-law in their new home. The rains did not cease to teem the entire ride down but that did not put a damper on the day for me. Celebrating with the family is my gratitude time no matter what the weather holds in store. 

While the rains continued to pelt and the cool temperature remained, we arrived in Reston and rode through the neighborhood until we found the new home owners' residence. With only a quick peek through the rain soaked windows we were off to my daughter's google-like office space. To say that I was in awe of the new home and work environment is an understatement. 

You can access photos of the weekend here. 

The second day greeted us with sunshine and pleasantries of life. The entire area was full of nature's nooks and crannies. There was greenery in abundance and long stretches of nature paths. The sounds of spring filled the air. A chipmunk hid; the birds swooped in to nibble on their findings; streams rippled on. 

Mother's Day 2016 was a memory never to be forgotten. It was my time to slow down and savor peaceful moments. 

This notice poem evolved from observation and reflection.

At Slice of Life today, Two Writing Teachers posted a mantra: Write, Share, Give. That sounds like another peaceful prospect to me. What will bring peace to your day?

You can access the link here. 

Refresh!

The time is right, I thought this morning. My garden needs refreshing. After all, it is spring or so I thought as I donned my winter jacket. A chill was in the air  but I was determined to put the plants I purchased in the ground and so the design process began. As I worked, I reflected on the topic, refresh, that Margaret Simon asked the Digilit Sunday blogging community to consider.

Since the day was spent in the endeavor of creating my meditation garden, today I am in replay mode, thinking of ways to reconnect with nature and life, even though it is still very cool outside.

On #CelebrateMonday, a Twitter site started by a colleague Sean Gaillard to accentuate the positives, I ask my readers to think about what spring offers. It is a pathway to renewing, refreshing our thoughts and actions. In springtime, we can gather, sit, and wait for inspiration and then act with positivity to finish the days strong until the summer months come upon us. 

"Spring is in the air" in our minds and hearts even though the weather here on Long Island says differently. If you travel over to one of my previous blogs, you will hear the short ditty song, Spring is in the Air, I created. The link up is here. 

So on this #CelebrateMonday, replay last week's moments to start this week off strong. 

Don't forget to link-up with Digilit Sunday here to read other blogger's thoughts on the topic, refresh. 

Perhaps you would like to see what is blooming in my virtual garden. Travel to the Twitter hashtag, #SpringsSeeds, to view the new blossoms that keep popping up for my spring online gallery, Spring's Seeds.

Celebrating Words

This week was filled with words streaming across my mind and finding a home in digital poetry. As thoughts were generated, I started uploading digital images that I recently took while visiting my daughter and son-in-law last weekend in Virginia. You can access that Celebrate This Week post here. 

Playing with words and creating digital inspirations are fun-filled passions for me so keeping an eye on positivity, despite the interferences along the way, is a prerequisite.

Below are some of my digital inspirations that I created during the week for my blog site. 

http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/05/curves.html

http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/05/pathways.html

You can access the full version of this image poem at http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2016/05/morning-reflection.html

Please visit Ruth Ayres at Celebrate This Week where the community of bloggers writes about their celebrations each week. This week, Ruth is sharing the news of an amazing raffle. You can access the site here. 

Are you interested in creating a digital inspiration for my upcoming spring gallery, Spring's Seeds? If so, the invitation to the challenge can be found here. 

Pathways

As the weather turns to what I envision springtime to be, many people, including me, take to walking trails and paths to relax and reflect. Being in an unretirement state of mind, I have the opportunity to plan my days as I see fit. Walking not only provides a physical workout but exercise for the mind and spirit as I wander and wonder in springtime. 

Take a moment to listen to the sounds of springtime
that I captured while walking in Virginia last weekend.

Now please read the excerpt from the poem,
Walking  by Thomas Traherne.

You can read the rest of the poem

from Poetry Foundation here.

Does springtime capture your spirit for wandering and wondering? If so, you may wish to create your own digital inspiration for my upcoming spring gallery, Spring's Seeds. The invitation to create can be accessed here.

Now please visit the blog site of my colleague and fellow writer, Violet Nesdoly, who is the host of Poetry Friday. She has a fiery edition for us from western Canada's forest fire season. Violet's poem, Forest Usurper, inspired from an image prompt, is a visual reminder of the anger of forest fires and the damage they cause.

The link to Poetry Friday is here.

Morning Reflection

In the quiet morning hours, 

we can listen and reflect 

before starting our day.

It's #PositiveThinkingThursday.

Take one small step

towards positivity!

************

On this positive thinking day, you may enjoy creating a digital composition like the one above for my upcoming spring gallery, Spring's Seeds. 

If interested, see the invitational post here.

Curves

Creative arts have always intrigued me but seeing life through a lens has challenged me. My digital art work pathway started when I was in college. The path curved from then to now, allowing a growing appreciation of the photographer's perspective. Throughout my educational career from teacher to administrator to consultant, I have always sought creativity as an outlet to inspire others. I learned that through the lens we can develop a keen eye. Observation leads to inquiry. From there the path opens to a world of wonder where voice has the opportunity to allow us to dig deeper, showcasing the murmurings of the heart. 

Paths curve throughout life. There is usually never a straight road to follow. We meet detours and new directions along the path. Curves allow us to follow the bends, to develop an openness that may not be within the boundaries. It is a bit off the beaten path at times but in its bends we grow as learners of life. Missteps may occur but do not deter us from our journey. We may not see the light beyond the curve at first. Sometimes, we need to retrace our steps to find the right path. All the meanderings and curves along the way build stamina, character, and perseverance.  

Because creativity and voice are imperative in this world of changing perspectives, I design online galleries to explore digital literacy in its various formats. The power of voice captures varying perspectives on nature and inspiration. With a photographer's eye, an artist's renderings, and a poet's love of words and feelings, a new gallery, Spring's Seeds, will evolve connecting the arts, technology, and poetry. Perhaps, a few curves will be showcased. 

This season as seeds of springtime joy spread, a garden of poetry will develop. My passions for creative writing and photography have spurred me on to encourage others, especially students, to find their voices through artistic expressions. Creation of digital inspirations, thoughtful compositions of original art work or photography embedded with poetic thoughts, synthesize the experience of viewing life through a lens on paper. Sharing the digital work is equally as important as creating it for in the shared experience, the individual voice blends with others to form a collective chorus of positivity for mankind. 

Curves are everywhere. It is with keen observation skills that we can view the curves as insights into life to allow for flexibility, new perspectives, and positive thinking. 

This topic for this post is written at the suggestion of Margaret Simon for Digilit Sunday. It also is dedicated to the Two Writing Teachers for a Slice of Life posting. 

Celebrating Firsts

What happens when one weekend is packed with many firsts?  You enjoy each moment and count the blessings!

Celebrating Firsts

First trip to Reston, Virginia to see the new homeowners, my daughter and son-in-law (in the teeming rain-must be a sign of good luck)

First Look at my daughter and son-in-law’s first home (in the sunshine)

First Look at Capitol One dig's work environment where creativity is the key word

Devin's office space with a view

First time spending Mother's Day in the new house.

While we ate brunch on the patio, we looked out into the garden and realized life was good.

In the filtered sunshine that peeks through the trees there is a

Ray of light stretching across the sky. It greets spring's birds.

A cardinal swoops down to feed. We watch. Then, a tiny

Woodpecker, dancing through the sky, makes his 

Entrance. The chimes take their turns singing. 

The earth rests and peace tiptoes in. We 
marvel at all the newness. Gratitude fills

The spring air that centers the house.

We celebrate life, springtime beauty, 

New home owners, firsts!
©Carol Varsalona, 2016

I enjoyed celebrating firsts this weekend with my family in Virginia. It is not always that I can spend time together on Mother 's Day with the enter immediate family.

I am celebrating this week with Ruth Ayres who opens her blog site each week. Please visit here to read how the blogging community is celebrating their week. 

Poetry Garden

Everyone should know the favorite English nursery rhyme, "Mary, Mary quite contrary" by Mother Goose. (Source: The Dorling Kindersley Book of Nursery Rhymes (2000) at Poetry Foundation)  

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

But how about a twist on it to advertise my newest spring gallery, Spring's Seeds, that has its own hashtag, #SpringsSeeds? If you travel to the hashtag you will find some digital poetry already planted in the garden.

Carol, Carol, seeking nature's apparel,
How does your garden grow?
With poet-trees and digital bees
set around words in a row.

In May after Mother's Day, the flowers and trees start blooming and gardens become the focus. While preparing to design my meditation garden, I decided on extending the love for poetry writing that popped all over social media during National Poetry Month. For one month, I am inviting connected colleagues, teachers, and students to write alongside me to create a garden of poetry that will be unveiled in June. The invitation can be accessed here.

The garden will be filled with digital poetry, image poems, quotes, spring-related music, nature photography, and short videos. In other words, the garden will be a creative potpourri of beautiful blossoms. 

This is the opportunity for every gardener of words to be inspired to create and allow me to plant their seeds for a virtual spring poetry garden. 

Be Expressive-Create!

Some writers have already started planting their seeds.

Send them to #SpringsSeeds on Twitter

or to my gmail account (cvarsalona)

News for my Poetry Friday Friends: 

The fabulous 2016 Progressive Poem, with all 30 names of the poets who contributed, will be featured at Spring's Seeds Gallery. 

Please visit Sylvia's Vardell site, Poetry for Children, here where she is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up.

Happy Mother's Day to All mothers!

Creativity and Vulnerability

Creativity sprouted throughout social media during National Poetry Month reminding me of the power of voice. With May upon us, colleagues continue to write so when Irene Latham suggested that the Spiritual Journey Thursday blogging community post on Creativity and Vulnerability, I thought what an interesting combination. I drafted a few ideas, then this morning read Irene's piece at Live Your Poem. I found a phrase that resonated with me, "creativity as abundance" and began revising my thoughts.

Words choose us.

We are filled with abundance.

We let our voice rise in a collective chorus.

©CVarsalona, 2016 

Each day, we are faced with an exciting prospect to notice, wonder, and create. Our writing space becomes our sanctuary of thought. We write, hopefully without doubt in our hearts, believing that our words will be received but the world is an open range where our voices are vulnerable. Connected colleagues seek the company of colleagues who support, nurture, and critique honestly with good faith. With this backing, we can take the leap of faith and toss our words into the open range of life.

When we share our writing space and the yearnings of our hearts with colleagues we no longer "live in the spin" as Irene Latham said in her post. We become risk-takers who create, share, and grow as writers alongside others. 

Cat Stevens' Morning Has Broken is one of my favorite songs from the past. Please listen to be inspired to open each morning to a new day of creativity. 

Reflect upon not only the beauty of the earth but the Maker who provides eternal creativity.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them ~Ephesians 2:10

Gears in Motion

When a advertisers are ready to introduce a product, they need to create interest with a selective audience. Design and appeal are factors to consider in rolling out the campaign. In the initial stages, information is imported allowing gears to turn and creativity to flow. Remember the creative team in Mad Men and how they spent time deliberating? Brainstorming ideas created a bank of input /data. 

Each time I create a new campaign for my seasonal galleries, I mull over the ideas for weeks, searching for fresh and engaging visuals and thoughts to move creativity forward. When the creative spirit jump-starts the engine of my mind, flow occurs. The end result is a draft of ideas that I review and spend time refining. 

Thinking back on the process for my upcoming gallery, I allowed nature to lead the way. I noticed, observed, and found details on my walks that allowed my gears to turn. While on those walks at the preserve and my neighborhood, I gathered natural objects that I found to create a design. The fun began when I placed all the objects on my work table. Ideas started popping up. With glue gun in hand, I started the process of layering the objects to create my visual design. With the house quiet and only the pitter patter of the rain seeping through, I was lost in thought and design. The outdoors moved closer to me as I created and there it was in front of me. A seed of an idea blossomed into a brightly colored visual representative of springtime beauty. 

Nature, scraps of material, and snippets of artificial flowers provided the raw materials, creativity the spark, and perseverance the tool that led me onward to a finished product worthy to stand alone as an advertisement. 

What function does this ornamental design serve? It not only shows that creativity comes from whatever sparks your passion but that you do not need lots of money to bring an idea to fruition. My Do It Yourself design serves as a representation of nature's gift to us. From this creation, I wove the words to introduce my newest writing challenge for Spring's Seeds Gallery that can be accessed here. 

While this has been a roundabout process for addressing DigiLit Sunday's call to discuss function and my late entry, I had fun thinking through the design for my upcoming spring gallery and new hashtag site, #SpringsSeeds. My hope is that an inspired garden of poetry will blossom by the end of May. Please visit Margaret Simon's blog to read other's thoughts on the topic of function.