Music ties the past to the future

Back about six years ago I was in band camp rehearsing for the upcoming football season and band competitions. We had a guest instructor to teach us different techniques about playing. He said,” Notes are just ink on a page. You have to play the notes with emotion to make it music.” Music can have moments of impacts. Yesterday a friend suggested me their current favorite band which is Clearwater Creedence Revival. At the time I had no idea what band they were. So I gave them a look on YouTube and the first song I listened to was Have You Ever Seen The Rain? This brought me straight back to my childhood. I was sitting in my step-dads Toyota truck driving down the 5 freeway on our way to his parents house. The windows were rolled down the music on loud and the sun beating on my face. The next song I listened to was Bad Moon Rising, which sent me back to that night my step dad was drinking a bit too much and blasted music. He took me by the hand and started to dance with me in the living room as my mom sat on the couch and watched. He sung along and she laughed so hard. I rarely get these images in my mind unless I have something that triggers these memories. When I hear Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen I think about my first band show I ever preformed in high school. I also think about my mother because she loves queen and on our trip to Florida Queen was the only thing we listened to on the way there and back. Music is powerful. It can help link our past to our future. I realized that I love more music with instrumental take than words. Such as Tell me by Orka, I’ll be Good by Jaymes Young, Your Hand in Mine by Explosions In The Sky. All of these take me away from the place I’m at and bring me to a place where I’m humble. Where I want to create something worth listening to. I always ask people what their favorite song is because the music they listen to tells a part about the person. Music is all around us you just have to listen to it.

What song do you listen to in order to remember your childhood? Please feel free to reply in the comment section below, I’d love to hear your music.

A wise man once said:

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.

–Victor Hugo

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Tips for Writing

This post has been in my draft section for quite some time. I’ve been rummaging through old workshop papers, reading old e-mails from poets, and listening to a wide array of writers in order to make a list worthy of sharing. I’ve been to a few workshops ranging from essays, short stories, to poetry. Here are some helpful tips I’d like to give to the community of writers.

–Create a title last. Complete your piece before you add a lovely title. Once the title is developed as a writer you feel obligated to stick with the said topic instead of letting the language guide your way. (I know this from experience that this is difficult). If you must have a title use a number or letter.

–When writing if you are always writing in the same style or point of view change it up. Try a haiku, a sonnet, write in a different form or rhyme pattern.  If you are writing a short story, write from the antagonist view, write from third person, write the story in a different setting. Simply changing the way you write or where the story takes place can enhance your writing.

–Never stop reading. A simple Google search will help you with this mighty task. By reading another authors work you may be inspired to recreate a similar piece. A friend of mine would do this for all of her poems except relate it back to the LGBTQ community. She’s a brilliant writer.

–Get feedback. This is my favorite piece of advice. Share you work with others and see what they say. If you don’t want to hand it to your friends or family share them with other writers. I love getting creative criticism on my work because that means I can improve my message. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy it when my message comes across clear as day but I want honesty.

– Lastly, your work is never finished. Paul Valery once said, “A poem is never finished, only abandoned.” First I’ll address fiction writers, your characters will always exist. The story may have ended but in time they will drift back into your mind (I know mine have) and you will want to know what happened to them. For poets, when you clean out that box in your closet or under your bed and you find that old piece of paper withered away with sweet words on it. I suggest you pick it up and recreate it. Keep doing this every so often, by the time you are ripe in age you can reread them and recall where you were at in life when writing the piece.

I’ve noticed in my own writing that I write what is going on in my life. Some of my short story scenes involve friends and dilemmas I faced when writing.  I reread those works and can tell you exactly what I was feeling. The same goes for my poetry. I can pin point who I was thinking about or what emotions I was going through at the time.

*Bonus: Revise your work. Get rid of useless words. Example: Many local farmers plan to attend next Friday’s meeting so they have a very good idea about the regulation changes at the farmers market. Example rewritten: Many farmers will attend Friday’s meeting concerning the farmers market regulation changes.*

I hope this has been somewhat helpful for you while you trek through the writing process. There is much more I could write about but I thought this was the best advice I would give a class of upcoming writers. If you’d like to learn more please feel free to contact me. Also, if you have any tips you’d like to share on how you write please share! I love to learn new strategies in writing.

Lean on me

Take my hands for they are too free for me.
Keep them strong in these foreign lands.

Take my ears for they yearn to listen.
Don’t disappear I won’t utter a word.

Take my arms they are invulnerable.
Smolder into them for they ease the pain.

Take my language the words are powerful.
Use keywords, learn to apologize.

Take my eyes they are in need of a new view.
Familiarize them so I can see your world.

Take my legs they can carry your distress.
Build them strong to climb back up.

Take my time it’s the only thing that matters most.
Stay onetime you’ll be flattered.

I know what I have given.

Journey

Always a passenger never the driver.
Looking for adventure yet never
wanting to take control.
Aiming for the ocean never felt right.
Yellow lines keep me grounded,
sounds of passing cars left me wandering.
Always a driver never the passenger.
Lost within the valley curves,
one last turn until
I’m never a driver again,
Always a passenger.

By: Writing Natural.

Poets for Peace

I was scrolling through my feed and came across an interesting post. It was calling all poets and creative writers for a grand collaboration to spread peace using our tools which are words of course. So here is my Poem for Peace.

Trending: Hand writing Tag

Hey everyone on top of my regular posting (which will be later today. I have to work out a few more things before it’s ready to be published to stay tuned!). I was tagged by crystalamay, thank you. Please feel free to check out her blog. So here is my hand writing, I must apologize for the indentions behind the text I was working on something and just grabbed the nearest paper. My apologies.)

I am going to tag not only the following people but also the readers. Feel free to answer in the comment section because I’d like to know my readers. Also feel free to visit the people I tagged.
mySestinatrulyunplugged
thenikitadongare
marcellomeo

Here are the rules of this tag:

1. Write your name
2. Write your blog name
3. Write your favourite word and its definition
4. Write something nice
5. Write the name of your favourite song right now
6. What’re you writing with?
7. Write a fun fact about yourself
8. Write/ draw your favourite emoticon
9. Write a silly message
10. Write who you’re tagging (the more the merrier )

Storms

I’d like to share a story about my first thunderstorm I ever experienced. I was about 5 years old. My mother was working and the babysitter put a movie on to distract me and my brothers from the storm. I hear a loud noise and started to cry. I saw flashes outside the window and hid under a pillow.  Forward my life to the first thunderstorm I experienced outside of Southern California. I was shaking. The wind was strong and the rain was sideways. The power was out so I was sitting by a candle hoping the storm would pass. Now forward just a few more years to my poetry workshop class in college. Here is my work in progress poem about storms.

BOOM! Boom! Boom!
The sound beats into me,
Like stomping feet.
I close my eyes to see,
Soldiers marching along.
BOOM! BOOM! Boom!
The noise rattles my brain,
Like a little drummer boy.
Inhale. Exhale.
I open my eyes to see,
Flashes before my eyes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The racket dances within the light,
Leaving me completely
Paralyzed.

 

This post was inspired by The Daily Post word of the day Storms.