What should I write about?

It has been a crazy month, so crazy that I couldn’t post much. Between my various projects and chores, blog ideas flowed and short story plots craved for attention. But I couldn’t give any of them expression. Things are still quite crazy here, but I had some time today, and decided that I would blog come what may!

So then, as I recline on my couch, I wonder what I should write about. It is a lazy Saturday afternoon. The kids are out, my husband is out. I look out from the balcony and start wondering…

Should I write about this beautiful orange flower or the way it contrasts with the deep brown of the soil, should I write about the cornflower blue sky or the merry cotton clouds, should I write about the chirping birds or about the cooing pigeons, should I write about the silence at home without the kids or the energy that will flow through the house when they are back, should I write about seeing the joy on the face of Michael Phelps as he won his fourth gold medal at the Rio Olympics or about how Olympic viewers jump and wave when they know the camera is on them! What should I write about?
Should I write about the aroma of fresh coffee from my coffee filter or about how lazy I feel to walk to the kitchen, should I write about the books I am reading these days or the absolute lack of time to read them at the pace that I want, should I write about the busy ants scurrying about my balcony or about the moth that has not budged from its place on the balcony wall for more than an hour. What should I write about?

Should I write about the busy traffic intersection where everything seems to be in a rush, or about the man in the park below who is just recuperating from surgery, should I write about the freshly washed linen fluttering in my neighbour’s house or about the wind swishing through the trees. What should I write about?

As I sit and mull over all this, I realize that life is happening all around me -little insects, flowers, birds, trees, people, vehicles – everybody is busy.

Life goes on….

What is happiness?

What is happiness? Happiness is anything that gives you joy and peace. Happiness is inside each one of us and all around us in simple, everyday things…

To me, happiness is….

….watching a little puppy prancing around and greeting its mother

…..watching the ecstacy on a child’s face as his/her eyes track a bubble

……the bliss of that first gulp of water after a strenuous workout

…..that first spoon of a scoop of ice cream

……the aroma and taste of that first sip of my morning coffee

….diving into the pool on a hot day

…..writing my name on a creamy white new notebook

…..that moment after piping hot food is served on my plate, and before I eat that first mouthful

….cuddling my children in the morning

…..sitting in companionable silence with my spouse, reading a book

…..laughing at a silly joke

…..coffee with one of my dear friends

….that unique smell when the first drops of rain meet parched earth

…..having lots of things to do

……having nothing to do

…..watching a great film, munching popcorn

…..going on a long walk on a bright, sunny day

…..tucking into a good book, with a cup of coffee, with rain lashing outside.

….writing my blog

….writing my first book

Happiness is in the simplest things.

What are the simple things that make you happy? Would love to know.

The Joys of Writing

My son has been given a school project to complete; he has to write an essay about ‘Aliens in the backyard’, as part of his creative writing course.

He spends an hour writing out a draft and wants to read it out to me.  What hits me is that his eyes are shimmering with the excitement of what he has written.  He stands up for effect.  He reads out his essay, about a grotesque looking alien (boys will be boys), with multiple eyes, ears and long hands, whose battery gets charged by jumping up and down on a bouncing trampoline that’s supposedly in our backyard. Anyone jumping on it automatically charges the alien’s battery, so my son does his bit.  The story has elements of adventure, love, kindness and mystery.  He finishes reading and looks up at me with glittering eyes and an expectant smile.

I tell him that his essay is very well written and hug him.  He is very happy and runs away to make his final draft.  I remain seated, mulling over his essay.

My son’s excitement was palpable because he re-lived the story he had written, as he read it out to me.  I hope, that there’s a writer lurking in him.

Then I ask myself, does my writing give me such unadulterated joy?  Do I enjoy what I have created. Yes, most times yes, but the glee that I saw in my son’s face, I don’t see in mine.  Is it because we are older and can’t think like kids or let do we allow ourselves only limited leeway for enjoyment, because of deadlines and other commitments?

I still remember some of the essays I wrote in high school and in university. They still make me smile. I have not had the heart to throw some of them – handwriting that slants right on yellowed paper, with words and thoughts from another time. I get brief flashes of the person I was, and realize how I have evolved – both as a person, and in my writing.

Writing is an extension of our thoughts, captured and chiseled into manageable sentences.  Once the sentences have been composed, the words don’t meander off the page, like our thoughts do. That’s the beauty of writing. It helps refine our thoughts and articulate them in well-defined forms, giving us joy for years afterward.

‘Writing’ – Lessons from Mom

As I write another blog, and press publish, a small frisson of happiness washes over me.

Each word has fit-in snugly with the others, in perfect sentences, conveying what I want to say to my readers.

I wonder at the ease of it all. Once the thought process is in place, and the words have been structured, it is just one click to reach out to blogosphere, where people who share similar interests can search and read what I’ve written. 

Instant feedback, instant gratification.

Every ‘like’ causes a positive spark of energy in me, egging me on to write more.

Such are the huge benefits that the Internet, and technology have given us.

This is in sharp contrast to those days when all this was not available.

Recently, I was talking to my mom about my blog. She took a while to understand how it worked, and then her eyes lit up; lit up with the joy that only a writer knows.

She said, “Within minutes of publishing your blog, your readers respond? Amazing!”

She then recounted how she used to write articles in a yellow notepad – about social issues, women’s empowerment, short stories etc., and then read them herself, sometimes sharing them with my Dad.

To get them published, she had to write them out on white sheets and send them by post with a self-addressed envelope; and then wait for close to six months to know if her article had got published.

She added, “I was used to the long waits, mostly disappointing ones, but the real happiness came after I wrote every article – after a busy day in a joint family. And as I wrote, the day’s tensions drained away from me, through the pen, into words and stories that breathed new energy back into me.”

Yes, this is what writing should mean. The writer should enjoy both the process of writing and the journey.

What’s in your Blogging Cupboard?

I am new to blogging, in fact 50-odd days old, a baby blogger if you could call it that. Today, I touched 52 blog posts. Yay!

The urge to write has been there longer than I can remember.  Did I ever feel any other way? Over the years, I’ve written on pieces of paper – words, phrases and articles that simply had to come out of my head, only to make space for other words and phrases that would take over my mind immediately.

Blogging has given me free rein to voice and express, to share and be liked, and the words are now increasing their flow, in bursts or waves, sometimes gently, sometimes in the middle of the night.  But I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Each time I see something I want to write about, the words start forming in my mind, in various permutations and combinations. Sometimes the words do not cooperate with my thought process, they do not lend their meaning to what I want to say.

I look at things and think of them as potential blogs.  And my blogging cupboard is slowly expanding.  Each time I want to blog, I open this cupboard.  A few jars in this cupboard have the staples – staple words that lay out the foundation for grammar and correct language on my blog, there are a few jars, which contain words with emotions, and words related to laughter, anger, sorrow, nostalgia, happiness and humour.

Then again, I have my spice jars of words – words that will add that zing to my writing, that will make people pause and smile. As with real spices, I add these in moderation, a bit of that word, a little bit of that expression, to get the perfect blend of words.

One of these jars contains, ‘freshly pressed’ words and expressions that my brain keeps coming up with, quite often in fact.  These words and expressions are filed away, waiting for the right blog that will host them.

My blogging cupboard has words, and more words, love, emotions and word-spices.  The recipe for every blog is different.  Sometimes, I get it wrong, sometimes I love what I concoct with these words.

My blogging cupboard is well-stocked, waiting to replenish itself each time a few words leave my cupboard to board a new blog.

Blogging times are here!