I don’t know the first thing about poetry.  I don’t think I have ever read a poetry book front to back.  I didn’t study writing in college or university.

I wrote one poem a few years back.  I decided to share that poem last week.  Some people seemed to enjoy it.

I think the acceptance of readers and the encouragement of others birthed something that hadn’t been there before.  Like childbirth it was unnerving, scary, becoming responsible for something new.

Like many new parents I had no idea what to do but I knew what not to do.

Do you ever feel that you are stuck on replay?

Do you ever do the very things that you tell yourself you want to change or never do again but then turn around and do the same darned thing?  Does someone in your life keep telling you things will change only to repeat the same pattern over and over?

I think we all have loops in our lives.  I also think that it’s important to break free from them.

When I listen to music I play my new favorite song over and over, to the dismay of all those around me!  But this is not the kind of loop I want to break free from.  Everyone can block their ears if they don’t like it!  Pretty easy solution don’t you think?

Not all loops and repeats in our lives are as easily solved as this.

I don’t begin to…

#14.  “I’d rather be taken advantage of once in awhile than have a closed heart.”

Random thoughts…

~When you give to another and they deceive you, it can hurt beyond words. The only thing worse is the nothingness you feel when you don’t give at all.

~I honestly believe that to truly give, it has to leave you without something, at least for awhile. Something may be returned to you or it may not. It shouldn’t matter, if you gave for the right reasons.

~I was never a risk taker in my younger years. No way. I used my shyness as a wall. It protected me from disappointment, failure and rejection. Unfortunately, it also isolated me from life. It prevented me from finding out what COULD happen and what I could MAKE happen.  I eventually chipped away at the wall, taking the last of it out with some good swift kicks…

My soul and my eyes
Never agree
That which I feel
Doesn’t match what I see

My spirit and sight
Always apart
Visible things
Hide the invisible heart

Top links to help you discover more about the wonderful world of writing.

• Writing sites, Magazines Market listings, Agency listings and more:  http://www.flash500.com/index_files/resources.htm
• Thoughts on writing, publishing and book marketing:  http://www.thecreativepenn.com/blog/
• Write for fun. Write to inspire. Write to change the world:  http://www.writewithwarnimont.com/
• Advice on every possible question you might ask:  http://thewritersabcchecklist.blogspot.co.uk/
• For women who write:  http://www.mslexia.co.uk/whatson/latest.php
• From here to publication:  http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/literary-agents.html
• Database of agents and publishers home and abroad: http://www.querytracker.net/index.php
• An Opportunity to be Published – contests and courses from the career kickstarter: http://www.fishpublishing.com/index.php
• Inspiring a love of books:  http://www.booktrust.org.uk/
• For children’s writers: http://britishscbwi.ning.com/ and http://www.wordsandpics.org/