There is a word I use all the time that scares people.  I wish I could say it right now, but I’m afraid that if I even hint at it you will run away.  I know, because I’ve seen people freak out when I say it.  I watch them turn pale and get those deer-in-the-headlight eyes.  I can see that they’re looking for an escape route.  But I have to say it, so here goes.  Stay calm and keep reading.  It’s not nearly as scary as you think.

(Note:  no turtles were harmed in the writing of this blog.)

Are you feeling stuck?  You know the feeling…. like you’re in a rut and can’t seem to get out.  You wind up with the same crummy relationships.  Or maybe you are in a job that is not fulfilling.  Or maybe you have given up on your dream of going to Europe.  Or finishing your degree.  Or… the list is endless.

No matter how you try to motivate yourself, at the end of the day you are still in the same place.

You kick yourself for being lazy.  You berate yourself for your lack of discipline.  You feel like a real idiot when you can’t figure out why you aren’t moving forward, even with the things that are most important to you.

You spend all your energy dancing with the Should Monster.  You know the Should Monster, that annoying fellow…

January 31st is almost at an end here at my house, so I feel I can safely say Just Jot it January 2018 is in the bag. We did it!

Huge congratulations to all of you who managed to post every day. It’s quite the feat! And even if you jotted something down every day but didn’t post it, you still completed the challenge; JusJoJan is all about the writing, not necessarily the blogging.

I’d like to give a special shout out to our kind providers of the Daily Prompts. Your help was much appreciated! All titles are clickable links. Check out any you missed!

Drama, by Ritu – January 1st
Boisterous, by Dan – January 2nd
Passionate, by Rosemary – January 4th
Memories, by Cage (no post) – January 5th
Indelible, by Ruth – January 7th
Pants, by pensitivity – January 8th
Coffee, by Barbara – January 9th
Humiliation…

In addition to turning wood, I have been doing a lot of painting lately. The process of painting is also a very meditative and healing experience for me. I become lost in the colors, the brush strokes, the layers.

The original painting in these photos is of an encaustic-inspired mixed media piece I finished recently. I called it “My Secret Garden.” I created layers upon layers with a base of alcohol inks and acrylic paints. Each layer is covered with a mixture of Golden Heavy Gel Matte and Regular Gel Gloss plus a dash of water. This creates a wax-like finish without all the mess (and expense) of a traditional bees-wax encaustic medium.

Each layer contains a variety of items including gold leaf, wire mesh, buttons, copper wire, beads, dried flowers, feathers, and etc.

My inspiration came from spending time in nature and my garden. It is taking the time…

https://www.outsideonline.com/2245121/women-writing-about-wild-25-essential-books?utm_content=buffer24af3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=tweet

Hey, all! You’re used to getting prompts from me; now it’s your turn!

Just Jot It Januaary is not only a fun way to meet people, it’s a great way to inspire writers to keep writing once the holidays are finished and life is returning to normal. Prompts are an incredible device to get the imagination going. Wouldn’t you like to inspire a bunch of bloggers to write? Of course you would!

What I need is 22 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge. Read the rules carefully! This is how you can be included:

• The first 22 comments on this post that include a single word will be the prompts for the 22 days in January that I won’t be writing my own prompts (aka One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday).  If you write more than one word in your comment, for example, “My…

It may be my love for writing or it might be my joy in sharing my passion, but I love to inspire people. Writing is one of the best ways of expressing ourselves, and certainly a wonderful method for organizing our thoughts and putting things in perspective. I find the latter to be essential to many of us here in the north in January, while we’re stuck inside and deprived of sunshine.

For these reasons plus one more, I developed Just Jot it January. Whether you write a story, a poem, an anecdote, or your plans for the future, JusJoJan will, I hope, give you an excuse to jot something down every day in the month. What’s the one more reason? Writing is fun!!

In the post following this one I will ask for you to give us all a prompt, one of which will be posted on each of…

We have until December 14th
to save net neutrality
Unless, of course, you LIKE paywalls, fast and slow lanes,
cable monopolies and potential for censorship,
and increased internet fees

© Madelyn Griffith-Haynie, CTP, CMC, ACT, MCC, SCAC
from the What Kind of World do YOU Want? Series

You have a voice ONLY if you use it

We have just DAYS to stop censorship, bandwidth throttling and extra fees online.

The FCC is about to vote on its plan to kill net neutrality – only Congress can still stop this travesty.  They need to hear from internet users like you — RIGHT NOW.

SOURCE:https://www.facebook.com/resistbot/

DO YOU TWEET?

Where do your members of Congress stand? Find out, and tweet them!

To win, we need to bring more members of Congress onto “Team Internet”— especially Republicans.

Republican members of Congress face massive pressure from party leadership to oppose Net Neutrality, partly…