I finished ‘However, Whatever, Wherever, Whenever, Why? Volume 13,’ a few days early. After careful deliberation over my choices, I chose this journal handmade by Disabled and Homeless persons. It may have been stored for as many as 25 years. ( I keep things forever.)
I am considering beginning a new Creativity Project on Haphazard Creative and Chronicles. I do not know where 2023 will open doors or lead me, but am excited to begin it.
I hope the New Year will bring us all many blessings and joy. If you like, join me here, and we can explore possibilities together.
Best wishes for your wellness and growth. Be prepared to accept the abundance coming your way.
We are all treasures from the hands of the Creator, and good things are stored up for us. We must be courageous to grasp the opportunities that come our way. Walking into the future with Love, good fortune will find us.
Always and Ever,
Jo Ann
Starting and ending are easy, but the middle gives life to the story. The morass of details, building, deconstructing, together and apart, is where we find meaning for the first and last. As creators, we test ourselves and find the elements we are made from in the uncharted country that stretches infinite inside our boundaries.
Sometimes, the mistakes are where we learn the best and the most when we create. Never be afraid of failure or the line that goes awry. We can recover, but never beginning or stopping when things get difficult serves no one. Perfection is a myth; it can hold us prisoners; creation is the goal, and sometimes the process is messy.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Writing can be bizarre. We work on one thing, then find parts and pieces, fit puzzle-like with our other work. Such was my experience today; it was like chunking ideas at a mind map.
Urgent Origin
1.
Love sometimes silent
Makes one wily and wary;
Trust, a butterfly,
Some pick the brightly colored
Wings off and set them aflame.
Slaking emotion
Within a stranger desire,
Holding back the truth,
When unbeknownst, tears fall warm –
Milk curdled in noonday sun.
2.
Some secrets have ways
Of bleeding out over time,
Leaving stains behind
Hard to cover in the mind
Or in person, once you find.
Everyday becomes
Barred captivity with no
Date set for release,
Creativity invents
Dialogues, reasons, endless.
Tears you comprehend
But cannot ever explain
To those who must pry
Into the brown-paper wrapped
Packages under bleary eyes.
3.
Who knows the flashes
Of memory making you?
Is your life managed
In black boxes mentally?
Can anyone explain fear?
When you smile, statements,
Does someone care, understand?
Years play melodies
Like guitars, dice, ivory –
Peddle pleasures, distant names.
No pictures remain
Glass burst, broken, twisted frames;
To travel back, no,
Claims upon the shattered heart
Too costly to rearrange.
Winners rode away
Without regret meant to say –
Drowning in bottles
Forsaking the meaning – Love –
Ravens, dark dirges – black sing.
Still, shrill the ailing,
Lonely wails, no one listens,
The darkness alone
Harbors shadows whoever
It was and somehow might be.
Castaway – leave shore,
Dump boxes full of shame, woe,
Let bad temper go,
Find the self anew, made free
Voyage into what agrees.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Prompt
As you work, see how you handle middles. Do you have beginnings and endings within them? Create inside, but aside your boundaries. Share your experience if you wish.
Gratitude
I am thankful:
1. Today, I had an opportunity to talk to my son, Alex.
2. The weather may become colder again.
3. I created a lot today.
4. I can determine how I employ my creativity.
5. Life is like origami; every fold adds value to the whole.
Call to Action
I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Chronicles, please see my current site, Haphazard Creative. Should you wish to share, please ask permission; all material here is © Jo Ann J. A. Jordan. Please hit the like and follow buttons if you have not already. I hope to keep this project going all year; your comments, ideas, and suggestions are welcome. All the best to you forever.
Sometimes you must lose
To learn to win graciously.
Sometimes your heart breaks,
To make room for love again.
Suffering can teach you
How to live more freely.
Disappointment gives a chance
For an increased appreciation of joy.
When you hit the bottom
Your energy renews for the climb.
When you are left empty, alone,
You discover your faithful friends.
When everything is gone, nothing left,
You reach for God and find Him there.
If your happiness disappears, with delight,
Jesus can restore your pleasure, full-measure.
If you need more than you are able
God can provide fulfillment plentifully.
Nothing is over unless you quit
Winners like you, keep going, getting up.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
We sketch our lives in
Invisible ink on these walls
Of air, earth, fire, flesh;
We pass like roses, beauty,
Only present a short while.
Our hands busy, selves,
Creating foundations for
Futures never ours,
Generations we offer
Our best gifts, accomplishments.
Now, we sing against
Doubt, fear, insecurity –
Fighting shadow blight
Where the fruit will flourish, brave,
In gardens of delight, saved
From degradations,
We erase with consistent
Labor over years
Paying in earnest, never
Letting faith, hope, slip away.
Love, our guiding light
Though we fade in brightest glare,
Almost completely
Unknown, contributing hearts
To lives, we wish to see free.
Words cannot bring
Every dream into being,
But speaking, a tool,
Purpose-built to encourage
Change within lives reached, inspired.
Plentiful, we, examples
Scattered over time, what minds
Mend, creating more sublime,
Love, part an art, taught hands-on
Driving history toward grace
Still, counting every life, face,
A precious gift to embrace,
With confidence, each person
Has meaning, purpose, reason,
Position in time and space.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Writing is the thing that teaches us to understand the experience we cannot command or comprehend. Living is a riot, constant impressions, wild digressions, unbanished obsessions, mythic approximations, and passionate exhibitions.
Love is real, no poetic fairytale; it sometimes bites with destructive force. There are other times it breathes life back into a being near become a cold, bloodless corpse. Heedless, love carries headless need into ages where hearts aflame assuage the blame for falling again.
I.
When what you most want
Remains beyond ability
You become adept
Using CREATIVITY
To fulfill some hopes and dreams.
II.
I am not ideal
But being real is enough
For those loving me.
III.
I have discovered
The wild child passionate self
Does exist still.
IV.
I could sing you blue,
Golden, or bright rainbow hues;
I would disappear
In the arrangement of notes,
Unrecognized within you.
V.
Love plays, tackling us,
In fields where flowers obey
Injunctions to fade;
We are colors resisting
What makes delight history.
Prompt: Create something showing how writing or art rescue from the forgetfulness of greedy insanity.
Thankfulness:
No television to distract.
Productiveness.
Moleskine.
Love.
Creativity.
I am glad you found Chronicles, but my current site is Haphazard Creative. In the sidebar, there are three methods to follow the site. Utilize one of those, or come back when your life allows. Any comments, likes, shares, suggestions, or thoughts are welcome. When you interact with creation, you impact lives.
Everything on Chronicles is © Jo Ann J. A. Jordan.
Maybe it is such
An easy thing for some, but
For others proves a trial,
Errors
Continue adding up,
Dark clouds fill the horizon.
A refusal to quit
Being, dreaming, hoping,
Unfathomable
As specific thoughts may seem
An allowance meted freely,
Possibly altering faith, love.
Holding
To knowing life –
Assured in greatness;
Never giving up,
Victory counted dear, very near,
Climb, effectuate blessedness.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
As a prompt, create something that pertains to your immediate plans in this new year.
Gratitude…
Sleep
Solitude
Singing
Reading
Being
Thank you for visiting Chronicles. I hope it was a pleasant experience. If you wish, visit Haphazard Creative, my current site. http://haphazardcreative.com
I am trying this year to return to the original form of Creativity Project used on Chronicles. I included more elements each day than I did in 2020 on Haphazard Creative.
The pages I do with fountain pens are a bit more difficult. I keep wondering why I am trying so hard to get good at using them. They are at best finicky.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
I encourage you to visit http://haphazardcreative.com. It is where I am currently working daily. This I only update occasionally.
Occasionally, I am asked how I maintain my creativity and output. The answer is not easy to give. I do not fully understand it myself, but there are things I practice.
I choose to create every day. Writing is what I do most often. I keep a journal that catches much of the produce of my thought. It is not a personal diary or a planner, but a book of ideas. I keep it in longhand.
At times I have no desire to write, but I do it anyway. I am aware that all I create will not be great or even good. I am comfortable with writing poorly at times because I can edit that out. Getting words to flow is the goal. If I skip days, a dam develops, and priming myself is very hard.
For me, writing is the constant of my lifetime. I began at a young age and have continued working with words no matter my situation. It is like eating, I do it to survive.
To inspire me, I read everything, and each day. I study reference and craft books. I read fiction, non-fiction, scripture, devotionals, newspapers, magazines, professional journals, biographies, poetry, various pieces on-line, and anything else that comes before me.
I rarely watch television or video. I have an extreme aversion to advertising, which is inescapable with television, so I avoid it.
I listen to a wide variety and large quantity of music. When I work, I often have it playing though I love quiet too.
My vision is that no subject is so dull it cannot be covered in writing. Surprising results can be achieved writing about the seemingly mundane. A word can be the basis of a poem or story. The life of the mind, a task, a visual, an emotion, an idea, anything is material.
After years of writing, I realize something I believe of keen interest, may appeal to no one else. An essential part of maintaining creative practice is distancing one’s satisfaction with the work from the results. If no one reacts to an effort, it is not an indication it is unworthy. It only means at this moment it did not draw attention.
Creation is never wasted. Skill and definition require training in methods and practice. All words lead toward correct composition. Labor is not done in vain. Talent must be honed to become stronger, better.
I keep producing because I love people, and I hope to encourage and inspire. Often I am unsure of my offering, but words manifest, so I capture them.
I create a lot because I see it as a good practice. The process must progress to accomplish any success.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
We exchange our time
For fulfilling our desires,
Fragile happiness,
Where love and relationship
Are the needs without compare.
*****
Harms often find us
But these never define us;
Victories make us,
What love willingly bestows
Our hearts share, among others.
*****
A life born today
New unto the world will change
With love, those soon touched,
For every person gifts us
With hopes, dreams, blessings, anew.
*****
What cannot be done
Does not explain that which can
For our strength is found
Despite the fragility
Built on our infirmities.
*****
Tanka is a five-line syllabic form with counts 5-7-5-7-7. I enjoy counting syllables, so I use them a lot. If you like, as a prompt, write some tanka of your own.
I have a longer piece coming if I can decide whether to scan it or type it. Although I have typed for a very long time, I find little joy in it. The Remington Rand and Royal might have something to do with that. Thankfully, my Microsoft keyboard is a bit less taxing than were the manual typewriters. Yes, I remember when but make no mistake. I am a native here, now.
I hope your day was joyful, and your burdens were light. All life is a celebration rejoicing at the moment.
I think suffering may be provided to magnify joy; when the night is darkest, the light appears brightest.
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan
Chronicles 