Friday, April 18, 2008

Stop, look and listen

STOP. Appreciation and gratitude is difficult if not impossible when we’re rushing through life. How can we appreciate the scent of the rose, coffee, dawn, rain on hot asphalt or pages in a new book, if we don’t stop long enough to do so. A few moments will do. Stop..

LOOK. There is seeing and then, there is looking. We can see without really looking. For example - we see daylight but not the luminous sunshine; we see the sky but not the clouds gliding lazily across it; we see people but not a person with an broken heart, dreams, hopes and loved ones; we see furniture but not craftsmanship. Look.

LISTEN. There is music all around us, filling our days. Some of it is ours. Do we listen? No, I mean, really, really listen? Our hearts speak. Do we listen to its message? It sings. Do we hear its songs. When someone we know cries, do we listen to their sobs and try to decipher the story behind their pain? Listen.

In order to write the meaningful stuff, the stuff that impacts lives, paints beautiful pictures and informs the mind, we must Stop, Look and Listen, to as much of life as we can. Do we? Do I? Do you?.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

Thanks so much for those inspirational thoughts! They're excellent reminders that we shouldn't allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in our work that we forget what it's all for and where our inspiration really comes from!

Love this post!
Jeanne

Cheryl Wright said...

Hi Jeanne,

What an honor to have you stop by and leave a comment. It's on par with a real live celebrity visiting the home of a fan. Really it is.

I appreciate you kind words too.

Thank you so much and best regards,
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

How kind of you to say that! But I hardly think myself "celebrity" material!

Be that as it may, I love your blog, I love the things you have to say, and I love the way you say them!

Yours is definitely a blog that needs to be discovered by many more writers! On the off-chance that I can help you reach a wider readership, I've placed you on my blogroll.

Best of luck to you!

A definite fan,
Jeanne

Cheryl Wright said...

You're a gem. Thank you Jeanne.

I would like to post more often and I've tried. But so far, once a week is the best I can do right now. Anyway, I prefer to post something significant to me and my writing that resonates with other writers, than just posting for posting sake,
if you know what i mean.

Have a good night.

Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

I understand perfectly, and I definitely agree with you. In fact, I haven't been managing to post very often myself lately due to my being so incredibly busy, so I can really relate to your situation.

I do agree that it's much more preferable to provide good, solid content that offers our readers something significant than to post extremely often and as a result write simple, superficial material that's of minimal value.

I believe that, if our readers value our insight and our writing style, they'll check back periodically to find out what we've posted lately. (After all, it isn't as if there aren't enough other blogs to read while they're waiting.)

I also really believe it's far better to post less often and enjoy blogging than it is to overdo it in our efforts to be the consummate super blogger and in the end suffer blogger burnout. That isn't good for us or our readers; and being the eternal optimist that I am, I really believe that most of our more loyal readers will understand.

Take care,
Jeanne

Cheryl Wright said...

Well Jeanne,

You've certainly been busy rummaging through my blogs. I appreciate your visit and comments.

RE: Blogging
I've noticed the less frequent posts and surmised that you must be busy.

until next time, it was a real treat having you here for a visit and a chat.

Goodnight.
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

I decided to take a little time today to do what I felt like doing (which happened to be commenting on your blog, as well as discovering and posting about my unexpected page rank increase). Of course, I may end up regretting taking that time for myself when I find out how hard I'll have to work to catch up on my work! :) Still...we've got to take a little time for ourselves once in a while! It's the only way to stay sane. ;)

Jeanne

Cheryl Wright said...

Hi there Jeanne,

What's with us and this malady - feeling guilty about taking time for ourselves?

I wonder if we (women especially, writers too) will ever get over it? Maybe not. It will probably remain an never-ending battle.

The key is to schedule it as we would any other responsibility. I think we miss the point that it,( alone time, time to relax, rewind, refuel, revive, or whatever we call it) is important because when we are at our most energetic and refreshed selves, we can be and do and give our best.

Enjoy today Jeanne. Toss the guilt out the window. Milk the day for all it is worth.

Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Cheryl,

So true! Thanks for the encouraging words. For me, I don't think it's as much guilt -- though it is a bit of that -- as it is knowing that I'll have to work so much harder to catch up later.

I did end up taking the day off from actual work yesterday -- not counting writing a blog post, which I wrote with enthusiasm because I wanted to. And it felt great!

Jeanne

 
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