Tag: dailyprompt

I don’t have a sweet tooth so I stay away from candies, pastries, cookies and the like. I do like cheesecake, my one sin as I call it but I have a handle on it now so no excessive imbuing of cheesecakes either!

Living a healthy life is at the top of my agenda so instead of reaching for something sweet when stress hits, I put on my shoes and head out the door for 30 minutes of nature and that usually fixes my craving and all my woes.

If there is one thing that I’m into on those rare moments when I need something sweet, it is a special kind of chocolate with hazelnuts. It is made with no sugar, no artificial sweeteners and is low carb. However, it is expensive so I don’t reach for it often which is a good thing. Just to whet the appetite and a small piece at a time does the trick!

No fun? Well, it works for me and that “no sugar, no nothing chocolate” does taste great.

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite candy?

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I need a break from overthinking! It is a problem that I deal with everyday. No matter what happens in my life or doesn’t happen, I am in the overthinking mode! It takes hold and I bring different scenarios into the picture AND spend time working on solutions for non-existent problems!

It is a waste of time I know but at times I can’t control my mind. I call it the “monkey” because it hops around too much and runs the gamut without an okay from me! It also keeps me from the task at hand because I’m busy chasing it around! Perhaps, all or some writers have that problem. We are creative people and imagination runs wild, it does with me anyway.

I am reeling it in by concentrating on the here and now. This method works but not always because I love being in that imaginary world where the “monkey” has the upper hand. Walking helps and being out in nature definitely helps to soothe the mind and to calm it, meditation does too but it is constant work to keep it in check and it is tiring to say the least. So, I need a break from constant overthinking.

Daily writing prompt

Do you need a break? From what?

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I would say it is the cell phone, handy or the mobile phone depending on where you’re at. This handy little gadget came on the scene in 1973 and back then it was a brick sized affair with very few features. It was created by Martin Cooper but he didn’t know then that his creation would take the world by storm, it was just a matter of time.

Independence from the norm and the ability to call from anywhere for help or just to talk made it a must have. Later, it became a constant companion and I know it is mine. I can’t leave home without it and I am lost if I don’t have it with me. There is a certain sense of security knowing that the little streamlined version with the “I can do anything” except to jump and do hoops is sitting snugly in my bag gives me a sense of calmness in case I need to call someone if I’m stranded on the side of a road, need help or just to look something up on Google. It’s all there and at your fingertips. I can’t see myself living without it. It is also my go to when I need to look things up without resorting to cumbersome books or whatever else we used to do before this little thing showed up on the scene!

I would say it is the most important invention in my lifetime for more reasons than one and I would be lost without it!

Daily writing prompt

The most important invention in your lifetime is…

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How would I describe it? I want to say I would do nothing the whole day long but that is not me so let’s see.

I would stay in my PJs all day if I could! Since that is a no go, I would stay in them part of the day, have a long leisurely breakfast in bed, watch the news and then “hauntings” on TV. I love to spook myself.

After breakfast, I would check emails, write, have another cup of coffee and venture out into the clear blue yonder. A walk in nature would be next on the list and for this I would have to change into sweats. The thing about this village is people don’t care. The women show up in their night clothes, sometimes with rollers in their hair and looking like they had just got out of bed and show up at the bakery or the butcher ready to do what needs to get done. It is an old, old, village and tradition reigns supreme. Not dressing up is one of them! I am trying to not go in that direction but it’s tempting!

Lunch would be a simple affair and more writing would follow if my mind allows it. Some days I draw blanks. A break in between would include workouts of my choice and at the moment it is a combination of cardio and weights. Dinner would be soup and a slice of toast, back into pjs and time to relax and watch some TV. Just before bed, it is meditation time to clear the mind of all that is not needed. Throw in “no problems” and that would make it an ideal day if not a perfect one.

Daily writing prompt

Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.

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I think significant events have changed my perspective on life and I guess it goes without saying.

Divorce or rather the breakup of my marriage made me sit up and take off those rose-colored glasses. I was naive and thought it would last forever but “forevers” are for fairytales not real life. I started looking at life from a different perspective and trust is an issue I deal with constantly. It is getting better but it will take a long time to overcome and to trust again.

Death is another significant event that showed me life is very temporary. Here today, gone tomorrow comes to mind. Losing my mom and then a dear close friend showed me how fragile life is.

These two significant events have caused significant impacts on my life. I can say it was not for the better but I did learn some lessons from them and that is life is fleeting and trust takes time, well trust takes a lifetime to build and just seconds to destroy.

I would say hands down the clutter in my office area. I have good intentions but I never get around to it. It looks like a bomb exploded in here, well not quite that bad. I am tidy when it comes to the rest of the house but the office is something else altogether!

There are boxes and boxes of old papers and all kinds of other stuff and if I got started on the chaos, it would take days to get everything filed away and to have some kind of order in here. However, I don’t mind the clutter as there is something comforting about the chaos. I know it well and when I am in this room, my mind runs wild so it fits that scenario! Hard to understand but you have to be me to even grasp that concept!

One day I will get to it but for now it is the kind of clutter I am used to and it serves my creative mind really well.

Daily writing prompt

Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.

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I am a good cook, a talent I got from my mom. She was a really good cook. I have a big collection of cookbooks I collected from my travels around the world and I read them like a book! However, I don’t use the recipes per se, I take them and change them around and it usually turns out great.

Indonesians are great cooks. They can take the simplest of things and turn it into a meal fit for a king or queen. There is one recipe I love from that country. It is made with boiled eggs and a thing they call a chili sambal. Crushed chilies with loads of spices and sauteed with chopped onions served on plain white rice. How can something so simple taste so scrumptiously good? Believe me, it does if you’re into spicy foods as I am.

I make this dish really well. There are other recipes but this one is my favorite and I make it whenever winter rolls around and I need something to warm the soul. It does the trick.

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

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Honestly, I can’t remember much about it! All I can say is that I needed a computer to get my papers done and I was using the one at the university library because I didn’t have a computer of my own. It meant late nights at the library trying to get my work done and walking alone to the car park afterwards. I didn’t feel safe because there had been a couple of incidents involving female students getting raped and assaulted.

I decided to get a computer and a friend helped to set it up because I am not computer savvy and a klutz where technology is concerned. I don’t recall what brand it was or what it could do, just that I could work on my papers late into the night without fear and let me tell you, it was freedom of a new kind! No more rushing to the library in the evenings and no more overthinking about what could happen in that car park.

My first computer helped to get things done but I don’t think it was high tech compared to what I have now. The one I have now is fast and has so many additional features but the old one was slow but it did what was necessary at that time in my life.

Daily writing prompt

Write about your first computer.

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I have many from a fear of ghosts, blood, sickness and the unknown but if I had to pick one and not from that list, it would be this one. It is the fear that “I am not enough.”

I often tell myself that I can’t do this or that or that it is impossible because I don’t have it in me to weather the storm or that I am not strong enough. I am learning that this is far from the truth. I have done so many things in my life and looking back, I don’t know where or how I got the strength to do what I needed to do to survive what life threw my way. I survived my mom’s murder, I overcame the disastrous effects of a divorce and I accompanied a friend to his deathbed and told them to stop the meds and to let him go. It was one of the hardest things I had to do. I did it all when I was faced with the circumstances and there was no running away from it and “I was enough” at those times.

I think we are all fully capable of doing the unimaginable when life demands it. In my case, I had no choice. It was there and I had to deal with it or drown and be washed away in sorrow, rage, anger and fear. I chose to stand back up and it took superhuman strength and the will to survive. The unknown or rather the fear of it is something I grapple with everyday but I know that when the next “lesson” shows up I just have to grab the bull by the horns and go with the flow knowing that “I am enough” and I will overcome whatever it is.

Daily writing prompt

What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?

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