Tag: dailyprompt

YOU DESERVE BETTER

Daily writing prompt
If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?
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When I become a quadrillionaire, I will put up billboards all over the country with the 3 words: You Deserve Better.

YOU DESERVE BETTER.

This statement applies to anyone who reads it.

You, who just read that, can think of areas in your own life where you do indeed deserve better than what you are currently receiving.

Partners in abusive relationships, you deserve better.

“You dont get what you deserve, you get what you tolerate.” – Tony Robbins

Workers under a narcissistic boss, you deserve better.

Adults of emotionally immature parents, you deserve better.

Maybe it is simpler than that. Maybe you deserve a car that runs better, a better house, or better health, and we all could work on better thinking.

That was the statement I read when I realized I deserved better than what I was living in, and it changed my life.

“We cannot achieve more in life than what we believe in our heart of hearts we deserve to have.”
― James R. Ball

I am on the other side of abuse, trauma, suicide survivor, suicide loss, and religious abuse. All because I realized I deserved better.

“I will not try to convince you to love me, to respect me, to commit to me. I deserve better than that; I AM BETTER THAN THAT… Goodbye” by Steve Maraboli

The Chef’s Kiss

You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?

The perfect space for reading and writing is an empty house. If the house can’t be empty then it has to be quiet. And if it cant be quiet then there should be cozy, coffee house, jazz music playing in the background with a crackly woodwick candle burning.

It includes a fuzzy, slightly weighted blanket – year round, with my FreeWrite type writer nearby for when inspiration hits.

For me, personally, I find it easier to write before the sun emerges. I feel less pressure to get on with the day. And now that my house has less people in it these days, creating that space is easier now.

Baby Blue Convertible VW Bug With A Tan Top

What is your all time favorite automobile?

My all-time favorite vehicle does not exist. I have searched and searched and even have my search saved.

However….

My all-time favorite automobile, that I owned, was a 1958 Ford Fairlane 500. It had a white top, blue body and tires with a wide white stripes, not the skinny white ones they have on tires nowadays.  It didn’t have air conditioning, and the defrost didn’t work. The high beams came on by pushing a button on the floorboard with your left foot. It was a beauty. I didn’t appreciate it at the time, I was 16 years old, and ungrateful. But it’s the car I’m the most proud to say that I owned.

Creating

When are you most happy?

I am the most happy when I’m creating. Whether it be cooking, crocheting, drawing, or writing.  Creativity allows happiness to flow through me.

Cooking – my best dishes are the ones I’ve created myself. My family oo’s and awe’s over them while I smile. My husband has learned to question me. “Did you write this one down??” Begging that I make it again.

Crocheting – I might start with the idea of a pattern. But somehow end up doing my own thing in the end. The prettiest blankets are the ones where I left the pattern in the box.

Drawing – zentangles are my favorite, they show me to relax when my thoughts don’t feel relaxing.

Writing – All of us know when it rains it pours and those days are glorious! But when it feels like a drought, you just keep writing.

Decorating – I’ve staged 3 Airbnbs, and it’s so fulfilling to see them come together.

I guess we can CREATE our own happiness after all.

2025 Temperature Blanket almost finished

Tennis

Tennis

My stepson invited us to play tennis with him and his family. He knew to come to me whenever Dad couldn’t commit to answering.

“Sure, I’ll let you beat me in tennis.”

I know when anyone invites me to do anything that requires physical activity, they usually need an ego boost. I am not athletic, and I have never played tennis in my entire life. Summer was over, and fall was allowing us some cooler days, so the weather was perfect for being outside

We showed up empty-handed, not knowing what to expect, and were greeted with a racket for each of us and brief instructions. I figured it couldnt be too hard, I’ve seen tennis on TV.

Our instructor-stepson gave us some pointers, and with each of his serves, he gently hit the balls our way, alternating with precision. To my surprise, I was able to hit the ball back over the net most of the time. And also to my surprise, I was having fun. I laughed at my husband when he missed a ball, and I laughed at myself when I missed an easy serve.

It was medicine for our souls to let down our guard, be human, and be vulnerable.

Maybe that comes easily to you, but for our personality types, as business owners, we are always on constant alert. And saying yes to something entirely out of our comfort zone was just what we needed, and we liked it.

Better

Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?

My life is better today than what I pictured a year ago.

However, the year came with several speed-bumbs, road blocks, delays and detours. But isn’t that what makes our lives better? The learning how to navigate through life when faced with challenges?

I’m just thankful you didn’t ask if I enjoyed this year better than the last. I might’ve had a different answer.

Sleeplessness is…

Insomnia’s sister
Transients  cousin
Fluidities Aunt
Instabilities mom
Anxieties grandmother

….me

Scooby Doo

Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite cartoon?
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Honestly, I never really watched cartoons. They always felt too loud and silly; I could never connect with the humor. If anything, I felt sorry for the ones everyone else laughed at. Like Elmer Fudd and Wile E. Coyote. Men who tried but failed and kept getting hurt, while the world stood around laughing.

But if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Scooby Doo. Their ghost hunting adventures were the only ones that held my attention. Maybe it was the mystery, or maybe it was the idea of unmasking the thing that scared you. Either way, this one stayed with me when the rest never did.

Positively Divine

What positive events have taken place in your life over the past year?

This year has been one of the most unexpected beautiful years of my life, full of surprises, healing, and quiet miracles I did not always see coming.

It began with the joy of the birth of grandchild number ten and the sweet anticipation of number eleven already on the way. Every new little heartbeat in this family reminds me how wide my world is and how love continues to grow around me whether I am ready or not.

Our third short-term rental went online and stays booked. It amazes me to watch what I dreamed of into existence, and watch it take off and thrive. There is a quiet pride in that, a feeling of finally seeing hard work turn into something real.

Then came Colorado. Two weeks of pure beauty, with every turn revealing something that made me pause and breathe a little deeper. I did not realize how much I needed that trip until I was standing there, surrounded by mountains that made everything inside me feel a little clearer.

But the biggest changes this year happened within me.

After years of gut problems, I finally discovered the physical cause. That alone felt like a breakthrough I had been waiting for far too long. Therapy opened an even deeper door. I began to uncover the emotional weight I had been carrying and the trauma that had settled into my body. I started learning how to set boundaries and how to listen to the parts of myself I had ignored. I connected with my inner child, the version of me who needed comfort and understanding, and I finally began to give her that.

Along the way, I started feeling more comfortable in my own skin. Not the person I thought I was supposed to be, but the person I actually am. This shift feels real, even if it is still unfolding.

And perhaps one of the most meaningful steps I am taking this year is working on my book proposal. I’m not  just dreaming about it, I’m doing it. This alone feels like reclaiming a part of myself I thought I lost.

When I look back, this year was not simply positive. It was transformative. It was a year of returning to myself in ways I never expected.

The Great Outdoors

Do you ever see wild animals?

I live in rural Arkansas, therefore I get to see a variety of “wild” animals. We have frequent deer, racoons, squirrels, ground hogs, beavers and I recently saw a red fox on the ring camera a few nights ago.

There are rumors of black panthers in our area and black bear are about a 2 hour drive from here.

But the wildest of all the animals who frequent our area are anthropoids called Tourists.  Some are feral through and through and others are easily tamed with a little kindness. Without them out town wouldn’t flourish.