Category Archives: Uncategorized

No-Comfort Zone Week ending March 4th

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Happy to say that this week I did manage to complete my 30-day writing challenge for February, and have submitted 3 pieces based on all that writing to the literary journal that runs the regimen: The Southeast Review.

So far, since challenging myself on submissions, I have managed to do something each week.  YAY!

 

Carol

Stone #11: Claywork

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Day 11

Yesterday, I wrote about going to a pottery workshop as something outside my comfort zone, and that’s this week’s No-Comfort-Zone “self-assignment”.  AND I thought that might be something neat to write about for my 11th stone.  The piece is not fired yet, the instructor will do that, but she did let me make a second one (a funky-looking cat with a ball on plate) and I took home more clay to attempt a third piece.  I have never been much good at working with my hands (other than cooking, which is not the same!) so I am very pleased that this was a lot of fun.  Here is my stone:

Claywork

finicky fingers hate
to be sticky.
cautious, they hesitate
to work the clay.

but the brick is cool
and moist, waiting
to be poked and prodded,
pounded and flattened.

hands, suddenly eager, begin
to mold pieces into a plate
to hold penguins as they cuddle
and cluster in one corner

do they fear the kiln’s fire
or are they just a little
too far from home?

Carol A. Stephen
January 11, 2012

Day 9 small stone: focusing on one thing

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Day 9 Focusing

the challenge is small,
to open one bottle.

the maker boasts the use
of less plastic, a green intention

yet the cap is harder to grasp
and it resists my grip.

a single turn. it appears
no different than before, but

if I poke my thumbnail, just so,
a thin line reveals itself.

tiny plastic fingers brace
and break at slight pressure.

now the cap turns easily.
my lips moisten in anticipation:

500 ml of cool water,
a long slow swallow.

Carol A. Stephen
January 9, 2012

One Day at a Time through a River of Stones: January 2012

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Would you a 2012 with more colour, more juice, more clarity, more deliciousness?

During January, Kaspa and Fiona Robyn from ‘Writing Our Way Home’ will be encouraging you to pay attention to one thing every day and write it down.  Here are the links:

http://www.writingourwayhome.com/p/river-jan-12.html or http://bit.ly/vHJkKM

You don’t have to be a writer to take part. You just need to have three minutes spare a day, and a notebook or a blog, and the desire to slow down and fall in love with the world a day at a time.

Do jump here to find out more, and Kaspa and Fiona hope to see you in the river. Here’s how last year’s small-stoners found the experience:

“I have to tell you, readers, I have loved writing a small stone every day for the last 31 days. It’s the most glorious exercise in mindfulness, in pulling yourself into this moment, and if you haven’t tried it yet please give it a go, if only for a week.”

~Rachel Hawes, writer of small stones

“My father was recently put into Hospice care and dealing with the imminent loss and pain and joy of his journey has become sweeter for me because I am paying attention. That is no small thing.”

~Lisa Haight, writer of small stones

“…I keep finding that [writing a small stone] doesn’t eat up time or mental space; on the contrary, time stops and a new space is created.”

~Jean Morris, writer of small stones

“Writing small observations daily was like a spiritual experience for me. I felt happy, joyous and free. I looked forward to my daily meditation. As a result, I feel awakened and alive; and I am truly thankful.”

~Laurie Kolp, writer of small stones