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#Scintilla13 Getting Even

Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Write about a time you taught someone a lesson you didn’t want to teach.

She had stolen my Violet, my favorite Pound Puppy plush toy. She thought she was entitled to my stuff because her parents owned the basement apartment we lived in. I was furious. I’d show her, though — I’d teach her how it felt to have your belongings violated. I found her play make-up compact. I took it home with me. When we moved, I kept it as a reminder that she stole my Violet. I would recall the sadness I felt, not having that plush toy. As I grew older, I began to forget the little plush toy and giggle at my three-year-old sense of justice. After all, two wrongs really don’t make a right.

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#Scintilla13 How to Bust Your Head Open

Tell a story about something interesting (anything!) that happened to you, but tell it in the form of an instruction manual (Step 1, Step 2, etc.).

  1. Watch “Lady and the Tramp” with your mother.
  2. Think of something amazing to tell your dad.
  3. Ask your mother to pause the movie.
  4. Charge down the hall at full speed.
  5. Crash head first into the door knob.
  6. Shriek in terror and pain.
  7. Kick and scream as your mother attempts to apply pressure to your gushing forehead.
  8. Somehow make it to the emergency room.
  9. Flail and fight against the medical staff.
  10. Get strapped into a papoose for your own good.
  11. Scream bloody murder as they stitch your head closed.
  12. Wonder what the hell was so amazing that you had to tell your dad.
  13. Wonder that question for the rest of your life.
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#Scintilla13 Misogyny

Tell a story set at your first job.

George sat me down for my 90 day evaluation. I received great compliments and praise for my efforts. And then he said it: “You’re not very analytical. You need to think more like a man.” I sat in stunned silence, in shock that this 40-something man just uttered those words to a 16-year-old girl in the year 2000. I couldn’t believe the misogyny sitting at the table. I complained to anyone who would listen. I joked with co-workers that I needed to elbow George, point out a woman, and comment on the size of her breasts — that would show him. Of course, I never did have the nerve to say anything to his face. I kept the job through the end of summer, but I felt no grief when I gave him my notice.

Oh, and George? Check out the rack on that one!

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March Outlook

March promises to be better than January and February. I’m hoping March makes good on that promise. Regardless, life changes are upon me and my family. That’s why I’m relieved that the Scintilla Project is back this year, offering prompts to tell stories. I’m looking forward to the two weeks of story telling.

I can’t say for certain how I feel about March on the whole — I have mixed emotions after dealing with January and February. I want to let go of the past and make peace with things as they are and go forward with hope for a better future and love in my heart. But, I’m also scared of all the unknowns and uncertainties. It’s been quite a ride so far, and I’m not entirely sure if the exit for this particular roller coaster is getting closer or not. I’m in the dark and can’t see if there’s a swoop or turn ahead. I’m crossing my fingers that the car is pulling into the exit area, where I’ll leap out, kiss the ground, and count my blessings that I survived the ride of January and February 2013.

 

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February Review

I started this month with intentions to go forward with my plans as scheduled. By mid-month, I knew this February was just as unforgiving as the last. Just as unforgiving as January. With all the pain my family’s endured for much of 2013, I’ve been too engrossed in life’s circumstances and completing myriad tasks to focus on my cultivate project. It’s a shame, really — this situation needs lots of cultivation and nurturing. However, I cannot undo the past or reset the year. I can only forgive, accept, and move forward. So when I saw that Scintilla was coming back this year, I felt eager to get back into the practice of writing for public consumption. I’m sure my prompt responses will be infused with grief, but processing grief through words brings peace. Somehow, I always feel a little better after I’ve written out my thoughts and feelings. And perhaps this is just the antidote I need to cure my writer’s block and get on with my projects.

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Cultivating Through Grief

Life has plowed full-speed ahead this year, and it’s all I can do to hold on for the ride. So much death and change has marred my 2013, and my heart has broken for my family several times over. At the onset of the year, I had grandiose plans to unveil courses, workshops, consultation and coaching packages, and a revised sliding scale tutoring fee schedule. I wanted to ring in my big three-oh in style. I wanted to celebrate my happy occasions with my family. Instead, I’ve found myself attempting to cultivate my life worth loving under very tense circumstances. I’ve opted to take time away from my job to focus on that which matters most — family. It’s all about my family — as individuals and as a unit. And at the moment, I feel like we’ve been set back quite a bit. We need time for grieving. For loving. For simply living. It may hurt now. It may feel like an unpleasant, discomforting state of being. Yet I know that we are all going to come out on the other side as a stronger family. Our strife will pave the way for stronger bonds and lots of love. Silly things like mortality and distance may mock us at the moment, but we will continue to cultivate thriving lives. I refuse to allow 2013 to break my spirit. I worked too hard for the last quarter of 2012 to prepare for 2013 — my determination to cultivate a lovely life for my family will only strengthen. I know that one day my children will be in their father’s shoes, and I want them to know that their parents were loving, caring individuals who did everything in their power to provide for them, teach them right from wrong, and instill good values in them. I want them to pass along the value of cultivating a life worth loving, even when life doesn’t feel worth loving. Life is always worth loving,

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February 2013 Outlook

After last month’s web of chaos, I’m ready to start fresh. I will be focusing on cultivate my family relationships with a great amount of enthusiasm. We’ve got items to check off our list, after all. We will also be facing difficult challenges, but I plan to overcome all of that. I will also be unveiling new offerings (services and products). I’ve had plenty of time to extrapolate from others how to make this World Wide Web work for me — and I’ve got some great ideas coming up. I can’t wait to share these new offerings with everyone. This is my year to do amazing things, and no one can take that away from me. Nothing can stop my motivation to cultivate a thriving life worth loving. By the time March rolls around with spring’s leaves and flowers, I will have opened registration for courses and workshops. I will have begun scheduling consultations and coaching. I will be preparing to test my products and services for longevity and sustainability. I’m going to take notes and see how I do.

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January 2013 Review

January wasn’t as great as I’d planned for it to be. I had to dig deep daily to practice happiness and cultivate all aspects of my life. Several challenges have forced me to take a giant step back to reassess life and my plan of action. I don’t plan to lose, though. Even though this month picked up my avatar, threw her against the wall, and brutally beat her down, she’s not out. She’s regaining her composure and preparing a return attack — and don’t forget that formidable scythe she carries. I came to 2013 to win. So while I may not have had much time to focus on cultivating a thriving life worth loving, I’ve had plenty of time to sit back, think, and plan. I’ve had plenty of time to digest the brain dump that was Cultivate 2012. I still found time to cultivate my dreams, and I still found time to cultivate my family. Farewell, January! You were filled with a great number of lessons and tests, but you’re not going to set the tone for the rest of the year. Tomorrow is a chance for a fresh start.

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#Cultivate2012 Feedback

Congratulations! You’ve finished Cultivate 2012!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I’d like to give to gather some feedback for next December’s Cultivate 2013 prompts and give you a mission for 2013. Here’s the feedback form:

  1. What was your favorite prompt? Why?
  2. What was your least favorite prompt? Why?
  3. What segment made you think the most?
  4. What segment burrowed under your skin like a tick?
  5. What would you like to see in December?
  6. Would you like to write a guest post for December? What segment would you prefer?
  7. Do you plan to continue on with Cultivate 2013?

Now here’s your mission for Cultivate 2013: Create an outlook for each month. Review the end of each month. Learn from mistakes. Grow and change. Cultivate your life worth loving. Use the media that appeal most to you. Thrive!

Signing off for Cultivate 2012,
Meredith

P.S. I’m taking a hiatus until the end of January. I need to digest the brain-dump that was Cultivate 2012 and formulate my battle-plan for 2013.

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#Cultivate2012 Clutter

Do you hoard things? Take a look around your house. Are you finding things that nurture you or weigh you down? What can you give away or throw away? Can you maintain a monthly, quarterly, biannual, or yearly decluttering plan?

I find that we hoard too much paper. Bills, ads, school fliers — our piles of paper accumulate too quickly and get thrown into the trash too little. (Yes, I know they should be recycled — we don’t have a bin in our subdivision, and I’m not looking for perfection here. I need a system first!)

I’ve tried some methods already out there online, but it doesn’t take much to fall off the wagon. I need to set up regular times to go through everything — times that work around our schedules. We can’t keep getting weighed down by ink and paper. It’s funny how the very mediums that bring me so much joy also bring me so much stress.

I think we’ve got too many clothes, too. I’ve got clothes I don’t wear anymore that I should donate. I need to go through my children’s clothes to donate my younger two’s smaller clothes. It takes up valuable space in our closets, dressers, and boxes in the attic. We need to stay on top of these things to prevent a backlog of clutter.

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