VernetteOutLoud

Five Minute Friday: Begin

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“We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. – Lisa-Jo Baker

I haven’t linked up in what feels like ages with the this lovely bunch of writers. But since this is founder, Lisa-Jo’s last week hosting Five Minute Friday, I needed to join in to celebrate with her as she begins the next phase in your journey. I also look forward to continuing this lovely practice with Kate Motaung.

Click on the button to the right for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

GO

“On this path, it is only the first step that counts.” – St. Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney

But that first step is sometimes the hardest one to accomplish.

Because that first step usually reveals who you are.

If you can get past the fear.

The struggle with past failures.

The disappointment.

The fact that sometimes its sooo much easier to delay the inevitable.

To be able to just go for, to begin again, despite all that went before, has to be the most courageous thing you can do for yourself.

“Living in fear is so last season, if you want to be happy and really live your dream you have to take a stand and just put yourself out there. You might fail, yes indeed – but, you might, you just might succeed too! Don’t you want to find out? Either way your life will never be the same… Can you handle it?”
– Jackson Kiddard

What’s the worse that can happen?

STOP

I found myself getting lost in a myriad of memories, hence the very short post. I didn’t want to cheat and add another five minutes, so this is all I managed for this week’s prompt. The quotes I had the general idea about and cleaned them up afterward.

Thank you to Lisa-Jo for creating this space for us to get in touch with the truth that is sometime hidden inside our hearts. This challenge reveals and brings up and out things that you had no idea you were even thinking about. As we move on to the next chapter of Five Minute Fridays with our new host, I look forward exploring the wonders of my heart with you all.

 

Today you’re getting a twofer. Every day in August I will be joining the very creative Susannah Conway and her lovely community, in posting a photo a day. It’s a community project that doesn’t really have any rules – who doesn’t like that? – I will post a photo a day on Instagram. If you’re interested in joining this community, head on over to Susannah’s website here.

August Break Collage

Five Minute Friday: Crowd

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“We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. – Lisa-Jo Baker

I’m linking up again this week with the lovely Lisa-Jo and the other badass writers of Five Minute Friday.

Click on the button to the right for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

GO

Alone.

I am on the train and I cannot believe I am doing this.

I am trying to appear nonchalant, like I do this everyday.

But inside I am nervous. Can they tell?

In a tiny coffee shop now…a real one…not the joke we call a coffee shop back home. I sip and plan my next move.

I am a little overwhelmed as I step out into the cool air.

But excitement is bubbling to the surface. I am here, this is now and I am actually doing this.

Alone.

This should not feel so good. But maybe I really am a loner.

Here I am, walking around Manhattan, just a face in the crowd.

And it is the best feeling ever.

STOP

One of my favourite quotes on travel is by Gustave Flaubert, “Traveling makes one modest — you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Because it is so true, traveling – stepping out of your comfort zone has a way of humbling you. Flaubert got it right and imagine he wrote this back in 1849.

I spent most of the time getting lost in the memories of that experience, hence the very short post. I didn’t want to cheat and add another five minutes, so this is all I managed for this week’s prompt.

Five Minute Friday: Small

5-minute-friday-1I’m linking up again this week with Lisa-Jo Baker and the other lovely writers of Five Minute Friday.

Click on the button to the right for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

GO

This past weekend, I had to keep reminding myself not to compare my start to someone else’s middle. My sister and I have started a business together and we are small fish in a big pond. And I found myself comparing our product to that of more established businesses. Thing is our product is good and in some cases even better than some of the bigger fish.

But it was so easy to get caught up in comparing and second guessing and wondering and then ultimately worrying about being good enough. Without considering what it took for the bigger fish to get where they are at today.

And the rub when you start comparing yourself negatively to others is that you deny yourself the journey of your own growth.

STOP

FMF

Five Minute Friday: Write

Writing is like wrapping yourself up in words and giving yourself away. – Lisa-Jo Baker

I’m linking up again this week with Lisa-Jo Baker and the other lovely writers of Five Minute Friday. Click on the button below for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

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GO

Why do I write?

I’ve been asking myself this question for some time. On my blog I walk a line of “how much is too far”? Do I leave it all on the blog or do I need to find a clear purpose for why I started blogging in the first place and let that dictate how much I say here?

How much do I really say, how personal can I get without compromising myself and the people around me. Then my thoughts scare me more times than I like to admit. Do I really want anyone reading this someday and thinking damn she really was bat shit crazy…?

I think I have 2 major fears when it comes to what I write:

The first one being that when all is written and read…I cannot write well. Even though this is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child.

The second being, I leave so much of me here that people think they know everything there is to know about me which is weird because when I write, I cannot hide the real me. And don’t I want people to know who I really am?

I write because I am an emotional cutter.

I write because I want to be comfortable in my skin.

I write because despite getting ‘E’ for talkative on pretty much ALL of my school reports as a child, I still can’t manage
to communicate how I really feel about the shitty things that happen in my life.

I write because I’m a bit of a narcissist.

I write because I really believe with all my heart that Love is the only currency we have and it should be our sole reason for the exchange of our time but there are too few of us who understand this and they choose to eff this thing up called Love. Every. Single. Time.

I write because I need to.

STOP

Five Minute Friday: Hero

Writing is like wrapping yourself up in words and giving yourself away. – Lisa-Jo Baker

I’m linking up again this week with the fabulous Lisa-Jo Baker and the lovely writers of Five Minute Friday. Click on the button below for more details on what this challenge is all about and how you can participate.

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GO

In the eyes of a child, her mother is god.

As I got older however, she became more human.

I saw her raise three children on her own.

I saw her pick herself up after being retrenched from her job and do what she had to do, to ensure that we had what we needed not just to survive but to thrive.

I say it all the time, I am grateful for her sacrifices because she ensured that because of them we, her children will never be in the position that she was in.

I saw her believe me and love me through the worst experiences of my childhood and yes that’s experiences plural.

I saw her avenge me in her own way.

I saw her take on ovarian cancer like a true Spartan.

When I asked her maybe about a month before her death, what was the lesson she learned from that whole experience, she said “how to be strong.”

I don’t have her kind of strength…not even in my baby toe.

STOP