BEWOW, Ronovan Writes Haiku Challenge and Colleen’s WQW

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #69 Haiku&Mind

As some of you will know from my previous blogging posts I’m on a bit of a blogging break so it will be a bit quiet here on Kyrosmagica, but I thought I might just share with you one little all encompassing post this week as I’m missing joining in on various blogging activities so here’s my entries for Ronovan’s Haiku challenge, Colleen’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday, and Ronovan’s Bewow!

To start with I wrote several haiku, the first few are about my blogging break!

The last few haiku are to inspire, encourage, and motivate students studying for exams this autumn.

Haiku’s On my Mind

A blogging break dear?

No, Haiku’s on my mind,

Three line rich story

Haiku Mind Games

The prompt words stump you

Enter imagination

Haiku mind games

My final haiku are for all those students currently studying for the mock exams, believe in yourself, you can do it, work hard, reach your starry dreams. My youngest daughter is currently looking at Sixth Forms for next year. Last night we went to an open evening and I was really impressed by a current six former in her final year who delivered a truly inspiring speech, and seemed to speak directly from the heart. This has inspired my daughter to set her goals quite high to go to this particular sixth form of her choice. Undoubtedly this will involve a lot of hard work to reach those all important grades that she needs, so this post is with her in mind and for all the other youngsters, and young people who are currently studying for their exams, or doing course work, at schools, colleges, and universities. It’s a tough time but persevere and remember to make the impossible become the possible. Draw this on a piece of paper, or chalk it on a chalk board somewhere you can see it. Make it your goal.

No Impossibles

Dream in possibles

Haiku enrich bright young minds

No Impossibles

Reach Your Starry Dreams

Haiku for you

Study hard expand your mind

Reach your starry dreams.

To end I’d just like to join in Writer’s Quote Wednesday hosted on Colleen’s Silver Threading blog, and Ronovan’s BEWOW.

Here’s a link to Colleen’s blog to join in the fun:

http://silverthreading.com/2015/11/04/writers-quote-wednesday-george-orwell/

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King. Jr.

Couldn’t agree more intelligence without character is pretty pointless in my opinion, we need both…

I’ve written a quote for Writer’s Quote Wednesday and for Ronovan’s BEWOW – Be Wonderful Wednesday.

https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/cesare-pavese-quote/

I’ve housed this all important quote in the following photo that I took of my ceiling when it was all lit up. The photo made quite a spectacular pattern, which turned out all green which was a bit odd but I’d just been to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre in London so ……. that was quite appropriate!!

My Wickedly Inspiring Quote:

This is your time to shine, believe in yourself, remember to breathe, eat and rest. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be the best you can be, reach those all important goals, and remember all the while to stay positive, focused, happy, and encourage and motivate your friends to do the same. Make the impossible, possible.

Good luck in all the forthcoming exams. I’m casting a spell on you to do well!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

November 4, 2015 17

3 Day Quote Challenge: Day 3

I have been tagged by Janice who blogs at On the land to participate in the ‘3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge’.

Many thanks to Janice for inviting me to participate in this challenge. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part.

Janice blogs about our world and how important it is to care and nourish it: Caring About Our World; Reflecting About Life. She hopes to encourage us to move towards a cleaner, more sustainable future and away from the worst consequences of climate change.

If you pop over to Janice’s blog you will get a sense of just how passionately she feels about this wonderful world in which we live: https://ontheland.wordpress.com/2015/10/14/3-days-3-quotes-challenge-thich-nhat-hanh-love-letter-to-the-earth-bewow-writers-quote-Wednesday/

The rules for the 3 Days, 3 Quotes Challenge:

1. Thank the blogger, who nominated you.

2. Share one new quote on three consecutive days on your blog. They can be from anywhere, anyone, or anything that inspires you… Which means, it can be from yourself, too!

3. On each of the three days, nominate 3 more bloggers to carry on this mission impossible endeavor (if they dare!).

So for my final day I’m considering a much sought after emotion: happiness.

What is happiness? Can I attempt to write a quote about happiness, in a few select words?

Here’s my quote:

Happiness is simply beautiful unforgettable moments captured and shared with like minded individuals, family and friends, a life truly lived.

Perhaps it is easy to see why I have used the word shared in my quote, because as humans we have a need to love and to be loved. But why would I consider adding captured? My answer lies in the very fleeting nature of life itself, and the fact that life is often interrupted by outside influences which bombard, confuse and distract us. So we have to capture those wonderful fleeting experiences while we can!

In those moments when I am doing Tai Chi, I can sometimes drift into a state of blissful harmony. It is a shared moment, as the hall is full of other people doing Tai Chi too. Unfortunately it doesn’t always happen, if I am feeling particularly stressed before I start a class it can be difficult to achieve. Equally it can be extremely hard to master if I have drank too much stimulating coffee beforehand too! But sometimes I do manage to get into the Tai Chi zone. When this happens it is marvellous but it can have unexpected effects. Sometimes I am so relaxed after Tai Chi that I find it difficult to return to focusing on the everyday things that I need to do! The other day I was reversing out of the car park after a Tai Chi session and I nearly had an accident, I didn’t notice the car behind me backing out! So perhaps, taking a moment to re-focus is a good idea after Tai Chi, as it works on a much deeper level than normal exercise, if you do it right! I’ve been practising Tai Chi for eight years, and I am now at Continuing level. Often I find myself wanting to fall asleep after two hours of Tai Chi, it must be my bodies way of saying it wants to shut down and re-balance itself. This is also true if you go for an Aromatherapy massage, or a holistic treatment, often you feel in need of a pampering rest afterwards, and a big glass or two of detoxing water doesn’t go a amiss.

Given that it is increasingly difficult to turn off and relax in this modern world in which we find ourselves, we could all benefit enormously from finding some personal way of capturing those quiet moments of reflection and Tai Chi is my way of doing that, a bit of walking meditation if you like, a dance of the soul. A difficult dance of the soul to learn, there are one hundred and eight moves but when you do master it, it’s well worth the effort! But for everyone their quiet meditation, or blissful moment can be different, as individuals we must all find our own dance of the soul that is perfect for us.

Coming full circle is my next question.

What inspired this post? It all began with Gandhi’s simple but thought provoking quote about the nature of happiness:

Happiness is when what you think,

what you say,

and what you do are in harmony.

Gandhi

Happiness is not fame and fortune, popularity, or materialism it is simply being a much simpler person, stripping back expectations perhaps, and living in harmony.

So to finish the 3 day 3 quote challenge I’ve written a humorous haiku inspired by Gandhi’s words:

My nominees:

For the last day I’m not going to nominate anyone in particular. I’m going to break the rules a bit, because I went to Tai Chi yesterday and I slept like a log, so I’m still in fuzzy brain mode and sometimes rules can be a bit restrictive! Anyone who would like to take part, please do join in!

Or just come and chat and tell us your perfect way to find a moment’s happiness.

Hope you liked my final day’s quote and my haiku too!!

Bye for now,

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

October 23, 2015 7

The 3 Day Quote Challenge – Day 3 – Ingrid Bergman

“A kiss is a lovely trick

designed by nature

to stop speech

when words

become superfluous.”

Ingrid Bergman

Of course I had to end the 3 day 3 quote challenge on a farewell kiss! It would have been so remiss of me not to. Absolutely believe Ingrid Bergman’s quote one hundred and ten percent.

There is nothing like a kiss especially if that certain somebody is kissing you. A kiss is the honey elixir of the soul, it speaks volumes when words carry very little or no weight. The kiss can be tentative, or tender, it can be a peck or a passionate full on don’t come up for breath number, all of which are worthy of our utmost attention, especially the last one! A, sigh, been there, done that! It could be your first kiss, or a kiss with your granny with her false teeth out! Sorry for that gummy image but it’s one that comes to mind! It could be a smooch with your dog, even soldiers kiss dogs. Dogs get kisses too!

Who could resist kissing this little kitten? I couldn’t. Cats seem to love me though, they follow me everywhere I go….. A bit of an exaggeration – but there is a little fellow that always follows me to the bus stop, he’s so cute. I always stop, pat him, and have a little chit chat on the way to the bus, time permitting!

All sorts of kisses can be memorable for so many reasons. I remember before I went under the surgeon’s knife way back in October my husband kissing me, that kiss meant a great deal, it calmed and reassured me. It worked a treat, I didn’t panic, it was just what the doctor ordered, the perfect prescription, no words could have been as effective!

Thank you so much to Swagata Mukherjee from Kolkata, India for nominating me to take part in this 3 day Quote challenge, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed taking part. Swagata is a PhD student in Physics. She loves to travel and is passionate about photography.

Here’s a link to her blog, do check it out: https://physicsswagata.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/3-day-quote-challenge-day-33/

Rules for Three-Day Quote Challenge

Thank the blogger, who nominated you.
Publish 3 quotes on 3 consecutive days in your blog. It can be your own, or from a book, movie or from anyone who inspires you.
Nominate 3 more bloggers to carry on this endeavour.

As before I will be nominating three of my fellow #BlogBattle Writing Bloggers, they are:

https://rawlse.wordpress.com/

https://blondewritemore.wordpress.com/

http://hehasplans.com/

Any other #BlogBattlers that I haven’t mentioned (I could only nominate a certain number of bloggers) please do join in too if you’d like, the more the merrier…….

Thanks for joining me in this 3 Day Quote Challenge.

What are your favourite quotes, and kissing tales? Oh, I can’t wait to hear them, don’t be shy!

Alright I admit it I’m a curious so and so……!

Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

Sharing Options:

August 15, 2015 0

Writing is About Enrichment

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

I found this quote on the blog of ontheroadtoinkrichment, http://www.inkriched.wordpress.com, and it just sums it all up, doesn’t it? The majority of us, just don’t make a sack of money from writing. There are exceptions of course. So why do we invest all the time and effort, if money isn’t our goal?

Enrichment. One simple but powerful word. It holds the word rich in its grasp, but means so much more.

So on the subject of Enrichment let me share with you my road to enrichment! I have been practising Taoist Tai Chi for several years and it never ceases to amaze me how I am always learning something new. The original Tai Chi master of the group that I belong to, Master Moy Lin Shin, was a sickly youth, who was sent to a monastery, with ill-health. There he trained in the teachings of the Earlier Heaven Wu-chi sect of the Hua Shan School of Taoism and regained his health. He studied the religious and philosophical side of Taoism and acquired knowledge and skills in Chinese martial arts. In 1949 Moy moved to Hong Kong, there he joined the Yuen Yuen Institute, in Tsuen Wan district in the New Territories, continued his education and became a Taoist monk.

Moy was sent overseas with a mission of spreading the understanding of Taoism and its practices. After some travel, he settled in Montreal, Canada, and in 1970 began teaching a small group of dedicated students. In those early days, Moy taught both the health and martial arts aspects of Tai Chi. Upon moving to one of Toronto’s “Chinatowns” a few years later, he changed his focus, emphasising the health and personal development aspects of Tai Chi, although Moy still placed a strong emphasis on Tai Chi push hands practice and sometimes demonstrated other self-defense aspects of Tai Chi as well.

Moy started with a standard Yang-style t’ai chi ch’uan form, and mixed in elements of other internal arts, and taught it to enable students to learn Lok Hup Ba Fa later. Moy called this modified form Taoist Tai Chi. Moy emphasized the non-competitive nature of his style of teaching and of the form.

A teacher of Taoist Tai Chi is asked to conform to and live by Moy’s

“Eight Heavenly Virtues”:

Sense of Shame
Honor
Sacrifice
Propriety
Trustworthiness
Dedication
Sibling Harmony
Filial piety

We are often told Master Moy’s life story at classes. One particular story remains with me. Master Moy
did not place much emphasis upon the importance of money, in fact he had very little. He would sometimes come to class with not enough money in his pockets for his bus fare back. His pupils would gladly give him money so he could get home.

He began practising Taoist Tai chi as a means to manage a severe health problem. He succeeded, and not only did he improve his ailing health but his legacy is an organisation that is now in multiple countries across the globe. His original Tai Chi set has been handed down, more or less in its original form, and teachers give their time for free, volunteering to teach pupils Tai Chi. There is a spirit of cooperation, and friendship, within the whole Taoist Tai Chi culture. I so admire this ideology and the selflessness of the instructors. This means that each local group works together doing the Tai Chi set as a team. As I said, Master Moy didn’t have much money but I expect he was happy and fulfilled. The older I get the less I think we really need. I know that some people may say, you have more than most, and I would say this is true, but I don’t believe that material things make us happy. All we really need are the basic things in life: a roof over our head, enough food to eat, and the knowledge that our families are safe, in good health and above all else enjoying a full, and happy life. Everything else seems immaterial.

Here are some links which you may find interesting:

Master Moy doing the Tai Chi Set:

http://www.taoist.org/about-us/our-founder/

Taoist Tai Chi Society of Great Britain, Canada, and USA:

http://www.taoist.org.uk/
http://www.taoist.org/canada/
http://www.taoist.org/usa/

Well, as you can see Stephen King is right, enrichment is the goal. Oh and if you take up Tai Chi, and write, I can definitely say you will be happy! I know I am. Go for it!

Sharing Options:

June 21, 2014 2