nlowell

nlowell, 16 hours ago to random

ancient porch swing squeaks
some comfort in evening light
remembering you

#DailyHaikuPrompt

nlowell, 16 hours ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

There's an old joke with many versions about someone praying to win the lottery day after day, year after year, until finally, usually on a death bed, the deity reveals "You never bought a ticket."

That joke's on my mind this morning.

No particular reason.

Other than a niggling feeling that I might not be making the efforts I need to make to achieve the outcomes I say I want.

Is the problem the effort?

Or the outcome?

I hope you buy your ticket #today

nlowell, 2 days ago to random

silver shimmering
summer moon in languid night
magical moonbeams

#DailyHaikuPrompt

nlowell, 1 day ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

The day ahead beckons and my head seems filled with thoughts of travel.

A pilgrimage of sorts.

A return to my roots in coastal Maine. A place that no longer exists except in memory of fragrant lilacs, roaring waves, and salty breezes.

Maybe an epic journey via rail across the west, San Francisco to Chicago and back.

Or Ireland. Scotland. Italy. India.

But only thoughts.

My travels remain imaginary.

I hope you have a chance to smell fresh summer #today

nlowell, 3 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I got off schedule yesterday. Discovered things I thought I had done hadn't been.

How can that happen?

I have a checklist and everything.

Turns out that the checklist, like having a plan, doesn't actually do the things.

After months of journaling every morning before anything else (including this post), I got caught up putting out a fire first thing and forgot to go back.

Lesson learned.

I hope your lessons go well for you #today

nlowell, 4 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

This post is usually my first writing of the day, just before I tackle the daily haiku.

I'm off balance this morning because I forgot to get my monthly newsletter together last night, only remembering on waking.

Some days are like that.

A stumble in scheduling. A distraction in the moment. Misplaced keys. Missing phone.

Not the end of the world. Just a minor adjustment before finding my balance again.

I hope you find your balance #today

nlowell, 5 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Another early morning wake up. A comfortably slow beginning to what promises to be a hectic day.

That's later.

Getting strung out over what's to come does nobody any good. It'll be what it'll be.

All I can control is how I respond.

I choose to let it happen at its own pace. In its own way.

Keeping with my word of the year (surf), I'll try to keep my balance as the wave of the day sweeps past.

I hope you can keep your balance #today

nlowell, 6 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I have an audiologist appointment later. I'll officially become hard of hearing, a new identity.

I wonder what new things I'll hear when I have hearing aids.

They won't help me hear the things I don't listen to. Decades of working in a cube farm trained me to cut out background chatter. It's not that I don't hear it. I just filter it out.

I wonder what else I've filtered out of my life.

I hope you get a chance to check your filters #today

nlowell, 7 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Mornings always have such potential, if only for the chance to stop and think for a moment before the outside world tries to get inside me.

Sometimes it's only a moment before my brain weasels take over. They decide what will happen next in a cascade of seemingly random efforts, no more under control than a fistful of ping pong balls thrown down a concrete stairwell.

But it's always at least that one moment.

I hope you have a moment #today

nlowell, 8 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

After years of multi-player games, I'm immersed again in single players. Part of my paring down to the foundations, I think. Looking for the base on which to build again.

Too much in my own head?

Possibly, but I'm usually looking outward. Seldom looking inward.

Reading shows me other worlds, but games become mirrors of myself. Not always a pretty picture, but it seems to be working.

I hope you find something that works for you #today

nlowell, 9 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Yesterday didn't go as planned. Some days are like that. It happens a lot, hence my word of the year - Surf.

It felt good to feel it actually being put to use in a direct way but also made me aware of just how often I use it day to day.

I wasn't aware of just how often I adjust my balance and shift my course in small ways throughout the day until a big wave struck.

No wipe out. Just a shift in my weight.

I hope you're able to keep your balance #today

nlowell, 10 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

The sea feels calm today. A few waves but nothing challenging. Perhaps I'll get the board out but maybe I'll just have another cup of coffee and watch the ocean's waves.

I have to keep reminding myself that surfing isn't always about getting wet. Sometimes it's preparation.

Sometimes it's just reading a book and resting. Being ready for the sea when the waves present themselves.

I hope your seas have the right sized waves for you #today

nlowell, 11 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

My well ordered daily routine has fallen into a new, well ordered routine. It's not productive in terms of work produced, but it's familiar.

This routine will break down eventually. Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe even today.

I'll deal with it when it happens, just like I have the hundreds of times before.

But I'll make my bread, do my few tasks as if it might last for the rest of my life.

Because it might.

I hope you find satisfaction #today

nlowell, 12 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

My reading this morning reminded me that limitations are the geography of life. Neither good nor bad.

Some can be expanded, extended, but they cannot be removed.

Recognizing them, respecting them, allows us to use them to our advantage. Lets us use the energy others spend fighting them in more productive ways.

Allows us to build a solid foundation upon which to base a lifetime.

I hope you find your limitations useful #today

nlowell, 14 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

There's nothing like a fresh cup of coffee, a quiet house, and a few moments to take some unhurried breaths.

I'm still working on my surfing, although I don't bring it up directly very much. The ideas
of balance, awareness, response, and patience still hold sway.

Surfers can't be in the water all the time. I feel like I might have been a bit pruned up by being too immersed too much.

Time to dry off a little.

I hope you find some time to dry out #today

nlowell, 15 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Mornings dawn with such promise.

It's not like everything is possible. Some things just aren't.

I'm not going to flap my arms and fly.

I'm not going to plant my garden in the morning and harvest by afternoon.

I can't build a snowman without snow.

Some things take time. Others, timing.

Most worthwhile things take much more than a day.

For me, every morning is only a start.

I hope you start something good in your life #today

nlowell, 16 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Funny word, succeed.

I've had the work/goal orientation on it almost all my life.

Early on it was "get good grades" and later on it was "stay out of Vietnam."

For decades following, it meant keeping my bank account in positive numbers while not starving.

Then "more words" and "next book" and ...

Always chasing something.

Then cancer and everything changed.

Now, success is another day just being.

I hope you find your success #today

nlowell, 18 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Some days have very little planned. For some reason they seem to all pile up on the same day.

Granted its a nice change from having to do something every day of the week whether I want to or not, but still.

What was I thinking?

Maybe it's just that some days of the week are like the bends in a river where eddies form. Stuff just washes up on the bank, deposited by the unceasing flow.

I hope you can continue with the flow in your day #today

nlowell, 19 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

I've planned out the day in detail.

Listed everything I want to accomplish on this last day of the month.

The chores are few. The list, short.

While I had big aspirations for the month, mostly I've come to see what I'm doing is recovery work.

Recovering from existential crisis turns out to be a long process. Being reminded every day of how tenuous life might be.

Continuing anyway.

I hope you find the strength you need to continue #today

nlowell, 20 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Funny how things change over time.

I've looped around in my daily readings, re-reading the passages I first saw last year.

Some I remember. Most I don't.

I'm often surprised by the ones that resonate with me as if I'm reading them for the first time.

Sometimes it's just a sentence that hits me, like this one this morning:

"Everything has to be created, and we are the artists."

Our lives are art.

I hope you create something good and lasting #today

nlowell, 22 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

A little momentum and a different perspective has my writing moving again.

I'm not exactly spewing words but I am finding some that fit. Some of the old ones that I relegated to the drawer have come back and clicked into the new context.

My process has changed and needs to change some more before I'm going to be happy with it, but change can't happen without movement.

Even if it's the wrong direction.

I hope you find some movement for your changes #today

nlowell, 23 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Time to bake some bread again. We're almost out. It's a habit I've gotten into over the last few months.

While the ingredients are few, common, and relatively cheap, the value doesn't lie in the cost in time or money.

The satisfaction I get from making and eating our daily bread continues to repay me in ways I didn't expect

I need to teach my kids. It's a legacy that can linger when I'm gone.

I hope you find satisfaction in your efforts #today

nlowell, 24 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

Sun's up on a gray, laundry looking day. One of those where you wake to the reminder of the things you forgot and will have to spend at least part of the day catching up.

Still, there's time. My ambitions are few.

Write a few words. Read a few.

Did I mention laundry?

A couple of long cycles broken up by a few minutes of concrete accomplishment resulting in fresh clothes for a couple of weeks.

I hope you find comfort in your accomplishments #today

CuriousMagpie, 25 days ago to bookstodon

We need to create new, sustainable, author & reader friendly systems.

“… in 2020, only 268 titles sold more than 100,000 copies, and 96 percent of books sold less than 1,000 copies. That’s still the vibe.”
#amreading #amwriting @bookstodon
https://www.elysian.press/p/no-one-buys-books

nlowell, 25 days ago to random

A new day. A new chance to succeed.

"You need a hand?"

The set up for any number of sight gags involving extra appendages.

Why is it so hard to accept assistance sometimes?

For me it's difficult to figure out what part of the task I can hand off.

Oh, sure. Some extra muscle hauling groceries or shoveling the walk. A sharing of tedious tasks like folding laundry.

But the hard stuff? Like living?

Maybe "lend me your ears" would work better.

Hope you get what you need #today