Reena’s Xploration Challenge #193

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #193

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PROMPT #193

“Shhh! It’s your turn now”

Use this as the first or last line in your piece.

There is no restriction on length or format of the piece. There is no last date either, unless you wish to be featured in the Weekly Wrap. 

Any post that is found to be offensive, vulgar or something that hurts common sensibilities will not be included. This needs to be a safe space.

Create a post on your blog, and copy-paste the link in Comments. In case you are using a pingback, do check back to see if it has worked.

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“Shhh! It’s your turn now!” Charlie laughed and turned to Roger. “Let’s see you beat that,” Charlie teases his brother Roger. Ten-year-old Roger is unsure exactly how to make hand shadow puppets. He has watched 18 year old Charlie do it repeatedly, but he never quite got the hang of it.

Roger turns on the light and faces it to the wall like he had seen Charlie do. He placed his hand between the wall and the light, and a shadow appears, but it isn’t an animal or anything recognizable. “Charlie, come on and teach me how you do it. Your animals are so real, and I get lumps of unrecognizable blobs on the wall.”

Charlie gets out his laptop and looks up the chart where he first learned to make the shadow puppets. “Here, it shows you just how to hold your hands to make any of these animals.” He left Roger alone to practice. He didn’t tell him that it took him many months of constant practice before he got the animals to look like real animals. Charlie took off chuckling at his kid brother.

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book published on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

I am now following and streaming on Twitch.tv. Find me under www.twitch.tv/tessadeanauthor

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #176

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #176

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PROMPT #176

Our prompt this week has the potential to cover more than the written word. Think images, computer art, paints and brushes or a camera lens. Words are not going anywhere though, because that is what we are talking about.

If you are a book, what will the cover look like?

You are free to use any medium you like to describe.

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website –http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

Reena’s Xploration Challenge 175

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #175

PROMPT #175

A year back, the prompt on Exploration Challenge was “Woman”.

I decided to reverse it.

In this week, write a story/anecdote/non-fiction piece which does not involve a woman.

There is no restriction on length of the piece. There is no last date either, unless you wish to be featured in the Weekly Wrap. 

The format can be fiction, poetry, art, photography, anecdotes, biographical sketches or anything that you can invent.

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John stood on the sandy beach beside his trusty canoe and beloved dog, Harley, a red Irish Setter. He surveyed the river as he did every day before making the trip down the river to the lake it opened into.

He motioned Harley into the canoe where he went to the front and laid down on the cushions that were there for him to ride comfortably just behind the front seat. He put his small lunch cooler and drinks in the middle towards his feet and then pushed the canoe out far enough so it would float when he climbed in.

Once settled, John started paddling with smooth, even strokes pushing the canoe rapidly through the water. His mind wandered as it usually did. He thought about his military buddies and remembered some of the good times they had and how most of them were gone from this world already.

He was tired and ready to join his buddies and leave this world behind. He slowed his strokes. He was getting tired and it was about time for lunch and a break.

He pulled over to the side of the river bank to a small beach, large enough for one or two canoes. Once upon the shore he opened his cooler and took out his lunch and a drink. He fed and watered Harley and then packing up his trash he climbed back into the canoe.

Pushing off, he entered the current and felt the first of the small pains in his chest. There wasn’t much he could do, but he pulled out his cell phone and after checking to make sure he had enough bars, he made a call to 9-1-1. The dispatcher asked if he had any idea where he was and he described the small beach about halfway to Wharton lake from the Blanchard’s Creek Landing area. They found someone who knew the area and could give them an approximation as to where he might be now and how long it would take to make it to the lake. They concluded that he wasn’t all that far so they would head to the lake and wait.

Despite the fatigue and the pain in the chest and arms, he continued to paddle. Harley knew something was wrong and tried to get closer to him. He patted him, but commanded him to stay.

The river came into sight. He could see the flashing lights and boats were also waiting around the opening where the river emptied into it. He pushed just a bit more, but felt a crushing feeling in his chest and then a severe pain, before he slumped over, the end coming finally.

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website –http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #174

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #174

PROMPT #174

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When I first saw the picture I thought of squeezing the brain or shrink as they sometimes call it. The person appears to be wearing a hospital gown so I immediately thought of someone in a mental hospital and having spent two occasions in one myself, I can say it is not a particularly happy memory.

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website –http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #173

PROMPT #173

We have a one-word prompt this week.

FLOW

Flow is a state of mind where one is fully immersed in the task involved, and delivers a lot with minimum effort.

Flow is a software by Microsoft, which facilitates team functioning.

Flow is poetic, as in the flow of words, water, winds – taking something from one place to another.

All you need to do is just ‘flow’ with your creativity.

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When I think of flow I think of blood flowing through our bodies and giving us life. And the other thing that popped into my head is that flow can turn into flower and all the beautiful flowers there are in this world. I know that second one is just a spelling change, but it did flow into my brain LOL!

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website –http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #170

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #170

Welcome to yet another week!

I don’t see the scenario changing as expected. I see faint glimmers of hope, not the bright sun. Will 2021 be another transitional year, or a pathbreaking year?

Let’s go off at a tangent, and conquer —- our mindsets, if nothing else. Control the controllable!

Write a post on your blog, and copy-paste the link in Comments. In case you are using a pingback, do check back to see if it has worked.

Last, but not least, don’t forget to tag the post “Reena’s Exploration Challenge” for easy location in the blog roll.

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There are so many things that we can’t control. I don’t see this year being much better than last year although one can hope.

As far as things we can control, that is a very small list in my opinion.

1. I can get a vaccine, but I can’t control what others do. I also can’t control how the vaccine will work considering how little testing was done on them.
2. I can order most of my products online to avoid stores, but sometimes you can’t avoid it completely.
3. I can use telemed for most of my appointments, but some I simply have to go to. I have to go to the eye doctor and the lung doctor and the podiatrist. Oh and the nephrologist for my kidneys. I think that could have been done by telemed since he wasn’t actually listening to or touching my kidneys, but they made me come in. I will have to see the cardiologist in person as well too. And my transportation is in person.

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Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website –http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #159

Reena’s Exploration Challenge #159

PROMPT #159

Imagine a slice of your life, or the whole personality framed on the wall. What would you like to see there?

A poem, a quote, a story, a picture or a work of art?

I invite you to write one or more pieces or post a collage you would like to see in the frame.

In the process, I might get to know you better 

As usual, there is no restriction on length or format of the piece. Write a post on your blog, and copy-paste the link in Comments. In case you are using a pingback, do check back to see if it has worked.

Last, but not least, don’t forget to tag the post “Reena’s Exploration Challenge” for easy location in the blog roll.

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What I would like to see there and what I do see there are two different things. Just like my bipolar, they are polar opposites.

I would love to see a lovely pastel-colored frame with lots of beautiful flowers to match. There would be a brilliant bright blue sky with a sun to add even more light to the picture.

But that is not what I see in my real picture. My frame is black and the background is dark gray, just a shade off solid black. The flowers are dead, black and brittle causing them to fall crumbling to the ground where they just lie there, not moving. DEAD! There is no life in my picture and that is how I feel right now.

My psychiatrist increased the dosage on my anti-psychotic medication. There has been a little bit of increase in my interest in the world, but not much. Tomorrow, November 1st is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and usually I am excited at having a blank sheet of paper and 30 days to create, but that excitement is as dead as my picture above. I don’t give a damn and since changing my bipolar meds would be an awful ordeal and not necessarily successful the psychiatrist is hesitant to start that treatment and I am glad because if I think my life is hell right now, changing meds is five times worse. So for now we will stay with the increase she made and see what happens and see if I get my enjoyment from writing back. It is possible that it is caused by the 6 week hospital stay and the increased anxiety due to the NEW NORMAL. I hate that phrase. I hate that it is a possibility that it might remain the new normal. No one knows where life is headed on this planet and I, as a pessimist, am seeing all of my predictions coming true. My neighbor loves to point that out. Everything you said was going to happen is happening. How did you know that? Well, for one thing I have common sense. I see the idiots around me thinking this is all a joke. It wasn’t hard to predict that things were going to get worse again once they started to reopen everything and the idiots refuse to wear masks. They don’t understand that they or anyone could be carrying it and be asymptomatic. They might understand if they cared enough to listen. My dad had it and it was all because the nursing home he was in was full of asymptomatic carriers. He too, was asymptomatic so thankfully he didn’t suffer with it. It is going through the nursing home again and the same people are testing positive. Surprise another prediction, you can get it more than once. I have been tested four times and thank God so far I haven’t gotten it, but I don’t socialize. I only go out if I absolutely have to and I wear a mask even though it won’t help me if the other person isn’t wearing one. Those masks are only designed to keep your germs to yourself and not protect you from the others around you. I love in a close-knit high rise apartment building with idiots and have to ride the elevators with them. Sometimes I just refuse to get in until the elevator is empty. I am highly susceptible and if I were to get it, would most likely be very sick or even die. I have trouble breathing now. I have diabetes that is running amuck. I am always coughing due to constant bronchitis. For the first time in my 64 years I got a flu shot. I had a terrible temperature after that. I just hope that is all that happens from that. I also got the first pneumonia shot. I don’t believe in vaccines although all my kids are vaccinated since I wanted them to go to school and it was required. My doctors and Medicare are constantly going on about my not having my vaccinations so I got those two, but I still don’t believe it is necessary. I really liked it when they said the flu shot may not prevent the flu since there are so many different kinds. So someone explain to me what is the purpose if it only will work if you get the flu it was designed for???? AND by the way, I have NEVER had the flu. I did have pneumonia within the last 20 to 30 years and that was one time. The case was mild. They tell me now with all my other issues that I would most likely get much sicker this time. So I isolate myself as much as possible.

I see the world as BLACK!!!

Tessa – 

Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses

New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com

Author – Old Writing –  http://www.finallyawriter.com

About my life –  http://www.tessacandoit.com

Author of a book, a work in progress on the blog, https://tessacandoit.com/government-property-a-memoir-as-a-military-wife/

Highlighted chapters are done and ready to be read.

I am also a youtuber in the authortube section on writing. See my videos here:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSpNS-6gfJ0s8eD1berLwQg