Daily Archives: September 8, 2015

RA, writing

Plot Twist

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plottwist

The great thing about having rheumatoid arthritis is that I learn something new–almost every day.

Today, for example, I learned that it is possible to get isolated fever in the heel of one foot and the ball of another at the same time.  I  also learned that my Fred Flintstone feet suddenly have more curves than Marilyn Monroe.

flintstone feet  marilynmonroe

Whoda thunk it?

I can’t walk today. I’m sort of dragging myself around only for mandatory things such as coffee and voiding coffee.

Important things.

So: Plot twist. No work for me today, even though I have piles of stuff to-do sitting on my desk. No work for me even though I have calls to make, people to chase down, lists to put together, things to type, and supplies to order. No shopping for me even though I’m dangerously near to being out of coffee and coffee creamer. These are two things that, along with dog food and cat food, I MUST, MUST, MUST always have in the house. Toilet paper, I’ve discovered, is definitely desired, but not mandatory since, in a pinch, other paper products can fill its space.

But coffee? Coffee creamer?

There are no substitutes.

Since I can’t do housework today (oh, darn), I can at least spend some time in the cat’s head again. The novel, while not exactly “ticking along,” is definitely moving along. Slowly. As if it were moving toward coffee despite its best intentions to stay perfectly still.

I hit 28,000 words a couple of days ago.

It’s a story of an almost Zen, smart-assed cat who loathes dogs and seems to have an opinion on everything. It’s a fun place to be.

A domesticated feline (my words, definitely not hers), she misses her wildness, her freedom, her nights spent hunting and her days spent napping in stolen sunshine.

I had read where authors speak of “letting the character show you who they are” and that the writer is merely an observer, not a creator. I didn’t really understand it until I got claws-deep in this project.

Her opinions are different from mine in some cases, and, I think I’ve held her back. Correction. I know I’ve held her back. Censored her.  Because I didn’t want “that kind of book,” or I didn’t want her words attributed to me. Because we are similar, but we are not the same.

So. Plot twist. I’m letting her out of her proverbial carrier, removing the kitty muzzle, and letting her go.

There’s no telling where I’ll end up with a cat in charge.

Image sources:

  1. Plot Twist : Grammarly on Facebook
  2. Fred Flintstone https://retiredruth.wordpress.com/tag/fred-flinststone/
  3. Marilyn Monroe: http://shannonmarie1510.buzznet.com/photos/bettypagemarilynmonr/?id=68045773
About, Journey

Foolish 101

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Time flies while you’re having fun–at least, that’s what how the old saying goes.

This year marked my eighth year blogging (off and on–more off than on, I’ll admit).  I’ve changed sites several times, went on new adventures, tried having my self-hosted site (which I promptly broke!) and find myself once again, here, at the lyricalfool.wordpress.com site.

The original title, way back in 2007, was Footsteps of a Fool. There’s something about the Fool that I can’t quite let go of.  I’m still as much in love with the archetype as I’ve always been.

For so long and for so many reasons, the fool has always had negative connotations.

Whether it’s for his stupidity or silliness, his lack of vision or lack of judgment, his poor fashion sense or poor common sense, the Fool has gotten a bad rap, for sure.

And yet, there’s something more, just below the surface.

It is said that the tarot deck is the Fool’s journey, and, as all journeys do, it begins and ends with the traveler himself. In the classic Rider-Waite deck, the Fool’s order is zero. Being neither positive nor negative, the Fool strikes the balance between the two. When the tarot was a popular card game, the Fool was the trump card, operating outside the rules that governed all other cards.

When looking at the card itself, at first glance, we see a man foolishly about to step off a cliff.  Eyes opened, he appears to be taking a poor puppy with him. Poor judgment? Wanton disregard? Blatant blindness? Whatever the cause, judging by surface appearances, there’s a willful ignorance in play, a refusal to see the obvious—that he’s about to go over the cliff—or a knowing and doing anyway, even if it’s to his detriment.

But again, there’s something more, just below the surface.

His eyes are open, and he has no doubt that he’s about to step off a cliff. In fact, his rear foot is already lifting, already taking that next step.  This card is an action shot; it’s a man with a plan—not just a plan, but a plan that is advancing. He may have found himself hesitating or doubting himself in the past, but at this moment, this singular moment, he is moving.  Moving toward the great unknown, moving toward the future.

Moving in faith.

His next step is the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning. No longer will he be on familiar footing, but rather freefalling, plunging into pure mystery. His action is determined; his end result is not. Does he meet his end on the craggy rocks below the cliff? Does he regain his footing and continue on his way until the new way is as familiar as the old only to have things change once again?

No one knows. Such is the fate of a fool.

But the Fool does not travel alone, nor does  he  travel empty handed. He brings with him a dog for company, a symbol of unconditional love and loyalty, and, as it so happens, the dog is also in motion, neither leading nor following. Excited and eager, the dog is also moving toward the unknown. In the Fool’s possessions are a flower and a small rucksack.  A balance of beauty and necessity, inspiration and practicality, the items are everything he needs for this moment. It’s an exercise in faith that everything he needs for the next moment will be provided for him.

Fearlessness. Unconventionality.  Openness. Movement. Balance. Faith.  Love and loyalty.

Thus lies the nature of the Fool.

I am, on my best days, a Fool-with-a-capital F.  Always a work in progress, a lover not a fighter (although, I am trying to break a habit of showing up for most verbal fisticuffs I’m invited to), an  embracer of adventure, She-Who-Sees-Behind-The-Mask.

My goal by blogging: To celebrate awesomesauce wherever I find it, in whatever form I find it, to discover greatness in the mundane, beauty in the intrepid, and to cry out praise for those things that really, really rock my world (See: Featured Fools). I want to examine those things I have taken for granted, celebrate small victories, liberate my inner bohemian, and live as joyfully, fearlessly, and beautimously as I possibly can.

And maybe, just maybe, one day finish that damn novel.

(Image Credit: Michael Thomas who made this awesome banner for me when I was using lyricalfool.com)