Hello. My blogs are primarily about my work as a writer, faith as a Christ follower, gardening and my childhood in mid-century England. I hope that something I say will make you smile today and encourage you in your journey.
When I was small we didn’t own land but we were ‘allotted’ a small garden to grow vegetables and flowers if we didn’t have a backyard. I have many fond memories of times planting and harvesting with my great-aunts and uncles. They grew most of their own vegetables. My job was to shell the peas. I giggled every time one popped!
‘Til next time–I hope you can recall some pleasant childhood memories.
“Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle.”
I used to be a life coach and found enormous satisfaction in helping people realize their potential. Although I still coach occasionally, I no longer have an office practice. Now I enjoy writing—especially poetry.
…
The Client and The Coach
She sits across from me in the straight-backed chair
fidgeting with a string on her jacket
her long orange-streaked hair falling over her face
as she answers my questions.
Young mother of two with questions of her own
she’s here to find answers but I have none.
What she doesn’t understand yet, is that
all the answers are already within her.
I tell her I can help her find them.
Her head slowly rises from the slump,
brow lines deepen.
She asks how she can possibly have the answers already.
I close my notebook and smile.
…
’Til next time, I hope you’re feeling good about your future and on the path to fulfilling your dreams.
I live in a rural area in Ontario where the autumn weather is much like that of my childhood years in England, damp and often dismal. I have a long driveway leading to the main road where I can see for about half a mile in either direction and sound carries on still mornings.
What’s New! My Medium writing has taken off and I’m really enjoying it. I write for 4 publications and, of course, my own Life at White Rose Shire! So, I won’t be blogging much on WordPress for a while. I’d like to invite you to follow my work on Medium using this link to sign up for my new newsletters there. Medium Newsletter
Recent post “What God Really Wants” is from my list of Christian Poetry on Medium. I answer the question of what God really wants from us in a self-reflective free verse poem. You can read it here.
Free to Writers (or friends of writers) Before I close down the newsletters here, I hope you downloaded all the writing resources from earlier. You can still get them from my WordPress website. Use this link–Free Writer Resources and if you think you’d like to write for Medium too, come join me by using this link. See you there!
My last post was about black-out poetry, a technique I learned from Austin Kleon’s book “Steal Like An Artist.” Today I’m going to try another technique which I learned from taking a Masterclass with Billy Collins. His suggestion was to take an ordinary everyday item and find inspiration in it. Being a Brit kid from the last century and a big Corrie fan, I chose a teabag.
teabag image by Lynne Collier
Haiku
I’ve been feeling the need for focus lately and what better form of poetry for narrowing down the words to as few as possible than to write a Haiku poem?
Poets over the decades have waffled on the exact rules of writing Haiku. The traditional Japanese Haiku is a three-line poem with a 5/7/5 syllable count, often focusing on images from nature, emphasizing simplicity and clarity of expression.
A modern Haiku poem is not required to, and generally does not, rhyme–although it can at the poet’s discretion. In other words, it’s all up to the writer how they want to approach it.
The set rule of 5/7/5 syllables still needs to be adhered to and spelling needs to be accurate, but all other punctuation and grammar are poetic license (pun intended).
So here’s my Haiku poem from my teabag–
WAXING
Liquid dries and leaves–
A breakfast roll, crescent moon?
–Pacman’s gaping mouth
On days when I can’t focus enough to write, I like to jot down a short poem to help bring me back to concentrate on my work. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see a particularly interesting dust bunny that could be my next masterpiece.
Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
What’s New!
Free to Writers (or friends of writers)
Lynne Collier 