The 5 Things I've Done Since Finishing My MFA

        I now realize just how time consuming working on my MFA was now that I am no longer working on it. Suddenly I have hours upon hours of time to fill up. I have to fill the time because I cannot tolerate just sitting still anymore. No, that is out of the question. So here are the 5 things I have done to keep myself busy. In no real order...

5.     Pandora it is the other half of my brain (I forgot that I can sing my ass off too). Now that I can read or write at my leisure I have been playing my station steadily. The station is based off of "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (Where the hell is she by the way?!? Lauryn, get in the studio! Please!!). I am amazed at the catalog of my music knowledge, and not just a song here or there. I am saying that within the first 16 bars I know whose song it is. Within the first 32 bars I recall the back round vocals, the chorus, and the dances from the video. I find myself dancing more in my seat more often than not and it is a heavenly change. Heavenly, considering that I was hitting my head to the keyboard attempting to finish a thesis just 2 months ago. Heavenly, to have a head full of lyrics.

4.     Blogging, obviously. I used to do this, and on a fairly consistent basis. Once I had the requirements of school and life it was impossible for me to do it. I just didn't have the head space. Now that I have picked it up again, I can say that my old posts suck. So essentially I spent several thousand dollars so that I could become a better blogger. Niice.

3.     Yoga! I had absolutely no time to center myself nor did I take time aline my chakras. I missed twisting myself into near impossible poses while breathing like the ocean (yes it breathes) and trying to blink sweat out of my eyes. I missed using super sized rubber bands and straps to hold poses on mats, blankets, and bricks (yoga or porno...hmmm)Yes...I did miss it, no sarcasm. Yoga is cleansing and strengthening, makes me too happy.

2.     Avoiding my family. They think because I'm no longer in school I am available to do their bidding. I hid whenever I can, and leave they are as soon as possible. I have a level of sanity now that I'd rather not lose if I can avoid it.

1.     Working on all the projects that have been calling out to me since I started school. I was roughly 1/2 way through my creative thesis (a novel) when I realized that I would much rather work on screenplays, films, and acting.Fairly inconvenient timing on the part of my creative self. I directed two episodes of my friend's webseries, Flour. Both are set to be featured at the LA Webseries Festival this March. (Flour is on the list!).

There are the 5 things that I have used to fill up my time. Still writing, remembering how to sing and center, and discovering even more about myself. I think that's time well spent.

Writing, Revising, Creating...is a Must and with Friends it's Sweeter...Cloudiness Permitting

Writing is something that stops me from going over the edge. The ability to create...

I was going for something deeper today. The meaning of writing, its way of keeping me sane but I'm going to be honest... My mind is far too cloudy. Cloudy with finances, jobs, relationship silliness and life. There are days I want to write, wait EVERY DAY I want to write (or just revise as previously stated). I feel the need to move my fingers swiftly over my keyboard and make these little black symbols fly up onto the screen. It's a bit overwhelming when I have a day like today when I want to write, but can't quite get myself to do it. Or to do it properly. Blogging is one way. It can (hopefully) keep my mind fresh, my fingers moving, and it allows me to do things like tag other writers who I respect, so I'll write about that.

I consider writer friends of mine...dear hearts with whom I have shared many a laugh, a word, and a glass of wine...Different genres, different people, yet they are all like me, just trying to keep work out there while writing amid the cloudy fog that is life.

Brianna whose writing makes my mind roll over, stretch, yawn and welcome the dawn of writing on another level altogether. Nothing is about what is written, but is fueled by what was meant.

Bill who is more than a writer. He is a creator of vivid images. There is no paintbrush involved. Only words. I read his work, and I can chew the gravel in between my teeth, feel the mud between my toes, I hear the bombs.

Lizz she is much loved by me. I am astounded by her mind and her abilities. Mostly her ability to persevere.  Her writings reflect much of this, and demands respect...projects clarity.

Michelle at first glance she is that sweet mom whose hugs you can't wait for, but her writing frequently explores the polar opposite. A dark vein runs beneath that sweetness, and that's what you want to tap into.

We all feel this burning desire to write and write properly. (define properly) Secretly, fervently, perhaps in a state of unconscious consciousness we desire to be noticed, to be praised, and understood. We write of what's been, what we know, and what we knew, what we felt, how we feel and what we hope. We have written because it was instructed, we have written because there is no other way for us to exist.

I wouldn't want to exist without writing. I couldn't. It keeps me whole and sane. For me there is a hint of rebirth with each keystroke. What was troubling me, isn't. What made me sad, feels much further away from me than it was just 15 minutes ago. In fact, I feel the cloudiness a tad lifted because of this time spent tickling my keyboard.

Sometimes I just have to force myself to create through that cloudy fog and be reborn again. They do, my aforementioned friends, and I will as well...and not because of them, or in spite of them, but blissfully with them.

Is the Rainbow Wireless Now?...

¨My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.¨ - Malcolm X

Is there a more wonderful thought? For me personally, no there isn't. How wise Malcolm was, and how sad it is that he couldn't spend the rest of his life just satisfying his curiosity. It would make me happy to do so.

As a child I learned to read at the age of 3. I always loved books and read all the time. In fact I swore that I would marry Levar Burton (no he's not gay lol and even if he was, still LOVE him), you know from Reading Rainbow, you remember. He always made each book feel like it would be more exciting than the one before; it made reading fun. It made me want to crack open that next book because I didn't know what I would learn or what would happen but; I wanted to know, and couldn't wait to find out.

Now it doesn't seem the same, especially for kids. You don't see them with books, unless they are reading the instruction manual for a new 3D game playing, mp3 saving, wireless, compact, touch screen, make your breakfast, do your laundry, GPS, 3G ithingie. NO not even then, instructions come on dvd now that self install and update themselves...
Don't get me wrong. I love technology...but I still read books though.

A great deal of people have given up on reading, at least that is what it feels like. I rarely see people in parks or on buses reading books anymore. Books, next to oral traditions, are society's oldest learning tool. So where have they gone? Why don't people take the time to read them anymore?

I have a position where I am paid to read books, whether I want to or not, whether I like them or not. I also have a stack of books I am slowly getting through, a library in my room as well as in my den. I am also a writer and read for research purposes. It sounds like a lot but I love it. Call me what you will but there is a thrill to learning.

Every time I open a book I allow someone's thoughts, ideas, life experiences, humor or intelligence to seep into my life. I have the chance of learning something I never knew, or refreshing my memory on an old topic. Learning to me is like breathing. I never want to stop doing that. It makes me happy beyond measure.

I think Levar Burton said that reading was fundamental on Reading Rainbow...and I still that that it is true.