Seven Sentences | Archive

Archive - January, 2012

Stick to the Truth

January 31, 2012 3 Comments

Today’s Seven Sentences is from regular contributor Eleanor Biddulph. Read Eleanor’s blog here and follow her on twitter

As an “older” college student nearing the end of my formal education, yet still trying to find my way, I signed up for a senior experience class called My Life, My Story.

Our very first assignment was to write about a specific place from our childhood with this instruction: ”Be specific, be detailed, dig deep, you’ll be amazed at what you find.”

I wrote five pages about my best friend’s living room; her Mom welcoming us each day with genuine interest and affection, her sisters simultaneously loving and bickering, her Dad quietly tolerant of so many females, other friends from the neighborhood popping in and out, life lessons shared with humor.

My paper was returned with this note, “You must write more.”

Over the course of the ten week class, the professor cried when I wrote about my dad’s death, he gave me a hug when he returned my paper about my Mom’s Alzheimer’s; he marveled at my description of an ocean sunrise, he criticized
my attempts at fiction.

“Stick to the truth,” he said, “your heart has a unique voice to give it.”

And so, I write.

2012 Copyright Seven Sentences – Eleanor’s Guest Blog

Dreams Give Birth To Creativity

January 30, 2012 42 Comments

Today’s Guest Post is bought to you by Carolyn Nicander Mohr you can read her blog Wonder of Tech here or follow her on Twitter.

Before the cacophony of sensory stimuli trespasses on my thoughts, I collect the ideas my mind processed throughout the night.

Dreams, nightmares and imaginations combine to stimulate my brain. Insights about the past, anticipation of the future and revelations about the presence form a peace that I am where I am meant to be. My mind is fertile soil for a story to germinate.

Dreams mold my characters, nightmares mold my plot, and reality leaves on hiatus as I craft my creation. I rouse only after I have settled upon the outline of my story in my mind. Once I turn on the light to scribble my thoughts, my creative zone will be shattered.

2012 Copyright Seven Sentences - Carolyn Nicander Mohr Guest Blog

Why I Have Survived, Despite Being Dealt a Death Sentence

January 29, 2012 10 Comments

My doctors told me that the only way to prolong my life was to take a daily regiment of medication and never miss a dose.

My fitness buff friends and coaches said that the only way to live past my doctor’s timeline was to lift weights, do cardio, and maintain a fit body.

My religious friends and advisers told me that the only way to survive was to give myself up to God, pray for his support, and leave everything in God’s hands.

My positive thinking friends told me that I had to think only positive thoughts and breathe out the negative thoughts.

My nutritional nut friends explained that eating a healthy diet and banning junk food was the only way to live longer.

My yoga enthusiast friends and instructors relayed that in order to make it, I must meditate, stretch, and find my inner self.

I believe that I am here today, one of the longest surviving HIV+ people in the universe, because I took everyone’s advice and did a combination of all of these things.

Vaughn Ripley is the author of “Survivor: One Man’s Battle with HIV, Hemophilia, and Hepatitis C.” He’s a happily married daddy with three loving children and a perfect (close to it) wife. You can read more of his insightful thoughts at his blog: http://hivlongevity.com or follow him on Twitter @vripley.

2012 Copyright Seven Sentences – Vaughn Ripley’s Guest Blog

The Loneliness Epidemic

January 28, 2012 2 Comments

Underneath the physical world there is a vast network of connections that we cannot see.

A river of private meaning runs under the surface of all human lives.

So much of what is important in each person’s life can never be seen, felt, known, or understood by any other person.

Between me and the person next to me on the bus, there is a distance greater than the 3,000 miles between New York City and Los Angeles.

I can know that 4,000 people were laid off when a company closes, but I can’t ever know how that job loss mixes it up with all the other realities in any of those people’s lives — and not one of them can know it for any other.

Loneliness is epidemic in this world, but no one is racing for the cure.

Compared to the pain of knowing I’m a prisoner living a life sentence inside my own skin, what does it matter that The New Yorker will never assign me an article or that I’ll never have the economic means to get a Master’s degree in history or literature?

Today’s Guest Blog was written by Kathy Kattenburg. Kathy has two blogs, Left Handed Nib & Sea of Reads. You can also follow her on Twitter here.

2012 Copyright Seven Sentences – Kathy Kattenburg Guest Blog

The River Of Life

January 27, 2012 8 Comments

One of the things I enjoy the most, is following different routes to reach a destination. Little alleys I didn’t suspect existing, unanticipated detours and shortcuts, smells, colors and voices that were hiding from me all along until I passed them by. The graceful, yet sad state of deterioration of an old house; the sorrow of lovely corners lost forever and the elation of discovering a recently planted fragrant jasmine venturing up a stone wall.

The adage that one can never enter the same river twice comes from an ancient Greek philosopher, very dear to my heart. But I read Heraclitus’ fragments a long time ago, under different circumstances and with different feelings. When opening the same book now, it is another me, another set of needs, urges and aspirations that pushes me through the pages, another melody that I hear gushing from its lines.

It is being conscious of the moment that makes the difference between being human and being an automaton.

Eleni Poulakou believes that we should LIVE before we leave this beautiful world for good. On her blog WritersWritingWords she writes about timeless myths, stories and dreams of the human heart and how they concern us today. She’d love to connect with you on Facebook or tell you her stories at Squidoo.

2012 Copyright Seven Sentences – Guest Blogs

Can You Answer This Question?

January 26, 2012 3 Comments

Why do you do what you do?

A reason critique of this blog read… “I am not a fan of a blog of this style for it poses questions rather than giving any real answers.”

Questions are better than answers.

Answers are absolute, questions are doorways into another world.

What deeply honest questions have you asked yourself today?

A pilgram goes on a journey to find the answers to his questions. And yet perhaps the answer is found in the pilgrams journey and not in his or her destination.