Friday Writings #248: Noisy!

Hello, Word Artists and Admirers! Once upon a time, I was scared of dogs. If you had told little me that not only would I grow up to love dogs, I'd voluntarily sign up to live with a super-loud breed three times in a row, she might have kicked your shin before running away.

Don't let her fool you...

she's LOUD when she wants to be

I think I forgot how loud corgis could be with my second one, Kit. That one relied on charm to get what he wanted. Faye, my first, could be loud but she often wasn't. Jelly Bean is a whole other story. My co-workers have gotten used to her indignant bark during meetings. (She can hear other people's voices but can't see them!) We do our best to encourage calm but, also like most corgis, she's a stubborn thing.

So in honor of my doggo's sonic bark, today's optional prompt is about noise. Write about a type of noise, literal or metaphorical. I'm good with fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose. Just remember, one post per person please and keep your pieces to 369 words or fewer.

Next week, we shall ask you to consider the following: If an angel were to give you a message, please tell us what you suppose it would be. 

Friday Writings #247: Reframing Negative Concepts

Greetings, dear poets and storytellers.

Sometime back (okay… last week), someone introduced me to a group of people as “our beloved black queen of toxic positivity”. Since I knew said someone can’t stand me and was just trying to be nasty, while pretending to be funny (in front of individuals who didn’t know me), I smiled my biggest (and creepiest) smile, and said, “Oh, thank you! I’ve always thought of myself as a Cognitive Reframing Ninja, but I’ll take queen. And black looks so good on me.” 

What can I say? I do embrace Cognitive Reframing. I consider anything that helps me take something bad and morph it into something I can work with (without screaming) a blessing. This applies to situations, people, concepts… all sorts of things. For example, the last time my therapist asked me to use one word to describe how I felt about the next 6 months, I said, “Uncertain.” And that isn’t a bad thing. With uncertainty comes opportunities, new beginnings, possibilities, creative unknowns… 

With that idea in mind, I invite you to write poetry or prose, which takes a negative concept and turns it into something positive. 

Add the direct link to your response to Mister Linky. One post per participant, please. 369 words maximum. Let your entry be new or old. Write to the prompt or to a topic of your choosing. Visit other writers. Share your thoughts on their thoughts. 

next week: We’ll ask you to write about a type of noise, literal or metaphorical.