Tag Archives: Social media

February 28, 2025 · 4:29 pm

The Creative Process Part 2

Every week there is a poetic battle challenge (X account is @The_PoetryArena) I compete in on a regular basis. Prompt word is revealed on Wednesday. Then poets submit their poems on Friday / Saturday. Five poems are selected as finalists on Monday. The community votes on Tuesday and then Wednesday the winner, crowned as the Voice Of Valo(U)r, provides the next prompt word.

This morning the muse hit me again as I was driving to school. I had this idea of “sheltering in place”. And I honestly don’t know where the idea came from, but as I was driving the idea blossomed into an idea of a newscast stating the command.

Again, when I got to school I started jotting down the idea. The first draft was kind of short and actually more like just the idea. I had some lines down but more notes of imagery and theme.

Then came the second draft.

The poem wanted form. This honestly is the magic of writing. I didn’t actually research more traditional poetic forms, I ran with the idea of using a rhyme scheme of AxAxBxBx and so on. I did think about syllable count per line, but decided to run with a more natural break in the lines.

As you can see I had to actually identify the rhyming lines because as I edited for flow and word choice, I got lost on which line needed the rhyme.

Another magical aspect about this poem is that I had no idea how it would end. As I wrote the poem, the theme emerged through the rhymes and play on words. And I also felt the weight of what is going on in our country mix with the tension of what I believe life should be about, come through in the lines as I wrote. I wasn’t planning on a happy ending… but it is an honest ending.

I did some heavy editing on the second draft, then transferred the poem to my computer so I could submit the poem to this week’s battle. And so, it will be interesting to see the poetic journey this poem takes.

The overall process was the same for each poem, but this time there was more work involved in the final draft. Even though I wasn’t using a traditional poetic form (which sometimes calls for a lot of editing) this poem’s creation was more intense. I had to mesh the rhyming rules with my idea. That work was a joy though.

Feel free to comment about your creative process in the comment section or on social media.

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Tagged as creativity, draft, edit, idea, muse, Poem, poetic forms, poetry, rhyme, Social media

February 27, 2025 · 10:12 am

The Creative Process

Yesterday, the muse hit me as we were on our way to school. I was driving, so I kept repeating some lines of a poem in my head so I could jot them down when I got to my classroom. As it happens, more lines came to me as we got to school.

As soon as I sat down, I released the poem onto a yellow legal notepad. I thought it would be fun to share my creative process on X as I spent time working with the poem.

Here are those posts:

Post One:

Love the creative process… first is jotting down the lines I had in my head as I was inspired on the drive to school…

Post Two:

The second step (for me with poetry) is to consider if the main idea of the poem can be better expressed through a poetic form. So what I will do is consider the rules of longer poetic forms (the poem is a page long at the moment. If a form stands out I will rough draft (cont)

the poem in that form. Then I have to make a hard creative decision. I decide if the poem works in the poetic form, or as written. I will still work on word choice, flow, things like that after that decision… I’ll let you know what I decided when I get the chance…

Post Three:

So step two has been completed. I will not be using a traditional poetic form, I will work with the poem as it was written on the page (step three). Forms I did look at: cywydd deuair hirion, kyrielle, rimas dissolutas, and Ya-du to name a few….

Post Four:

Step three of the process is the work on the poem. I have edited the original draft, but now have rewritten the whole poem on a new sheet of paper working the edits in. The 2nd draft also focuses on line breaks, tempo, things like that… I will rewrite the whole poem (cont)…

a number of times. I do that so I experience the whole poem, not just the edits. When I feel I have the poem ‘right’ I will transfer it to my computer.

Post Five:

Side note for creativity… To a degree I trust my gut regarding decisions about the poem. No poetic form felt like it would enhance the theme of the poem, trust the feel of the words on the page as I write. So, there is always the risk of getting something ‘wrong’ (cont)

in the sense that the poem isn’t the best it can be. Or the bridge to the reader is not strong. But the more one works on their craft, they can trust their gut more, and be OK when it doesn’t seem to hit correctly…

Post Six:

Step 4 is easy. Transfer of the work onto my computer. But step five is a challenge… what to do with the poem. I was going to share it in the next post, but as soon as I do that I can not submit the poem for publication consideration… And I like how this poem (cont)

turned out. I like the imagery and the theme. I want to share it, but am now thinking about seeing if someone else would like it enough to publish it. So, at the moment I am going to submit it to some journals. Hope you enjoyed this look into the process of writing a poem today!

And so I have a new poem in my folder “unpublished 2025” and I am looking for opportunities to submit the poem.

When I write blog posts (like this one) and short stories, even my novel ideas. Step one is kind of the same. I do like to get ideas down on paper, even if I use my phone to record an idea, like I do when I walk. I personally like the sense of creation as I write. The feeling of the pen, the way the ink evolves into words.

In some ways, I can’t forget about that idea because it is in the real world. So, would love to hear about your creative process. Share in the comments, or reach out to me on social media.

Here’s to a creative day!

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Tagged as creative, creative-writing, draft, drive, muse, paper, pen, Poem, poems, poetic forms, poetry, process, publish, Social media, writing

December 30, 2023 · 7:32 pm

One Word 2024

Puzzle piece with the word, Real written on it.

This is the 10th year of my family choosing one word for the new year. Yes, everyone in the family picks their word then we display it in the house. This year we have magnetic puzzle pieces that are displayed on a metal plate we are hanging in the dining area. The puzzle is put together. Our older children have a second puzzle piece to take with them to display in their own homes, but we wanted to have all the family words in the house to symbolize that we are still together even as life is taking everyone on their own journey.

My word for the year is REAL. My first thought was to use IRL, but it felt too ironic to use a texting phrase for the purpose of my word, even though it fit my goal associated with the word. To be more real in my life.

Yes, part of the idea is to not spend so much of my life in front of a screen. At least not doing meaningless things. Obviously many aspects of my life, my poetry, my writing, even friendships, are connected to the digital world. But I want to choose real experiences first, choose people, choose playing games, walking, and conversing with others. Even in the digital world. I want to make the connections I have with people more than a shallow tweet or clicking an icon.

The other aspect for choosing the word is meant to help me breakout of the wall around my heart / spirit. I wrote about this feeling in November of 2022 in the blog post, “Tigger”. That feeling of living behind a wall was reinforced this year for a number of reasons. Yes, the passing of my mom and mother in law is part of it, but there are other small daily things that have added bricks to the wall I have constructed; from the classroom to the hurdles of chasing my dreams. I’ve spent too much energy adding bricks and mortar around my heart.

I am hoping this word helps in removing them because I don’t know how to get back to feeling happy and unafraid of living freely.

So my word for 2024 is REAL.

If you participate in the one word idea, share yours in the comment section.

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Tagged as connections, feeling, heart, mom, one word, people, real, screen, Social media, Tigger

March 21, 2022 · 9:36 am

This is the Worse Blog Post Ever

Can I ask you a question?

Why did you follow the link? What did you expect to see or read? Are you already tempted to X out of the tab and move on to something else?

I understand that I used a clickbait title to lure you to this blog post. And that is what I want to talk to you about in this post. The emptiness of clicking in our interactions with others and the shallowness it brings to our lives.

Can I ask a few more questions, just to get you thinking about the topic?

How many heart icons, thumbs up icons, or retweet icons have you tapped today?

Did you interact with the person in the comment section or leave a reply?

Now, I own up to the same behavior. I am just as guilty of retweeting a bunch of #vss365 (Very Short Stories 365) stories on most days. I tap the heart icon on Instagram pictures, too. I will read a blog post and hit the like icon (and usually the share buttons too).

But I’ve been trying to interact more with the people behind the icons. To build connections, however small, with others. To let them know that their words, their pictures, their small windows they share with the world are not simply viewed and forgotten.

Because I know the empty feeling one gets from social media. The feeling of screaming into the abyss we tag with the ironic label “Social Media”. But I’ve been thinking about the other side of the abyss, the emptiness I get by just scrolling, by hitting an icon that is supposed to mean I love something… yet, I don’t really love that image. I thought it was cool, yes, but it was forgotten in minutes. I agree with a blog post but the writer doesn’t see me nodding my head.

Let’s add a layer to this idea; how much time is lost filling in icons that don’t really match our feelings at that moment? How much of our daily life is filled with empty motions that don’t fill our emotions?

I’m afraid of the answer. I’m afraid of the cost to our sense of purpose and even the simple joy of being connected to people when our only connection is a blue thumbs up icon. We are more complex as people than an outlined icon that is filled with a tap. Joy and belonging are built through connections, even digital ones. We can handle emotions like heartache and loneliness because we have people in our lives that can take some of the weight of those emotions from our heart, but only if we have true connections with people.

Social media is an incredible tool. I actually enjoy using it (been on Twitter since 2008) to share my talents… and to make connections. I think we should spend more time fostering those connections instead of simply scrolling past the content other people took the time to share with us. I bet the reason they shared it was in the hope it would make a connection with someone (at least that is why I share my writing).

I am sorry for using a clickbait title. If you are actually still reading this, I am grateful. Thank you. Leave a comment, let’s connect.

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Tagged as blog, clickbait, connections, facebook, instagram, life, person, short story, Social media, time, twitter

March 7, 2022 · 10:20 pm

We are Glow in the Dark People

At church a couple of weekends ago the priest started his sermon by showing us his glow in the dark rosary. He asked if anyone knew how it worked, what was the chemical process to have the beads glow in the dark. He hinted at the answer, but quickly said he simply liked to think that the beads simply reflected back the light they absorb.

The rest of the sermon was built on that idea correlated with a person’s spirituality. But even if you are not a religious person, I think we all are glow in the dark people. We reflect the light we absorb.

I mention this quote in my first post for this blog:

With the technology we have today though, there are more factors that influence what light we shine back. There are all the forms of social media, music, and just the influence of pop culture in general. Sadly, most of the light that comes from these sources are filtered and have a meanness tint to them.

What I find most disheartening is the attitude that we are not responsible for the light we choose to absorb, then reflect back to the world. I do believe that we choose what we let into our lives, into our hearts. Whether it is hours of TikTok videos, a good book, or the latest slogan we simply repeat because everyone else is repeating it, we decide what kind of light, what kind of people we are in this world. We glow in the dark, and the day time, with the light we allow into our lives. We are glow in the dark people.

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Tagged as books, inspiration, life, light, music, people, rosary, Social media, TikTok

September 16, 2021 · 9:46 am

What Do You Say?

I’ve been trying to come up with a clever introduction for this post. I’ve also spent time considering the tone of the post and how I can make the topic more reader friendly, more optimistic. I decided that the idea needed a more direct approach.

What you say is important.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking to yourself while addressing a golf ball on the fifth hole.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking about your spouse to coworkers.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking on social media.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking about people you don’t even know, like actors or athletes.

It doesn’t matter if you are talking to your kids.

It doesn’t matter when, who, or what you are talking about. What you say is important.

Here’s why.

Words are powerful. They create emotions. They create community. They create works of art. They can build or destroy a relationship, a team, and even a nation.

Words create the way we see the world around us. I could give a thousand examples, but the message would be the same. What you say has power. It is your responsibility to handle that power. What do you say?

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Tagged as build, destroy, poetry, say, Social media, talk, Taylor Mali, words

December 28, 2020 · 10:28 am

What are the Words?

A few weeks ago I attended an online education conference. The keynote speaker shared some information that got me thinking. He said that the use of the word “Love” had been decreasing in music. He did not provide any reference for this information. I tried to find a source to collaborate what he said. I couldn’t, but it still got me thinking because I use pop culture in my classes to make connections for the students. So, I decided to do an unofficial analysis of the top three songs from 2020, 2010, 2000, 1990, 1980, 1970, 1960, and 1950 according to Billboard’s Year End Hot 100 chart. I thought the top three songs from the years listed would give a good snapshot of what was popular at that time.

I created word clouds from the lyrics of the top three songs for the year. The most used words are larger in size. Stop words were automatically deleted (this was a challenging decision because these words were used in titles, but using them cluttered the word clouds). I removed all words that only appeared once in the songs. I’ll start with the word cloud, list the top three songs, and then share my insight briefly. Again, this is an unofficial look at these songs, but it is worth thinking about. Let’s start with 1950.

1 . “Goodnight Irene” by Gordon Jenkins & The Weavers

2 . “Mona Lisa” by Nat King Cole

3 . “Third Man Theme” (Instrumental) by Anton Karas

It is obvious that names are the most used words in this word cloud, especially since one of the songs was an instrumental. “Lovely” does appear in the list.

1. “Theme from A Summer Place” by Percy Faith

2. “He’ll Have to Go” by Jim Reeves

3. “Cathy’s Clown” by The Everly Brothers

“Love” is a main word, but not the most used. The overall feel of the word cloud is about relationships. I find it interesting that we have a name again as a main word.

1. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel

2. “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by The Carpenters

3. “American Woman” by The Guess Who

This word cloud is tough to get a general feel for because the top three songs are so different in theme and style. The word “love” does not show up in any form.

1. “Call Me” by Blondie

2. “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II” by Pink Floyd

3. “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John

Knowing the songs, I was surprised that the words “brick” or “wall” were not more prominent. But “love” appears as a main word again, even with such a diverse group of songs.

1. “Hold On” by Wilson Phillips

2. “It Must Have Been Love” by Roxette

3. “Nothing Compares 2 U” by Sinéad O’Connor

These songs had a similar vibe, which actually made for a smaller word cloud. “Love” is present now in three out of five word clouds, four if you count “lovely” in the 1950 word cloud.

1. “Breathe” by Faith Hill

2. “Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas

3. “Maria Maria” by Santana featuring The Product G&B

“Love” makes it into the word cloud (I did not place it in the center). Funny how Santana owned the year 2000, his name is a prominent word in the word cloud, too.

1. “Tik Tok” by Kesha

2. “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum

3. “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train

This word cloud is filled with a variety of words, but “love” is not one of them. The songs range in topic and style, which presents a mumbled visual. I did notice that there are now words like “drunk” and “party”. Not that these words have never been in a song before, but these are the top three songs for that year.

1. “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

2. “Circles” by Post Malone

3. “The Box” by Roddy Ricch

“Love” makes it into the word cloud, but what you don’t see in this visual may be of more importance. This is the first word cloud that I deleted derogatory terms and the F-word.

This is an unofficial look at the lyrics of popular songs. It is by no means meant to make a blanket statement about music or our culture. But it is worth thinking about because words have power, and our kids are singing these songs, making TiKTok videos to them. Pop Culture delivers a message to our society. Songs are part of that message. What are your thoughts on what you see happening with lyrics over the decades?

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Tagged as culture, lyrics, meaning, music, popular, Social media, society, songs, word, word cloud

March 17, 2019 · 9:03 pm

Blueberry Muffin Rant

I was going to write a post that just ranted about life. About student apathy. About the cruelty of social media. About drivers that run red lights. About how parents abuse their children. I was going to rant about everything. As I made muffins this morning, I was in a sour mood for a number of reasons.

But as the timer went off on the oven and I pulled the muffin tins out, I had to smile as the warm aroma of blueberries and chocolate chip muffins filled the kitchen. I returned to cooking the scrambled eggs wishing everyone could have a Sunday morning breakfast like ours. My youngest daughter came bouncing into the room, “Is it muffin day?”

“Yes, little one. It is muffin day.”

She curled up on the couch in a blanket, then started to ask me 5 year-old questions.

To be honest, I still want to rant. But I realize that my rant won’t change the unfairness in this world. Or stop somebody from writing a hurtful comment on social media. My rant would not save a child’s life today.

Sadly, I know that this post won’t do that either. But instead of ranting, I choose….

I choose to believe that education is about growing as a person, not a grade.

I choose to read more books instead of looking at a screen.

I choose to listen instead of talk.

I choose to believe in sunsets and sunrises because you can see them from anywhere.

I choose to write poetry, blogs, and stories so that someone reads a message that they need.

I choose to post crazy photos on Instagram.

I choose to tell dad jokes to everyone.

I choose longer hugs and holding hands with my wife.

But most important, I choose to love, no matter how much the world keeps trying to hurt me.

I choose to love.

I choose LOVE.

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Tagged as blueberry muffins, dad, education, father, grades, heartac, heartache, instagram, jokes, Josh Groban, life, listen, love, pain, photos, rant, screen, Social media, talk

October 3, 2012 · 10:32 pm

Happy Birthday?

What does it mean if I only had two people wish me happy birthday on social media?

In the overall scheme of things, it doesn’t mean much. I could have written a post to notify everyone that it was my birthday and received the traditional responses. But I didn’t. And therefore there was no stream of birthday wishes on Facebook or Twitter.

So, why am I writing about it if it didn’t matter?… Because it is a chance to explore social media’s connection with human relationships.

Birthday Cookie

My family sang “Happy Birthday” to me as we shared birthday cookies from Eileen’s. I got cards from my parents and friends, and laughed with my best friend about getting “old” and the irony of our age getting closer to our golf scores for 9 holes on the phone. I also got to host a workshop I designed for creative apps in the classroom.

The two birthday wishes I got via social media made me feel good, especially as the day wore on and nobody else wrote anything to me. Of course, it got me thinking about what social media is and what we expect from it.

First, what did I expect from my social media connections? Some of my connections are with people I consider friends; others are people I know I would be good friends with if we worked together or lived in the same area. Even more connections are surface relationships made through social media because we are interested in the same things or working in the same field. Then there is connections, especially on Twitter, that are purely one sided. I follow bands, athletes, and/or other powerful people that do not even know I exist, even if I do reply to one of their tweets.

What do these connections mean for me, for anyone? It lets us be heard.

That is a powerful motivator (as expressed in the above movie clip from 12 Angry Men). We now can all be quoted. But that single aspect can lead us to believe that social media is more than it is. I see (or read) many people who use social media as the main facet of living. The worst example is reading as a marriage disintegrated into divorce through Facebook updates. Comments left on social media is not living. Yet we can find ourselves sitting in front of a screen waiting for something to happen, most of the time just a response to our post… a reinforcement of our existence.

At this time in our society we are working through these social issues. Finding that balance between our life in front of a screen and the life we have in front of our eyes. The hard part is both affect our hearts.

The only answer I have at the moment is that I believe that social media, even just technology should be approached with the idea of enhancing our lives. Allowing us to feel, share, or express our lives on deeper levels than we could not do without it. From sending pictures of the grand-kids to the grandparents as we play in the park, to sharing lesson plan ideas with a teacher in Georgia. Social media and technology allows us to experience and share life with close friends and family, but even more powerful is the ability to make connections that enrich our lives. But we need to remember that life happens away from the screen and that there is a person behind the avatar.

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Tagged as life, Social media, technology

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