the creative minimalist

The real meaning of Advent?

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Lit Advent candle

advent noun
1 the arrival of a notable person or thing: the advent of television.
2 (Advent) the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.
Old English, from Latin adventus ‘arrival’, from advenire, from ad- ‘to’ + venire ‘come’.

Advent has arrived. Of course, there is a certain irony to think of a period that looks forward as something that is here now. But thoughts like that seem particularly poignant this year. Every month, or week, or moment, I have thought we have got somewhere, arrived, only to realise that things have not improved or changed.

Things are different.

Primarily because of the pandemic and partly due to my laziness, I haven’t got an advent candle this year. It’s the first time in several years I don’t have one. I have found great comfort in the moments spent meditating and contemplating ‘stuff’ each day as one number at a time melted away. I don’t need a numbered candle for that but every symbol helps and is a gentle reminder that there is more out there than my own personal bubble of fears, worries and concerns.

The pandemic has disrupted things. It has disrupted routines. It has disrupted structure and function and forms of living. Whether any of the things it has disrupted could be called normal is debatable, but what is certain is that our regular has been disrupted.

Back to my lack of a candle: disruption to my regular. It is easy to focus on the negative of this disruption. To focus on what I don’t have and what I can’t have. The challenge is to look forward.

  • To focus on the horizon
  • To the way ahead
  • To the vision of what will be and what is to come
  • To know that what I do now is paving my path ahead, strengthening the tunnel through all of this

I don’t have a candle. You may not have a candle, or struggle to find any light, but it is there. We can all hold on to a little hope, a little faith, a little miracle. Despite all that the virus and 2020 si throwing at us, there is hope and there is light. The tunnel may be of indeterminate length but it will have an end and as we travel along the light will brighten. This is Advent.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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My December journal and planner set-up

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An overview of my December journal and planner set-up. My Bullet Journal has become more like a bullet journal. However, as I bring everything into one journal I seem to be using more journals! And can you believe it is December already? I hope you are all keeping safe and well? May your planning be happy and your journaling creative and rewarding.

Payment a Black Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

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A Black Fiction Writing Prompt to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

Yesterday, we gave thanks for all we had. But then we wanted more. Now the being before us demanded payment. A Black Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

Yesterday, we gave thanks for all we had. But then we wanted more. Now the being before us demanded payment.

Writing Prompt Expanded

This is a special Black Friday Fiction Writing Prompt. Following Thanksgiving, the Black Friday tradition pulls the US, and many others around the world, into wanting and buying more. We give thanks and then seek out that little extra.

This got me thinking about something dark to relate to the black. Yes, I know that the black refers to business bank account balances, but I am taking creative license here. Transactions are in the west commonly financial. But let’s step outside the ‘present your card to the machine’ routine.

  • What if this is no ordinary capitalist trade?
  • What if the being isn’t even human?
  • Has anyone been selling their soul recently?
  • What did your character desire that they would make such an offer?

Of course, this is your writing, and perhaps you’re using a metaphor to describe the cashier. But why use the metaphor, what’s the motivation behind that? As always, no rules, just write and have fun. Use them as a starting point for a short story or something a little more grandiose. And as you write, take a look inside and think whether or not you really need that thing you desire… and is it worth the payment being demanded… cue evil laugh!

If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments or use the tags #thecreativeminimalist #ffwp. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original hooded image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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Give thanks It’s Thanksgiving

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It is a day to give thanks. It may seem like these dark times will never end, but they will. We will look back and say,

‘do you remember when… ‘.

Situations change like the seasons. The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes. A time for all things. New things will come to pass and we will give thanks for those too.

In the meantime, I capture, collect and curate in my journals. I give thanks for all I have and realise that despite the frustrations and issues currently on my mind and besetting me (and others), I am blessed beyond all measure.

Thank you

We don’t do thanksgiving in the UK, which is a shame. Giving thanks and showing gratitude is an important thing. It should be a daily occurrence, and I try… another thing I attempt to capture in my journal and remember as I meditate and pray. It’s a double shame that we don’t do thanksgiving when we have imported the related, yet self-centred driven, Black Friday.

Having a day or a set time to give thanks enables us to pause. This year it can help us step back from the pandemic and take a moment to realise what we have, how precious those things are and to protect them until we step into the post violating world.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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What and where? – Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

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A Fiction Writing Prompt to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore.

It should be right where I left it on the cabinet, but it’s gone Friday Fiction Writing Prompt

It should be right where I left it on the cabinet, but it’s gone

Writing Prompt Expanded

This fiction writing prompt is all about exploring… well, exploring. Or more accurately, exploring a situation that begins with nothing and expands. You start with something missing, an empty space that, you believe should have something. From this start, the direction of what you write is completely up to you.

  • What should be there?
  • Where has it gone?

This could be a case of forgetfulness or something more sinister. Did you really put it there? Is your mind playing tricks, or not working as it should be? Has someone, or something moved it for whatever reason, or taken it? Could it be that you are remembering something that had been placed there many years ago, which is now long gone?

As always these writing prompts are optional and entirely open to your own interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story or something a little more grandiose. If you do write something, please share it or a link, in the comments or tag me. I’d love to read what you create. Write and enjoy the learning process.

Original shelf image by Bongkarn Thanyakij from Pixabay

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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