Author: Janyre

There’s Something About Deadlines

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It’s time for one of the two Thursdays of every month where I give a nod to the things that make us stop and say, “There’s something about . . . ”

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It’s spring break week here in Michigan.

I’m joining my friends, neighbors, and family in the water. Theirs is of the Florida-like, warm water beach variety and mine is, unfortunately, strictly metaphorical.

My fabulous kids are home and doing a great job of entertaining themselves while I work. So it isn’t their fault that I’m near drowning and the sharks are circling.

I have an overloaded schedule.

We’ve all been there. We’re happily going through life and we think, “Yes, I can take that project on . . . and that one . . . ” and then suddenly: Continue reading “There’s Something About Deadlines” →

Get Your Wallow On

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Get Your Wallow On

I’ll admit there are times when I get tired of looking for beauty in all the first-world ugly I see. I just want to wallow for a minute or two . . . or a week.

Just so we’re clear, to wallow is a verb meaning to roll about in the mud for refreshment.

Yep. Rolling in the mud for refreshment. Get out me out some tunes and get a little pig wallow on.

I don’t know about you but I’m not sure rolling in the ugly is refreshing. I know it isn’t pretty for anyone to watch and it makes me downright sticky and stinky. And yet I do it.

I find myself failing again and getting stuck there, burying myself in the ugly. Counting the ways life is hard:

Continue reading “Get Your Wallow On” →

There’s Something About Tuesday: Ordinary

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Ordinary

I can hear the whir of the dryer just under the sound of the kids playing soccer in the front yard. Dinner isn’t made. It’s five o’clock. And I can’t make myself worry about it. I’m having too much fun watching the kids laugh as they chase the ball—my girl with focused determination and my dude with antics and laughter.

The sun is breathing the first heat of spring and my skin soaks it up. Sometime within the last few days the daffodils have shot out of the ground and the buds have tipped, nearly bursting with their glorious yellow skirts. And the robins, frogs, ducks, heron, and other fair-weather friends have returned in full force creating a symphonic cacophony of summer sounds.

I can’t get enough.

Except,

In two months time it will all be so ordinary. And it’s a shame that the wonderful ordinary will go unnoticed.

I’ll be tempted leave behind the wonder when the everdayness wears the glory thin.

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So today, I challenge myself along with you to remember. Remember the blackness of the ant crawling across the sun warmed deck. The fluffiness of the first dandelion gone to seed. The smell of fresh air and dirt stained kids.

Savor today. Taste and see that it is good.

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Now it’s your turn. Share your favorite wonderful ordinary with the rest of us…

Trust, Sweat, and Tears

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Trust, Sweat, TearsI sat on the edge of my son’s bed, hands shaking, stomach roiling at the thought of what I had to do. String thread through my fingers, a loop hung in the middle.

His eyes were wide, tears brimming. It had to be done and there was no one else to do it.

The only reason my son sat still as I reached into his mouth, was because he trusted that I loved him . . . and it was, after all, only a tooth that needed to be pulled. Continue reading “Trust, Sweat, and Tears” →

Holding it Together

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Holding It Together
The end. It’s a topic that’s been creeping up on me for the last year or so. I’ve successfully ignored it as  I’ve watched my mom (the definition of super mom) get older, her steps more cautious, her hands less capable. And kept the thoughts at bay through the serious surgeries of my father-in-law, aunts, and my husband’s uncle. And even pushed down the inevitable as I’ve mourned the loss of the last of my grandparents.

I’ve been able to hold it all at arms length a bit. Things were just falling apart a bit, sure, but nothing irreparable. Nothing out of the norm or hugely unexpected . . .

Until we got the call early on a Monday morning. Chris’s uncle, the man who’d been the master of ceremonies for our wedding, had passed away. Uncle Roger had had heart surgery, but was doing well, last we knew. I saw him walking through church just a few weeks before, smiling, bestowing grace on everyone he passed.

Continue reading “Holding it Together” →

There’s Something About Thursday: Ode to Snowmageddon

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SnowmageddonBecause there’s just something about snow…

In honor of the snowmageddon* that has descended upon Michigan and graced us with a much-needed snow day, I give you:

The Snowman**

Rigid arms and legs
Six-sided spokes on a delicate wheel
Turning, twisting, charging to the ground
Embracing the waiting sisters
White and smooth in anticipation of being
Collected, rolled, and piled
Sculpted circles stacked
Decorated with stones, carrots, sticks and topped
With a lopsided hat***

*This is what we call 10 inches or more of snow received in 2 days time . . . particularly when it is wedged between balmy 50 degree days.
Please note: If you live in a warm climate, please refrain from commenting so here. We know you enjoy your warmth. We don’t need to be reminded that we are slightly crazy. And because we are slightly unhinged by the wild swing in weather, we might just contract an alligator to attack your front door (if you don’t recognize the reference, please check your Facebook memes. It is, apparently why we live in a place where the air makes our faces hurt.)
**If we’re honest, this is what we all hope our children will be building during their snow day so as not to be attempting to kill one another . . . or the dog, he’s just an innocent bystander. I will, in all honesty, be out building said snowman with them. Because I’m crazy like that. But only I can call myself crazy. I do have that alligator on speed dial. See above if you are confused.
***This most likely belongs to one of the neighbor kids, but I found it in the garage three weeks ago. Since my kids have left theirs somewhere (only the good Lord knows where), it will have to do. Hopefully it isn’t full of critters now making their home in my kids’ hair.

Writing a Picture

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WritingPart of an artist’s job is to see the things other people miss and introduce the two. As a novelist, I walk through life almost constantly distracted, curious about the frost creeping up the garage window, the lichen on a tree, the distinctive way someone walks or speaks.

I have files of disjointed impressions, thoughts, people, and scenes that just might eventually find their way into my writing. It’s me introducing something I saw or heard to you, my reader.

For example, I wrote this quick scene after walking my son to the bus stop. It was cold and my breath puffed in front of me as we walked by the forest path. And I suddenly pictured a frightened girl walking the path and just catching something out of the corner of her eye…

I blinked and he was gone. The vapor from his breath still rising in the air. Unconnected. Alone. I turned slow circles. Searching again.
The shadows shifted amongst the trees and I knew they’d sent him.
The colors bled around me watercolors dripping through space. Collecting at my feet.
My fingertips faded first and I watched as they dribbled into the flowing path.

Particularly for historical elements, I often write off photographs. And that got me thinking that maybe you folks might have interesting photographs that you’d be willing to share.

If you do, send me your pic to janyre@BeautifulUglyMe.com (along with permission to post the pic), and I’ll write a poem or short story and post it here for everyone else to read.

There’s Something about Thursday: Two Ways to a Better Home Life

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There’s Something about Thursday: Two Ways to a Better Home Life

Changing the way you look at your daily life, because there’s something about the way you think.

It’s Thursday, the day we stop and wonder, giving a nod to the things that make us stop and say, “There’s something about . . . “

 

2 Ways to a Better LifeA quick trip through the medical research in cyberspace will have you convinced that your brain is an amazing creation. Extremely powerful.

In addition to keeping your body functioning, there is research that proves a correlation between positive thinking and lower stress, healthier bodies, etc. All done with your brain. Who knew?

But positive thinking is a little easier said than done when you try and bring it home. Continue reading “There’s Something about Thursday: Two Ways to a Better Home Life” →

The Secret to Joyful Living

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Secret to Joyful LivingThe other day I was washing dishes, trying to find SOMETHING good in the pile of stuck on food. I looked up and outside my kitchen window was a mourning dove watching me. It sat there, with its black eye staring me down, calmly observing.

They’re a dime a dozen around my house. Awkward, bulky critters who spend much of their time alone in my trees coming down to scavenge, and lament to one another. (Apparently they’re rather like me . . . but that’s beside the point.)

Despite my somewhat pathological fear of being in close proximity to birds, its feathers looked so soft I wanted to hold the thing. I was amazed at how many tiny feathery appendages covered just the dove’s head. Continue reading “The Secret to Joyful Living” →

Oh the Irony!

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Oh the Irony!Life is full of irony. Things that look one way, but are, in fact, something else entirely.

Creepy or helpful? Spiders are rather, well, creepy, but they also keep down the level of mosquitoes buzzing around our heads.

Destructive or productive? Forest fires destroy huge swaths of woods, but the ash makes the land more fertile and without the smoke and heat, some seeds wouldn’t sprout.

It’s something I’ve found in my own personal life. Right isn’t easy. Sometimes being nice isn’t kind.

This week I realized that I spend a lot of time looking for, praying to find the place where I’m comfortable. And I’ve often equated that with being content. But it’s not.

Comfortable does not equal content.

I’m discovering that the things that make me uncomfortable, the weaknesses I fight, are sometimes my greatest strengths.

Like a lot of artists and writers, I fight negativity, depression, the ugliness. But, if I choose, the darkness that hides inside me forces me to see the goodness in others and the world around me. It drives me to be content.

It doesn’t make sense. But all the same, it does.

How about you? What are the ironies in your life?