"If you will call your troubles experiences and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be..."
-John Heywood
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Experience - the conscious events that make up an individual life; something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through (definition - courtesy of dicionary.com)
Experience is a word that crops up everywhere in life.
To get the good job they want experience.
To understand the value of friendship it takes an experience shared.
To write a great story they say write from experience.
To truly know sorrow we experience loss.
To truly know happiness we experience love.
Which experience? Which set of events do we catalogue as experience?... All of them.
Life is a collection of obstacles, of dreams, of needs, of wants, of desires all culminating into one experience. How could we call life anything but wonderful? It is the journey & the result. It is both beginning and end.
Experience should never be looked at negatively. It should always be positive.
The traffic jam is a time to think about the day's agenda or to reflect on the shared moments from the night before.
The years spent in an office, toiling away at charts and reports should be seen as character building and a lesson in how not to or how to treat those around us.
The days spent washing clothes, cleaning house, aiding with homework, laughing out loud, shedding tears and wiping noses should be acknowledged as an empowering experience- as touching the life of your family & being touched by their love in return.
These are all experiences that crop up in books. We reach for the shelves searching for someone who has written about experiences we relate to or those that we only dream about. Every page offers one more bullet on our life resume. Though we are reading and vicariously living through a character we are experiencing the emotions all the same.
So keep collecting things to list. Even when it seems that the experience is one that does not make you smile immediately. Remember that those experiences are the ones where we learn so much about ourselves...they are the cherished ones that show our inherent characteristics...
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Experience the blogosphere...
Elle asks why you put a book down? (or don't?)
Elana asks What Makes a Good Writer?
Raquel has a great list of upcoming Blogfests! Check it out!
Congrats are in order for Carrie Harris! Her Book Bad Taste in Boys has a release date! Yep! Scoot over and don't run scared from the Richard Simmons photos!
MaryBeth poses the ultimate question: Why don't they have Summer Reading Program for Adults?
Sara is giving away
SISTERS RED & The Tension of Opposites ends 7-4-2010 hurry go enter!
Win the Truth Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn over on Jennifer's site! She has 500 followers - CONGRATS JENNIFER!!
Have a Magnificent Monday!
*Yes I was MIA all last week...I plan to do a post about that tomorrow - crazy experiences in my household lately but I am truly cherishing these... ;o)
So true! That's why I really can't begrudge my time in horrific jobs... they make for some great novel material!
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your crazy week. Hope this one's better for you!
Yay! The princess is holding court once again! You were missed, girl - even by a fellow MIA blogger club member. It's an exclusive club and we are happy to have you! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's why I carry my pocket digital recorder, my dear. Everything is fodder for my writing!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!! :)
Your outlook is always so "healthy". And you're young enough to have the potential for true happiness. When thinking about my motherly role, I always say, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." It's the only kind of positive viewing I can muster when parenting a special needs child. But you get my drift...still seeking the silver lining ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy day job (teaching) is full of experiences of all kinds :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links!
Very cool of you to give me a shout out. Lots of great blogfests comning up...I can't wait to read everyone's entries. I always learn so much about style and pace, etc.
ReplyDeleteExperiences...true about them shaping us. I'm trying to layer my characters more and this post helps a lot. Thanks!
You always have a such a positive outlook. I'm envious! I just look at everything in my life and curl up in a ball to try and escape it for a while! LOL
ReplyDelete