My head is in the clouds..

How often do you hear “get your head out of the clouds, you’re not on the tv for God’s sake”? I can only speak for myself but I hear it a lot. I was thinking about those two images in a recent episode of daydreaming my day away.  I thought about having your head in the clouds. It made me nostalgic. If you ever have the good fortune to be at the top of a frosty mountain then you will experience what it’s like to really have your head in the clouds. I can describe it on two levels.  On a basic level it’s not all that different to being surrounded by fog. It doesn’t arouse the senses in any extraordinary way, that is until you think about where you are.. you are in the clouds that you spend your days staring at as you daydream. It’s a pretty amazing feeling once that realisation happens. What on earth (or not on earth) makes condensed water vapour so special?  What has created this perception of clouds being the gateway to heaven? Or somewhere we drift towards when we lack the energy or persistence to be present in the moment? I don’t know the answer. It’s interesting food for thought though.

The clouds are always improvising,  but the culprit is the wind.

I love this quote. We look at life through our everyday lense, rarely if every looking closer. This simple quote says that although something may be right in front of us there are invisible influences in the vicinity.  We do everything we do for a reason.  Each individual has their own reasons. We improvise our way though life. Just like musicians improvising a solo you’ll always hit an off note once in a while but sometimes that riff will just sound perfect. Life can take you anywhere, you just have to let the wind guide you.

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For Every Man, Woman and Child.

We must pray for Paris, there is no question but we must also pray for Beirut, Baghdad, Syria. We must pray for our world. Through the atrocities all over the globe we see the misguided in our world. I would not proclaim to be religious but to everyone on this earth I emplore you, pray in your own way. Pray in your own way and think of these atrocities, these global atrocities. We are all human, we are all good and bad. We must all learn this and come to learn from the past to ensure a better future.

It all sounds very grand and simple when I state such a solution. I ensure you, whoever you are taking the time to read and think, that I understand how complex these issues are. I’m sure you understand too, at least we all should try to. It is so difficult to grasp the extent of such an extensive situation. It is especially so when trying to understand from somewhere safe, where you haven’t been directly effected. But we must try to understand and through that, good will prevail. Our humanity will overshadow the darkness and education will guide us towards a safer world. An interesting quote which made me think.. “guns may kill terrorists but education kills terrorism”.

For everyone, every man, woman and child on this earth..

Let the flowers protect us, each petal keep us safe.

Let us be free from worry of the dark, each candle shines bright.

To all the people around the globe, I say to you stand tall.

With the same kindness in our souls, the same life in our bodies.

We are one people in one world of hope.

Stand tall as one people!

Stand tall as one world!

Stand tall for hope!

We must learn from each other,

From the past and the present,

So that life lasts forever,

As we all live in Heaven.

A Homage to an Incredible Community.

My writing journey began not so long ago. Although writing from a young ages, sharing the products of hours spent with my pen and paper was something very much limited to my immediate family or possible a close friend. Almost two years ago I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend, it turned out to be the beginning of a journey which is still continuing today. This friend introduced me to the wonderful world of The Inkwell writing forum. This incredible community of writers covered any genre you can think of. I was a late arrival to what was a vibrant and quirky forum. I began to write poetry on a more regular basis from then on, with inspiration from all the wonderful poets I found on the Inkwell. I published my first piece! Comments made on anything were always helpful and constructive. There was never a bad word said only suggestions and positive feedback. My personal journey on this forum was one full of inspiration and exploration.

The main protagonists of the forum, Silver and Lilith were the life and soul of The Inkwell. Their constant innovative ideas brought the forum to life, even when to numbers of users began to dwindle. Personally, their writing was an equal source of inspiration to their enthusiasm and energy, both within the genre of poetry and beyond. A huge part of life in The Inkwell was the infamous Half Hour Challenge (HHC). I’m sure that this was a huge part to many of the inkwellians around the globe. Another part of the puzzle is the connection the forum has to the online magazine Inkblots and Typing Spots. The excitement when my first piece was published here was phenomenal! It is an online magazine which publishes content from young and aspiring writers from across the globe, in a variety of writing genres and it is fantastic!

So why a homage to this wonderful community? After much consideration and deliberation it was recently decided that the forum will close. The numbers have dwindled too much and the work to keep the site running has become to great a task. It will be such a loss to those who are part of it but at the same time it was a privilege to be a part of. It is where I first christened myself as Ashcloud, the writer and poet. It is a place where so many of us made friends and shared with each other the joy of our own writing. Many debates were had and much fun was had. Thankfully Inkblots and Typing Spots will continue to run but we lose a great ally in The Inkwell. It will close in December but for now we can enjoy it a while longer. Our writing is open to the public to view, there is something for everyone so please feel free to look around the site (click here).

Being first and foremost I wrote a poem to commemorate The Inkwell and all those involved called Farewell to the Inkwell. And I shall leave you with that as my farewell from this post..

Adieu mon ami,
For now it must be
The end, our farewell, our adieu

Adieu mon ami,
Forever we will be,
A team beyond any description.

Adieu mon ami,
Full of fond memories,
Of our friendship and time spent together.

Adieu mon ami,
In our hearts you shall see,
The impression you left through your wisdom.

Farewell to the Inkwell,
You shall be missed dear,
Though your legacy shall continue,
Through the ones you held near.

 

Sleep Remedies: Myths or Simply Still Undiscovered?

We all have those nights don’t we? The nights where you are absolutely exhausted, but no matter how hard you try you just can’t stop your brain and your body from tossing and turning. In fact, the harder you try the more impossible it becomes to sleep! It’s a vicious circle that’s very hard to break free from.

I don’t know about you, but I have tried everything. I literally mean EVERYTHING. From breathing exercises to not eating dairy three hours before I go to sleep to putting away technology an hour before bed, it just didn’t work. (And that dairy one was torture! I LOVE cheese, milk and yogurts.. it’s nearly as bad as asking me not to drink water! Sorry, I know I’m going off the beaten track, but it’s got to be said cows are incredible animals.) Anyway, sleep remedies are something more and more sought after nowadays. Our lives are hectic and often there simply isn’t enough time to think of everything. We live in a world full stress, worry and constant going and it is scarily easy to forget all we have to cherish. This is where Lullaby by Jack Johnson came into my story.

Growing up I always had a huge love for music. My Mam passed on her love of Jack Johnson to me, I could listen to Jack Johnson singing and playing for hours on end and that’s what I did. The song Lullaby was the one that really struck a chord with me. And in this song I found my sleep remedy.

I’m not saying that everyone should go out to download the song, or buy the album and that it will instantly put them to sleep. (Although I do think it is a beautiful, understated song. So of course I would recommend a listen, if just for the sake of good music 🙂 ) What I will say though is that sleep and if needed sleep remedies are unique to each individual. My advice is to find something that reminds you of what you may have temporarily forgotten, the things to cherish. As Chubs from Happy Gilmore would say “find your happy place”, I don’t think he was far off. You know the feeling of warmth you get after a lovely day? It’s been busy but you know it’s going to be a day you remember. I slip into sleep so happily and easily after days like those. I believe that if we can find something, some song, routine or pillow to help us replicate that feeling, then so many sleep issues could be solved.

Sleep is unique to each person, I do wonder whether the sleep remedies which can ‘fix anyone’s sleep issues’ are just a myth. I’m not a doctor, or an expect in the area and my advice may seem too simple, I’m not saying that it is fool proof but it might be worth a shot. Even if it doesn’t help with falling asleep it may just make you smile or you may have found a new music artist to listen to 🙂

A Little Life

Another piece of poetry for you.. This one is much more recent than the last poem I posted (Waterworks) I hope that for those who read it, especially those who can really identify that it inspires hope. Hope to continue through the tougher times to reap the benefits of the good.

Little wishes, little lies,
Little sorrows, little joys,
A little part of me wants it to stop,
And let me rest, not a little but a lot.
Let me be away from life,
Let me be away from strife,
My brain says take me from the pain of each day,
But my heart says grant joy to make me stay.

….

All alone and far away,
Not for long but for today,
Sing to keep the blues away
And try to last another day.

All alone and far away,
Not for long but for today,
Written down for you to pray,
So you can live another day.

All alone and far away,
Not for long but for today,
Three deep breaths so you can say,
I will live another day.

….

Waterworks

This is a poem I wrote quite some time ago. It is one of my favourite pieces of my own writing to date, so I decided to post it here for those of you eager readers, writers and procrastinators who fancy a quick read! Feel free to be a peeping Tom and have a read. I love to hear interpretations of my poetry.. It proves how everyone takes something completely different from the same piece. Thanks for reading 🙂

It starts as a trickle, deep within the ground,
One day bursting from dark caverns, moaning silent sounds.
The water erodes the toughened ground and carves wrinkles in its face.
Flowing wild, furrowing down, to find a new hiding place.

It gushes down the mountain, with speed and power as a guide.
It begins to slow and mellow coming nearer to the tide.
From waterfall to river, from river to gentle stream,
As quiet as it came to be, the water vanishes under the evening beam.

So this is me..

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Dia duit (Hello) to all.

As this is my first post I thought I’d give anyone who has the patience to read, a little introduction to me, the person behind the words on your screen.

I’m a young woman from Ireland (if you didn’t already guess from my hello). I am passionate about languages, even though my spelling can be questionable at times (Thank God for autocorrect!). I am training to be a primary school teacher and I am a huge rugby fan.

So as you’ve probably already guessed by the very fact that I’m starting a blog, I love to write. Poetry was, and probably still is, my first love. I find it such a release from the chaos of every busy day. Even more importantly though, it releases stress and provides somewhere to escape to when things get tough. I don’t know about you but I think everyone needs some kind of outlet like that, even if it’s as daft as interpretive dance! All jokes aside though, having a break is so important.

For me writing is one break, another hugely important hobby is music. I’m a singer who has a passion for playing her ukulele and guitar. Although admittedly it has gone by the wayside as of late it will be revived again soon… I hope!

To the person who actually set up this account, I must thank you. Maybe you’ll be the only person to read this, maybe you’ll be one of many. Either way, you knew this was something I needed and you helped me to get started, so thank you.

So I realise now that I’m not all that sure what I will be writing about here yet. Although uncertain, what I can guarantee is some variety.

So I suppose I’ll leave it there so as to appear somewhat mysterious and alluring. It may just entice someone who has made the effort to read to the end (go you!) to come back and visit, to see what’s floating in the ashcloud 🙂

Thanks for reading!