Sometimes emotions are abiding and sometimes fleeting. Today’s prompt is to decipher what Meg Price’s dog is feeling. If you are a writer, explain it in words without sentences, and then use these words to write a paragraph. If words are flowing, write two pages, but start with specific words to force you to be deliberate in your choices. If you are an artist, create a similar emotion in an image. Are you a musician? Create a simple melody that goes with this picture.
I am going to make this a longer post to see what will happen to the reading time estimator that I just added above my post title. I am hoping that it adds value to people who are daunted by lack of time in their lives. By showing them that an article is indeed short, they will feel more inclined to read it. However, it is conversely good to tell people occasionally that articles are long, and in depth; hence, meaningful. The idea is to vary the reading times offered to alert the reader. Also, I plan to put summaries before long articles like I’ve seen on You Tube videos where timestamps show a breakdown of content like “chapters”. I hope to make the blog easy to scan and to navigate.
I am now going to wander from this topic because it has found a natural end. If I am going to write something longer, I’d rather not beat a dead horse, or bather myself into oblivion. What should I write about?
How about my day? I have learned today that being organized is not enough. There must also be a cooperative routine. I must make room for things unaccounted for because time management doesn’t always play nice with reality. Life on paper is not life in real. Life white space is a good term for this. It is keeping your schedule flexible by planning spaces into it. I read somewhere that the father credited with popularizing the notion of evolution and survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin, said “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change.” Well, well, well. I just looked this quote up to quote it and found out that he never actually said this. The real author was a business professor named Leon C. Megginson. That makes better sense to me. This SHOULD be said by a businessman to better support my point here. I am not discussing adaptation; I’m postulating about creating white space. I don’t want to have to change what I’ve planned to do because something came up–adapting–but, plan for things to come up–expectation. Planning for white space gives me options. I can use the white space I gave myself to not stress (something came up, but no big deal) or to de-stress (I have time to take a walk or talk to a friend). Plan for spaces, my friend, like this one
That was a large space. Not that I’m spacing out.
I call it “breathing room.”
Now I will take a moment to copy whatever I happen to open on my phone so I don’t have to create anything. I will just scribe.
I opened up an email that talks about how adding cinnamon to my daily diet may help prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. Cinnamon is the second most popular spice after black pepper in the United States, especially during fall and winter…do you know that cinnamon in your favorite gingerbread latte was once considered a rare, high-end luxurious item only noble pharaohs could enjoy? I’m skipping over a lot of content. Cinnamon was documented in the Bible and ancient books of Egypt and China. Ok. In Egypt, people would incorporate cinnamon for preservation and religious rituals. Among Europeans in the Middle Ages, having cinnamon showed off your societal status if you could afford it. Cinnamon regulates blood glucose, reduces cholesterol, balances the immune system, and benefits the cardiovascular system. I stopped scribing long ago. Can’t help it. Following the lines of someone else isn’t easy for me when I start writing. Cinnamon lowers blood lipids. It also inhibits bacterial growth, including e coli, salmonella, and staph. It is anti-cancer, and anti-tumor. It helps reduce the risk of gastric ulcers. It inhibits Helicobacter pylori’s growth and reduces the risk of chronic gastritis and stomach cancer. It is helpful in treating Parkinson’s, and helps prevent Alzheimer’s. Now the article is talking about adding it to soup, apple pie, muffins, and french toast. Really. That’s what it says. So cinnamon french toast will help me not get dementia. BUT–(there’s always a but)–overconsumption is bad. Your liver won’t like it. Your kidneys won’t either. So there it is.
Talk about wasting time here. All of this just to see if the reading time estimator will adjust with longer articles, or if it will only read the excerpt I have on the page. We’ll see I guess. I have a feeling that it will only read the excerpt, and that is why it typically only shows up on the Single Post page and not on the blog list. Here goes…
