Five Minute Friday

A blogger's prompt! Back in the day, many bloggers provided link-back interactives with prompts of one kind or another. They were thee thing. Not only did they function like little pylons directing reader traffic toward our blogs, but they made friendships amongst fellow-bloggers -- and they were lots of fun! Sadly, very few still exist that I remember from the heyday of hobby blogging (roughly 2005-2015 when Facebook and other instant social media platforms took over). I still do Simple Woman Monday, but I don't use the link to the original site (though I think I could...? Maybe I should?), and I love to do Sepia Saturdays when I have time to do the research and put time into those. But I miss having the variety -- and, after thirteen years of blogging (with recent hiatuses), I was hoping to find something to wake me up shake things up around here, and went on a little key-word hunt.

This is what I found: Five Minute Friday. It's a Christian writer's resource that provides a prompt and link-up. I love that it's Christian: so, little worry about inappropriate links; though many denominations will likely be represented, we learn to live alongside one another in the real world by picking and choosing the depth of our involvements with one another, and I've found this to be likewise true in the blogosphere. If someone has a problem with the fact that I am Catholic, they can just scroll right on past; and if I have a similar problem, I do the same. But, I love the idea that these are 5-minute timed stream of consciousness exercises. I haven't done that sort of thing since college -- at least not officially... on purpose... 😉 My life is actually a bit of a stream-of-consciousness, in which I am constantly going back and editing-- or trying to. But, the rules of the prompt restrict participants to only editing typos and no research is allowed, just brain storming, and we have to stop at five minutes -- so this is an exercise that will not be a time drain. Only a brain drain. And not much of that! 

So, here we are; today, Friday, the 27th of August, 2021 and my first (midlife) attempt at stream of consciousness writing (look out, y'all). The prompt word this week is: desperate. Ready, set, go!

The first thing I'm inclined to do, given a word to study is figure out its etymology -- which is pretty easy for the word desperate. The root word is despair. So I guess if one is desperate, one inclines toward being motivated toward some end because of feelings of despair. This is something I hope I wouldn't ever do -- in reality. Certainly we use the word flippantly. We say things like "I despair of of these boys ever actually hitting the clothes hamper with their dirty socks," for instance. Or "I'm desperate for new seat covers for my car" (which, incidentally, I am. If anyone knows of good seat covers that actually stay PUT on the seats, please tell me!) I think I have felt somewhat desperate in a mild way, out of fear for loved ones that seem to be heading in bad directions -- I felt a bit desperate, I think, when my husband couldn't get a job in our town -- when we lived on the western slope of Colorado -- and he had to commute all the way to Las Vegas to keep a roof over our heads at all... But, I can't say that the word "desperate" -- broken down to mean real "despair" -- was the real emotion. I'm so very grateful for our Faith - that I think it really does prevent true despair. With a true belief in the Kingship of Christ and His hands-on presence in our lives -- His true care for us, like the lilies of the field or the lowliest sparrow -- (but more so) how can we really think anything will go truly truly south for us? It's all in knowing our part of the bargain in Christianity -- and staying in the state of grace, praying for God's will and just soldiering on -- doing our best -- and God will catch us. He always has. When we lost our baby, Matthew, He was there. No despair. When four of our ten babies started out life in the NICU, He was there. No despair. When we needed a job to sustain the whole kit and kaboodle of us after Dan lost his job in the 2008 kaffoffle with the Public Schools, He was there. No despair. When Paul was deployed to Afghanistan, He was there. No despair. When our last four youngins suddenly flew the coop -- so to speak -- and our bustling busy homeschooling life came to an abrupt stop and I was left with hours and hours -- and the covid stupidity breathing down our necks, He was -- and is there. No despair. No need to be desperate. Just work. And pray. And trust. 

* OK -- like a half minute over.... But there's my stream of consciousness on the word "Desperate." I've got this desperate need now to go back and edit and fix and flip things around and delete other things -- but that's against the rules, so... have mercy. 😉

Run over to Five Minute Friday if you're curious to read more, or if you'd like to join in!