Category Archives: Inspiration

Joy in the Midst of Sorrow

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

If you are experiencing emotional or physical pain—no matter how big or how small—it can seem overwhelming. But here is something to hold on to: a struggle or personal loss doesn’t have to overshadow every part of your life. You can still have joy even in the midst of sorrow.

Joy isn’t always extreme hilarity; sometimes joy is simply a calm delight. And you can delight yourself in God and in his promise to always be with you even when times are difficult—especially when times are difficult.

The key is to trust God. He knows what you’re going through, and if you trust Him, He will restore your joy. You may not see how it’s gong to work out or how you’re going to get over it, but know that God is in control, and He can do the impossible.

Source: Quiet Times with God by Joyce Meyer

Make Art That Tells the Truth

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Writer Julie Duffy shared the following thought-provoking advice in a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

It’s hard to take our eyes off the endless news coverage, but the world needs us to peel ourselves away from the outrage machine, and instead make art that tells the truth.

Fiction doesn’t have to preach a political message.

But even if you’re writing about fairies or aliens, fiction cannot help being political because everything you write reflects your values and mirrors your experiences.

Don’t be afraid of that.

And don’t think your writing doesn’t matter, because there are “more important issues right now.”

There is no more important issue that opening someone’s heart to subtlety, to nuance, to the fact that every human being contains multitudes and that it is possible to hold two opposing ideas inside you at the same time.

The Hamas attack on Israel was horrifying and the death toll and famine in Gaza is horrifying.

Two very old men are running to for a second term as President in the US and we have to elect one of them because that’s how the system works.

Some young women love Taylor Swift and have discovered that being part of the fandom for a football team is fun.

As a writer you help people to turn away from the shrieking “this or that” of social media and welcoming them into the complex world of fiction that deals with all the parts of being a human in community with other humans.

It is important work.

It is healing work.

Read the rest of the post here.

The Fourth Quarter

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In 2006, Burlington author and retired school principal Lewis Raymond Long released a book of rhymes and reminiscences entitled The Fourth Quarter. A keen follower of the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Ray felt the title related to the fourth quarter of his life.

Here’s the introductory poem to the book:

A Minor Bird

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to celebrate poetry and its vital place in our society. Today, and for the next Wednesday, I will be sharing thought-provoking poems I have discovered this past year.

The following poem was written by Robert Frost.

A Minor Bird

I have wished a bird would fly away,
And not sing by my house all day;

Have clapped my hands at him from the door
When it seemed as if I could bear no more.

The fault must partly have been in me.
The bird was not to blame for his key.

And of course there must be something wrong
In wanting to silence any song.

A Poem with an Intriguing Backstory

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to honor poetry and its vital place in our society. First celebrated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets, this event has grown into a national movement that inspires millions, from the youngest children to the oldest readers. All forms of poetry from sonnets and romantic ballads to haiku and limericks to free verse are shared throughout the month.

Today, I am sharing one of my favorite poems, “Comes the Dawn.” I recall first seeing this poem in the early 1970s. At the time, the poet was Unknown. Since then, I have learned that several poets have been credited with creating this inspiring poem.

Continue reading on the Soul Mate Authors blog.

Inspiration from P. Bodi

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to celebrate poetry and its vital place in our society. Today, and for the next two Wednesdays, I will be sharing thought-provoking poems I have discovered this past year.

The following untitled poem was written by P. Bodi and can be found in her inspirational collection, Inherit the Dawn.

Celebrating National Poetry Month

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

April is National Poetry Month, a month set aside to celebrate poetry and its vital place in our society. Today, and for the next three Wednesdays, I will be sharing four thought-provoking poems I have discovered this past year.

The following poem was written by Ada Limón, the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States.

How to Triumph Like a Girl

I like the lady horses best,
how they make it all look easy,
like running 40 miles per hour
is as fun as taking a nap, or grass.
I like their lady horse swagger,
after winning. Ears up, girls, ears up!
But mainly, let’s be honest, I like
that they’re ladies. As if this big
dangerous animal is also a part of me,
that somewhere inside the delicate
skin of my body, there pumps
an 8-pound female horse heart,
giant with power, heavy with blood.
Don’t you want to believe it?
Don’t you want to lift my shirt and see
the huge beating genius machine
that thinks, no, it knows,
it’s going to come in first.

On Being Aware

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Author Liz Michalski shared the following thought-provoking advice in a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

As writers, we spend so much time in our heads, creating imaginary worlds and populating them with imaginary people, that sometimes we can miss the world we are a part of. Walking, we can be so immersed in telling ourselves the story we’re trying to write that we miss what the clouds are writing in the sky over our head. Driving, we hammer out plot holes and fail to see the scenery arcing past our windows. And it’s not just writing that carries us away. Worry and impatience for things to ‘begin’ (or for tea to boil) keep us from living – and noticing – what is happening now. The world becomes background noise to what is in our head.

But I’d argue that being aware of the details of life as we live them is important for us both as people, which of course is what matters the most, but also as writers. It’s these details, captured, that help us immerse readers in our stories, that bind them to us with that best magic – truth in our fiction. To capture the whispering sound of snow on the wind, the sharp green scent of pine needles crushed underfoot, the heavy, warm weight of a sleeping toddler in our arms, to trap them on the page and make them come alive, it helps if we have captured them in our memories first. And that can only happen if we allow ourselves to be aware of them as they happen.

So my challenge today to you, my dear friends, is to take a moment to settle into this complex world we live in, to slow down and look at it with open eyes, as if for the first time. What are you seeing or hearing or tasting or touching that on another day you might not have noticed?

Read the rest of the post here.