Theme: Creativity Toolbox
Y = Yield
Yield:
1. To provide as return for effort or investment.
2. To give over possessin of, to surrender.
One of my husband's co-workers recently retired, and since he is planning a retirement celebration vacation down in Las Vegas (where his son works as a professional poker player), the send off included a slide show set to Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler":
"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away, and know when to run"
Due to an interesting childhood raised in a home where Broadway musical scores, Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky were played alongside Harry Belanfonte, The Kingston Trio, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, I happen to know the lyrics to that song really well . . . and when my husband told me about the retirement party, they just stuck in my head the rest of the week and became mixed up with today's post.
As creative artists/writers, we need to know when to hold onto our work, and when to let it go.
Yielding isn't something that comes to most of us naturally, and most of the time we pride ourselves as creative writers, artists, and thinkers as being UNyielding.
However, if we want someone to read our work, we have to let it go and let others read it, give us feedback, help us make it stronger. If we truly want our work to yield a good harvest, we have to let others help us prune and weed.
Sometimes, we also need to know when to walk away, and when to run.
I have a book with several attempts at revisions sitting in a plastic box in my closet. Someday I want to return to it. I still love those characters. But I realized several years ago that I had to set it aside, fold it up, and walk away from it for a while. I yearn for it, but I know I'm not ready to tackle it yet. I've yielded it up to a future time, when I'm ready to tell that story.
Do you know when to yield and when to remain unyielding in your creative endeavors?
Have you ever yielded your work to someone else for constructive criticism?
BTW: my laptop had some major issues, so for the past few days I've been working somewhat haphazardly from my husband's pc (usually in use by him), and my laptop was cleaned off and rebooted (by my hubby who probably has better "tech"ese to describe the process) So, hopefully now I'll be able to visit a few more people in the last few days of A to Z.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Thursday, September 16, 2010
365 Days of Blessings - Day 110
365 Days of Blessings, Day 110
1. Jesus lives!
2. I finished reading the Old Testament today, and I enjoyed it.
3. I am still marveling at God's providence a few days ago. He sent cousins from Canada, who I've only met a handful of times, to my doorstep when I least expected it, and when I most needed an interruption. I literally had just asked God to guide me, and send me a sign regarding the timing of a phone call I needed to make. I was just reaching for the phone, and there was a knock at my door. Cousins from Canada, an unexpected blessing.
4. Having many reasons to study my Bible, pray, and place all my trust in God, I know that my relationship with the Lord is being strengthened throughout all the storm and trouble.
5. Planning a two day whirlwind Shakespeare trip - the tickets were a birthday present from my hubby, the timing feels off with everything else going on, and we might get rained on - but I'm looking forward to it anyway.
6. Rubbing my wet beagle with an old towel after a long, rainy and muddy walk. He has so much fun getting dry.
7. Finding a simile in the newspaper like this one. "It's something like building the foundation of a house with Jell-O. There are not very many concrete elements." This is the statement of a judge about a particular attorney's case.
8. Hearing my oldest daughter sing last night at church. She has become part of the MS and HS band that leads our Wednesday Night Family Night worship.
9. Wednesday Night Family Night started up again last night with MS and HS band practice, (children's choir starts next week) at 5p.m., Dinner from 5:30-6:30, Worship from 6:30-7pm., youth group, Sunday School meetings, and Bible study groups meeting from 7pm. to 8:30p.m.
10. See you at the Pole! is coming soon!!! We plan on not letting the kids in our schools have all the fun, and we hope to join in the prayers at our mailbox area next Wednesday at 7am.
Scripture Blessings:
"'See, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says the Lord Almighty." Malachi 3:1
1. Jesus lives!
2. I finished reading the Old Testament today, and I enjoyed it.
3. I am still marveling at God's providence a few days ago. He sent cousins from Canada, who I've only met a handful of times, to my doorstep when I least expected it, and when I most needed an interruption. I literally had just asked God to guide me, and send me a sign regarding the timing of a phone call I needed to make. I was just reaching for the phone, and there was a knock at my door. Cousins from Canada, an unexpected blessing.
4. Having many reasons to study my Bible, pray, and place all my trust in God, I know that my relationship with the Lord is being strengthened throughout all the storm and trouble.
5. Planning a two day whirlwind Shakespeare trip - the tickets were a birthday present from my hubby, the timing feels off with everything else going on, and we might get rained on - but I'm looking forward to it anyway.
6. Rubbing my wet beagle with an old towel after a long, rainy and muddy walk. He has so much fun getting dry.
7. Finding a simile in the newspaper like this one. "It's something like building the foundation of a house with Jell-O. There are not very many concrete elements." This is the statement of a judge about a particular attorney's case.
8. Hearing my oldest daughter sing last night at church. She has become part of the MS and HS band that leads our Wednesday Night Family Night worship.
9. Wednesday Night Family Night started up again last night with MS and HS band practice, (children's choir starts next week) at 5p.m., Dinner from 5:30-6:30, Worship from 6:30-7pm., youth group, Sunday School meetings, and Bible study groups meeting from 7pm. to 8:30p.m.
10. See you at the Pole! is coming soon!!! We plan on not letting the kids in our schools have all the fun, and we hope to join in the prayers at our mailbox area next Wednesday at 7am.
Scripture Blessings:
"'See, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,' says the Lord Almighty." Malachi 3:1
Sunday, September 12, 2010
365 Days of Blessings - Day 106
365 Days of Blessings, Day 106
1. The Lord remembers us.
2. A wonderful song my kids sang in children's choir last year that's running through my head this morning. The chorus goes something like this: "I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgoteen, God knows my name."
3. Stretching and waking up some of my forgotten muscles in the morning.
4. Having a day to get things done . . . like errands, planning, and some house-cleaning. Plus, I did some book reading as well . . . and some writing, and had some fun. I like Saturdays.
5. The amazing expertise of the guitar salesman at Ted Brown Music in Tacoma. He gave my oldest daughter her first lesson in guitar basics - how to hold the guitar properly, and why.
6. Getting a nice sounding guitar at a reasonable price.
7. Writing the rough draft of a short story in thirty minutes!
8. Struggling through a writing prompt this morning, but then finding a way to make it fit my novel, The Crystal Sword.
9. Reading the Narnia series aloud in the evenings at bed-time. We just read the scene where Aslan leads Lucy and the others through the woods and across the river, with Lucy being the only one who could see him. There are so many juicy Biblical principles at work in that scene . . . like trusting and following Jesus even when no one else believes, and standing up for our faith and doing what is right even when it's uncomfortable.
10. My dogs believe that the first phone call of the morning is for them, and them alone. Monday through Saturday they walk with my mom and I, after she calls me or I call her. The sad part is that it is Sunday today. I think I'll take them out to get the paper at least.
Scripture Blessings:
"From Judah will come the
cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler."
Zechariah 10:4
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."
Ephesians 2:19-21
1. The Lord remembers us.
2. A wonderful song my kids sang in children's choir last year that's running through my head this morning. The chorus goes something like this: "I am not forgotten, I am not forgotten, I am not forgoteen, God knows my name."
3. Stretching and waking up some of my forgotten muscles in the morning.
4. Having a day to get things done . . . like errands, planning, and some house-cleaning. Plus, I did some book reading as well . . . and some writing, and had some fun. I like Saturdays.
5. The amazing expertise of the guitar salesman at Ted Brown Music in Tacoma. He gave my oldest daughter her first lesson in guitar basics - how to hold the guitar properly, and why.
6. Getting a nice sounding guitar at a reasonable price.
7. Writing the rough draft of a short story in thirty minutes!
8. Struggling through a writing prompt this morning, but then finding a way to make it fit my novel, The Crystal Sword.
9. Reading the Narnia series aloud in the evenings at bed-time. We just read the scene where Aslan leads Lucy and the others through the woods and across the river, with Lucy being the only one who could see him. There are so many juicy Biblical principles at work in that scene . . . like trusting and following Jesus even when no one else believes, and standing up for our faith and doing what is right even when it's uncomfortable.
10. My dogs believe that the first phone call of the morning is for them, and them alone. Monday through Saturday they walk with my mom and I, after she calls me or I call her. The sad part is that it is Sunday today. I think I'll take them out to get the paper at least.
Scripture Blessings:
"From Judah will come the
cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler."
Zechariah 10:4
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."
Ephesians 2:19-21
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