Tag: blogging

Palm Slap Forehead

Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite emojis?
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Ah, the emoji….the cute, whimsical picture form of wordplay to express an emotion without actually writing it. The perfect symbol of our time…..why write something when you can send a picture. The various forms of smiley faces, laughing faces, crying faces are just the tip of the iceberg. Emojis for people, places, objects, work occupations, animals and even food…..an emoji for literally everything.

For a long time I refused to use emojis…..I admit I felt they were beneath me….I used texting for quick communication. I didn’t need an emoji to express myself. I could do that on my own just fine without pictures thank you. I figured the emoji was for kids and I even felt it represented a decline in our overall society. Cavemen had drawn pictures on walls as a way of communicating and here we were millions of years later resorting to silly smiley faces and eggplants to communicate our feelings. We’ve developed hundreds if not thousands of languages to communicate and yet we seem to be devolving back to communicating with pictures. And so for a long time I refused to use emojis….yes I was being a bit old fashioned.

Looking back it was rather silly and even curmudgeonly of me to hate on emojis. I had a friend whom I texted with almost daily and she always included emojis in her texts. She had a few favorites, the laughing face and the peace sign were included in most every text but she used all kinds of emojis….she used emojis I never even knew existed. I started referring to her as the emoji queen and she was an adult so I figured what’s the harm in throwing in an emoji to complement or even accentuate my texts.

Like most people I have a couple of favorites….the shoulder shrug and the face palm my two most frequently used but I’ve certainly expanded my portfolio. So go ahead and include an emoji in a text…..they’re fun and they convey an emotion quickly and no they shouldn’t replace talking or writing and be careful as they can sometimes be taken the wrong way…..that eggplant emoji just doesn’t mean lets have eggplant tonight ( insert face palm emoji here )

Peace and Love….

John

Admiration

Daily writing prompt
What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
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There are many traits I admire in others. Perhaps it’s the creeping doubts in my own self-confidence or maybe the inability to let go of mistakes I’ve made in the past but I always seem to look at others and see their best qualities and wish I had those.

The ability to lead either by words or example is a wonderful trait that only a few truly possess. Some leaders are given titles and expect because of it that others will be inspired by them. They lead by edict or worse by slogans and their uninspired followers are dragged along with them. We seem to be living in an age sorely lacking of true leaders. Is it that so called leaders are too scared to make a mistake or are simply covering their own butts but truly inspiring leaders seem to be a relic of a by-gone day.

Another trait I admire is the ability to find humor in difficult situations or in the simple everyday fabric of life. Laughter is truly something that binds us all. People of different cultures, people of different countries, people who speak different languages can all find commonality in laughter. Laugh everyday, make someone laugh everyday….that’s a pretty great day.

Owning up to one’s mistakes and learning by them is an admirable trait that few people seem enabled to do. We seem to live in a time where plowing ahead with ideas that are clearly wrong is often celebrated as an individual living as they choose. But it’s the person who can make a mistake, admit it, change their mind on something, learn and grow that we should be encouraging.

But as I sit here tapping away on the keyboard I realize it’s once again been awhile since I’ve last written. Procrastination, lack of time, and just plain tiredness have conspired against my creativity. So the one trait I’ve been admiring in others is the ability to write everyday. I follow a handful of other bloggers who faithfully compose a thoughtful bit of writing each day. How they can do this must be some sort of wizardry as I often struggle to make a post once a week. 

So here’s to you the keyboard warriors tapping away making words dance across the screen in a tango of harmony and symphony. Your creativity I salute, your determination is to be admired and your ability to focus and write is a trait I long for…..

As always….Peace and Love

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