Whilst stuffing my face with turkey and pie (note to self, better eating and exercise habits in 2010) I've been writing like a fiend coming up with give or take 70 poems compiled over the past 3 months. Some were rewritten heavily to achieve the desired effect others took maybe 2 drafts and that was it. The one thing I'm really proud of myself for is continually writing and finding places to submit my stuff. Here's one of the poems which I'm sure every person can relate to and that's the mixed feelings you may have when you move:
NOVEMBER 1983
This house looks naked without
All of our things strewn about,
I guess today's the day that
My family's moving out.
Goodbye Philadelphia,
Good morning Yeadon, PA.
Treat us as well as Philly
Because we are here to stay.
(C) Charles Waters 2009
I notice Jane Yolen, Sara Holbrook and Charles Ghinga occasionally post some their poems on their blog so I decided to do the same.
Also worked at INDY, IDOL and WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS during the gobble, gobble holiday, I find that work really gives me a sense of belonging in the world, especially when it's work I love to do. May your holiday season be as nice and mine and may you all continue to kick arse heading into Christmas which is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY! Bokay?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thankfulness
That is something I’ve been embracing more and more since I’ve blogged last. In the past couple of months the work has been coming in pretty darn persistently lately. Here’s a bullet point update for me.
- Had more poems published in SPOTLIGHT ON RECOVERY
- Made contacts with an editor for SCHOLASTIC books and two published children’s writers at the 2009 SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) conference in June.
- Learned the Director role at INDIANA JONES at Walt Disney World (WDW)
- Now hosting sports ceremonies at ESPN’s WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS at WDW.
- Continue working at AMERICAN IDOL at WDW as a Judge.
- Entertain the masses at SLEUTHS as a wacky security guard named Remington Card.
Now the jobs I’ve worked have not only saved my butt financially but they’re fun to boot. Instead of thinking about when a big payday’s coming instead I now think “be thankful you’re working at all.” Just this little change in thought has made all the difference in appreciating all that I have (loving friends, a car that runs, a roof over my head, hot meals) etc. The more thankful I am the more I notice great things happening for me. The fact I haven’t had a survival job to pay the bills makes me happier than you’ll ever know. While I miss some of the people at the old survival job at Polo Ralph Lauren I don’t miss waking up at 5:30am and moving boxes out of trucks. I don’t miss folding hundreds of items and being reprimanded when I process the clothes slower than they would have liked, and I especially don’t miss throwing out boxes into a dumpster in 95 degree weather and sometimes having to stand INSIDE the dumpster as co-workers hoisted boxes to me so I could put them inside that metal box of depravity.
Also unfortunately there’s been a recent spate of deaths concerning people I’ve either worked with or knew through their spouses. During the memorial services and benefits held in their honor I saw such love, compassion and respect that it really made me think about how delicate the whole shebang called life is. So all in all as I continue to read, mediate, write, work and spend time with friends the overriding feeling I have is one of being thankful, of being alive, of being in the moment, of just being.
- Had more poems published in SPOTLIGHT ON RECOVERY
- Made contacts with an editor for SCHOLASTIC books and two published children’s writers at the 2009 SCBWI (Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators) conference in June.
- Learned the Director role at INDIANA JONES at Walt Disney World (WDW)
- Now hosting sports ceremonies at ESPN’s WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS at WDW.
- Continue working at AMERICAN IDOL at WDW as a Judge.
- Entertain the masses at SLEUTHS as a wacky security guard named Remington Card.
Now the jobs I’ve worked have not only saved my butt financially but they’re fun to boot. Instead of thinking about when a big payday’s coming instead I now think “be thankful you’re working at all.” Just this little change in thought has made all the difference in appreciating all that I have (loving friends, a car that runs, a roof over my head, hot meals) etc. The more thankful I am the more I notice great things happening for me. The fact I haven’t had a survival job to pay the bills makes me happier than you’ll ever know. While I miss some of the people at the old survival job at Polo Ralph Lauren I don’t miss waking up at 5:30am and moving boxes out of trucks. I don’t miss folding hundreds of items and being reprimanded when I process the clothes slower than they would have liked, and I especially don’t miss throwing out boxes into a dumpster in 95 degree weather and sometimes having to stand INSIDE the dumpster as co-workers hoisted boxes to me so I could put them inside that metal box of depravity.
Also unfortunately there’s been a recent spate of deaths concerning people I’ve either worked with or knew through their spouses. During the memorial services and benefits held in their honor I saw such love, compassion and respect that it really made me think about how delicate the whole shebang called life is. So all in all as I continue to read, mediate, write, work and spend time with friends the overriding feeling I have is one of being thankful, of being alive, of being in the moment, of just being.
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