The Tribute To Writers Tag

(This image was created by Rose)

Rose @ Truly. Madly. Deeply. was tagged, and said that whoever would like to do the tag may. So, guess who wanted to?

RULES:

1. Answer all the questions.
2. Say what you love about writing (if you don't like writing, then there's no need for you to do this tag).
3. Share one piece of your writing.
4. Nominate 3 other writers/bloggers and make up 5 new questions for them to answer.
5. Have fun!

Rose's questions:

Is writing your passion, or a hobby?
It is most definitely my passion. It has been since I was five years of age.

Do you set daily goals for yourself? (such as writing 1,000 words a day?)
No, I don't. I write whenever I get the sudden urge to. (as I talked about in my last post) I love it when I get those urges.

Do you like reading books or writing them?
If I'm being very honest, I just can't choose. I would like to say writing them, but I can't say that truthfully...it's a very hard decision.

Have any helpful writing tips for your readers?
One: Just keep writing no matter what. You will probably go through stages where you feel discouraged and you don't want to go on. I've been through those stages. But the best thing to do is not give up.
Two: Write about what you know. Feel your writing for yourself.

What's your favorite word?
Hmm...I think it depends whether we're going by sound, meaning or spelling. For sound: probably flawless. For meaning: probably laughter. For spelling: probably flamingo. (that counts, right?)

I loved her questions. ♥

WHY I LIKE WRITING:

It just takes me away. I am so indescribably and blissfully happy when I am writing. I feel like everything bad...everything I don't want to think about just vanishes.
Another thing is how creative I can be. I can write anything, anything I want. And there are so many words in this world with amazing meanings. I love putting them together and seeing the result. It's like chemistry, I guess.

A PIECE OF MY WRITING:

Every human is like a puzzle. Every piece counts, whether it be a fault or a quality, a good or bad memory, a smile or a tear, a hello or a goodbye. It adds to the picture and builds us up to who we are meant to be and will be in the end.

I TAG:

I'm going to take a page out of Rose's book and say- anyone who wants to do this tag.

THE QUESTIONS:

1. What genre of writing do you enjoy most?
2. How important is writing to you?
3. Do you have a favorite author? Who?
4. Do you prefer to write or to read?
5. What is your favorite quote? (This question is optional, since I know it is oh so hard to choose)

I really enjoyed this...thank you Rose, for tagging me. :) 

that place

My breath swirls in white, pasty clouds whenever I blow out. The air is so cold and I can feel that my fingertips are stiff. A chilly breeze picks up a few strands of my dark brunette hair and then lets them drop again. My pale skin looks even paler than usual.

I used to mind being pale. But not out here. Here I blend in, because almost everything is white.

I can feel a racing thud in my chest. I breathe, in, out, in, out, gently, and my heart slows. Why it was beating so fast in the first place, I do not know.

Tiny snowflakes flutter to the ground. One lands on the tip of my nose and starts melting.

I am not that cold, then, if I can still cause snowflakes to melt. But it feels as though I have no warmth left.

I stare at the frozen lake that is a deep blue color, and wonder if it would the ice would be thick enough to hold me. I throw a rock onto the surface. It cracks and breaks with a shudder, leaving a hole in which the rock sinks.

Probably not.

I brush snow off my bare shoulders and off the top of my head. Most would call me crazy to come out here in only a white, sleeveless dress, but I don't care. It feels like tradition, because every time I come here, I wear the same thing.

 The dead log that I am sitting on is collecting small heaps of snow, on either side of me. The snowfall is getting thicker now, and soon I must go home. 

I do not mind going home so much. I know it is warm and cozy inside, and there will be hot chocolate to drink and books to read and a fire to sit by.

No, I wouldn't mind going home.

But I don't like to leave this place either.

"Hello," I call out, but only to hear the sound of my voice, because there is no sound out here except for the wind, and silence can sometimes be scary.

Time passes. I watch little brown birds come and drink from the hole I made in the lake. I want the birds to whistle or tweet, but they don't, and still, only the wind talks to me. I watch the bare-branched trees shake in a gust of wind.  I watch more snow fall from the vast, white sky.

Eventually I stand. I dust off my dress. I stomp a bit to get my blood flowing so that I am not so stiff and freezing.

I start to walk away.

Away from that place.

Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or even next Winter, I will come back.

Because I like that place. Even if I cannot explain why.

But for now, I am going home.

Have you ever had...a certain place that you loved? Somewhere you felt you could just be alone, and be you? Somewhere where your troubles did not follow you?

I have.

---

Hey. ♥ I wrote that mostly because I was sparked with the occasional, sudden urge to write.

I enjoyed writing this so much. Drawing and writing and painting are three of my happy places, but I have physical happy places, too. Before my family and I moved, we lived in a house that had a roof that was easy to climb on. And so, since eight or nine, I started climbing up there whenever I was sad, or when the world felt chaotic. I climbed up there and cleared my head, talked to God- and when I climbed down, I felt better.

I could never explain why that place, on top of that roof, brought me peace. But it did.

Blog Design Complete (+ New Laptop)

I put my heart and soul into creating a new design for my blog...and even though I might still add other things in the future, I think it's safe to call it finished now. I'm not sure yet if I will be changing the "explore more of my blog" icon.
So, what do you think of the new design? I'll be putting up a poll today and you can vote whether you preferred this design or the old one. I personally prefer this one. :) Blue and purple are my two favorite colors. Oh, and don't even get me started on how much I love watercolor paint. (Hence the watercolor theme)
If you have any questions about or on how I did the blog design, feel free to ask.

But now...time for exciting news.

Some of you may know that I sell products online and earn money that way.

Well, recently, I reached my goal and earned enough to buy a laptop. I can't tell you how happy and blessed I am! My parents put some money towards the price even though I did have enough - so I am very thankful to them. ♥

I'm going to be able to do a lot more online now, since I'm not always competing with my many siblings for one of the two computers we have...in fact, I redesigned my whole blog using this wonderful Lenovo laptop.

{this is the only photo I have of it at the moment, taken with my iPhone}

All I can say, really, is thank you, God. Wow, He is generous.

{via}

It's true. Everything screams, "He loves me!" when I look at my life. And so I must be thankful, and grateful and generous because He is generous.

And then, though, although I am so happy with my laptop, I remember something else-

{this one was made by me, feel free to pin or use}

So. I can be overjoyed with my laptop. Or with my iPhone. Or with my hair iron. Or so on. But I have to, have to, remember to set my mind on  things above, and not on these earthly and completely perishable things, when there are so many imperishable things to think of in heaven.

I believe that God loves to give, and He is happy when we ask. But I also feel like He is reminding me gently to set my mind on those things- by bringing up the verse over and over again.

I've resolved to do that.

Flashing News!

You might have noticed - but just in case, I'm here to tell you. I'm redesigning my blog. :) It's so much fun...and exciting...tell me what you think so far?? I still have a LONG way to go, but, I'm getting there.

On the poll, the majority of people said they'd like a new design. So, it's on it's way.

I'm praying hard that it will be the best yet.

Until next time (hopefully soon)-

Tane ♥

I'm not dead, actually...

...I'm just going through a very busy stage in my crazy life. (In which involves lots of daisies - it's Spring for South Africa - yay!)

OK. I love my life. It's amazing, and God has blessed me in so so many ways - I cannot even begin to count them all. I don't deserve it, any of it.
But part of life are the hectic stages, the 'I'm sure there are so many other things I should be doing, but I'm too busy with the rest of my life' to even think about it' stages. (Or, at least, I know I go through those stages).
Blogging ends up falling into the 'I'm too busy with the rest of my life to think about it' category, far too often. And then, posts that should be published aren't, blogs that should be designed aren't (I am so sorry to those on my waiting list! Uggghh!), pictures that should be taken aren't, comments that should be posted aren't, and so on.

It makes me feel claustrophobic, somehow. Like there's too much, too much and I just. Need. To. Get. Away! Not from blogging particularly, but also from the many, many trials, situations and all the little things that we all face in life. At night I stress and worry, and toss and turn about these things or those things that I must deal with.

But I'm wrong. I worry myself about things that I must deal with- when I am NOT alone. I'm not dealing with any of my problems alone. He is always there, with me, looking after me, loving me. He is there, and it's not only me who is thinking about my life.
The important part- is that He loves me, more than anyone else loves me. And the Bible says that perfect love drives out fear.
That's it. I have no need to feel fear. The anxiety? I can dispel that in the name of Jesus, because He loves me perfectly and deeply, so deeply.

Lately, the more I read God's word, the more I realize this: God wants to give us the gift of peace.
It's ours to take if we want to. We have to give it to Him, and say 'God, I trust you, and I want to feel your peace in me'.
For people like me, that's so hard to do. It's not trust issues. I do trust Him, because I know He is my savior.
The problem is accepting peace.
You see, I have to learn to understand that I cannot do anything without Him. That He is the only One who can guide me down the right path everyday. He holds everything in the palm of His hand, including me and my life. I need to understand that it's just that simple - that I can just give it to Him and go to sleep.

{VIA}

{VIA}

I'm the sort of person who always thinks there is something more to it, or that it's far more complicated than it looks. That nothing is ever really easy. But, the truth is, sometimes it is simple. And I can simply trust God with all my worries. I can put my cares in His hands.

And so, the reason I really wrote this post was to let my followers know that I can and I will get back to blogging. It turned into a post about something that has been on my mind for awhile.
I'll eventually stop neglecting my duties as a blogger- I'll eventually get back to it. Maybe not right away. But God has a plan for everything, and I trust Him in His timing. I trust Him with my life. After all - who else has died for me?

Ending this post, with peace in my heart-

Tane ♥