Tag Archive - writing

I Need to Get Back to Whitespace for Life

May 30, 2012 in The Study with 27 Comments

I’ve been reflecting this past week on the upcoming month of June. After attending Bloggy Bootcamp, I decided to take up one of their ideas, and so I created a schedule for my blog for the month of June around a theme. I chose as my theme time and schedules. Since then, this idea just hasn’t been sitting right with me. A couple of the posts I had planned were “how to” posts. Good ideas, I’m sure, but I decided I’m not going to do that, because in my reflections, I’m realizing that is not what Project Whitespace is about.

White space should not be considered merely ‘blank’ space — it is an important element of design which enables the objects in it to exist at all, the balance between positive (or non-white) and the use of negative spaces is key to aesthetic composition (so says Wikipedia).

If you take this concept of design, and apply it to your life, then whitespace for life is the stuff that defines you, and at the same time, it is the absence of all the busyness that you LET define you, it is the stuff that give you peace and quiet, calm, and contentment in your life, and in your heart and mind. That’s whitespace for life.

I’m coming up on a year of blogging (July), and so I am working with a designer to redesign this website. It needs it! And I am so excited about it. But as she was talking to me, getting to know a little more about me and my blog, I heard myself talking about the concept of whitespace. And I realized, that’s where my heart is.

I love the idea of having whitespace in my life and talking about this concept with other bloggers. When I started this blog, that was what I was searching for: whitespace. Over the last year, I realized just writing about this and communing with other bloggers IS my whitespace. I don’t need to go any further than that. And I’ve been looking around at your blogs, and this keeps coming to me: people start blogging to get that “whitespace” in their life. Whether you are writing because you are on a journey to heal from a disastrous breakup with a spouse or significant other, or you want to start eating and living healthy, or you are a mom or dad who just needs something to yourself, or you want to lose weight and benefit from the support of others who are doing the same–we are all looking for whitespace in the writing of our blogs, aren’t we? I know I am.

Blogging gives us that place to write and flesh out our thoughts, and then to put them “out there” for others to see and comment on. The exchange of conversation that results in support, encouragement, and thought provoking musings, is all a part of creating that whitespace that we as bloggers create for ourselves, and for one another. And we create it for each other, because we long to share what we have learned from our experiences. We want to help others too.

I think, if you are blogging, you have a need for personal expression of some kind, and you choose to express it through writing. You are a writer. You need to communicate. That’s why you blog. That’s why I blog. And that’s why I am so passionate about blogging, because I see it as a way for people like me, who normally wouldn’t want to be shut up in a room writing for hours on end all by myself, to actually enjoy writing, because (and I’ve said it before) blogging brings community into writing. And that’s why I believe so strongly in the ability of blogging to help bring us into our full potential.

I’m an encourager at heart. I don’t think I’ve told anyone this, but I’ve always been able to SEE the potential an individual has. It hurts me to see the things that keep you from discovering that potential. And so, because I see the power in blogging for you, and I see your potential, that is why I want to encourage you to blog, and to keep blogging until you start seeing that potential for yourself.

So often, I go into a blog and I think “wow–this person really knows how to write”–and I’m not thinking about your grammar, or your intelligent way of putting a sentence together. I’m thinking about the way you are able to share your heart. I’m thinking about how your perspective is so different than mine and because of that, you answer questions for me without knowing it, you show me things I never thought of. I think you often don’t even realize how well you are doing all of this. You really bless me. The best way I know to give back to you, is to center in again on that whitespace, and to continue to encourage you as much as I have time to do. That’s my promise to you.

15 Intangible Things a Blogger Needs: A Series Introduction

May 14, 2012 in The Study with 5 Comments

I decided I’m going to write on this theme this week: intangible things that a blogger needs to be successful. I want to focus on you, dear bloggers. So I want to write you a series of posts focused around the intangible things a blogger needs in order to create a successful blog. I promise, I will not just tell you what you need, but I will also include some encouragement along the way, and some tips to help you out. As I was brainstorming for this series, I came up with a list of 15 intangibles, and I thought I would share them with you.

  1. Time (and lots of it if you want a decent blog)
  2. Moral support (to keep you going in your “down” times)
  3. Knowledge of your topic
  4. Writing skills (at least the ability to put a decent paragraph together would behoove you)
  5. Inspiration (a steady stream of ideas, a really good muse)
  6. Social skills (writing is no longer a lone act when you take it to the blogosphere)
  7. Thick skin (blogging can be difficult if you are easily hurt)
  8. Curiousity (it helps if you like to research stuff)
  9. Patience (it takes a while to build an audience, among other things)
  10. Passion (or you will get bored and quit)
  11. A sense of humor (helps with your readership, and it helps when you make mistakes)
  12. Time (did I say that already?)
  13. Diligence (gotta be like the energizer bunny)
  14. An understanding significant other (the time factor is at play here)
  15. The Secret Sauce (this is a secret. You have to read the series to find out what it is)

I plan on writing about at least three of these things over the course of this week. If you all would please give me your vote of what you would like me to focus on, I will highly consider it (unless you want all 15 in which case, I would have to spread that out over the course of a month or so). If you have another intangible I haven’t mentioned here, let me know and I will add it to the list. In the meantime, look for my next post be about that oh so precious commodity: time.

My Blogging Future

April 19, 2012 in The Study with 16 Comments

I have been planning and scheming for this blog, and I am so excited about what is in store for its future. Here are the things you can expect to see in the future.

A Blog Series

While I have been writing posts nearly daily, in the background, I have been planning a blog series on courage.

COURAGE!

And the more I think about it, learn about it and see it, the more excited I get to share with you everything I am learning. I have yet to decide if I should create this as a series of blog posts, or as an e-book. I was thinking I might do both. But I haven’t documented ANYTHING at all yet. This has just been me scanning the internet and jotting down ideas. I wish I had more time to work on this stuff, but it’s hard since I work a full time job.

Interviews with Bloggers

As part of my effort to encourage other bloggers, I have decided to run a blog post per week that is essentially an interview about other bloggers. My goal is to first, celebrate their personal story, as so many bloggers are blogging because they have been through stuff and they want to help others, or they blog because they have something they just really want to share. I want to help you share this stuff. So my second goal is to hopefully give you some more exposure. And, of course, a link to your blog. One thing I would LOVE from you, is if you would consider posting these interviews to your favorite social media platform of choice.

I have managed to wrangle four bloggers into doing this with me–two of which I already have their interviews. I won’t tell you who—you will just have to wait and see, but oh my goodness, I hope you get to read it because these two people certainly are amazing individuals, each in their own right. Look for the first one of these to be posted mid-week, next week. Hopefully from there, I can do one per week. Right now, I’m thinking Wednesdays. But we shall see. I’m going to try my darned hardest to stay consistent, but this is a big process. First I have to find the right people to interview, learn enough about them to interview them intelligently, and then give them the interview, and then write the interview.

Project Whitespace Is Moving

I have decided that since I found a focus for my blog, and I am trying to do this whole thing more professionally, I need to move this blog and self-host it. Right now, since I am hosted by WP.com, they have rights to my content—i.e. I don’t own this stuff. And I’m getting pretty attached to this blog and the content in it, and I just don’t like the idea that I don’t own it. You know? I also don’t like that they can put ads on my blog. Some of the ads I’ve seen don’t even make sense to be there considering my audience or the topic of my posts. So it’s time to move. I don’t know when yet, but soon, and I will definitely let you know in advance once I get a firm date.

So, there you have it! These are exciting times for me, and I hope you like some of the changes coming up. Goodness, I hope I can hold true to the changes I told you are coming. It’s easy to SAY you are going to do something. So much harder to actually DO it.

*Lion photo courtesy of lukiffer on Flickr, via creative commons license.

*Moving photo courtesy of Kaptain Kobold on Flickr, via creative commons license.

 

My 100th Post!

April 16, 2012 in Inspiration with 6 Comments

Today I am celebrating my 100th post here at Project Whitespace. In honor of this GREAT DAY, I have pulled together some of my favorite writings–quotes, really. These are taken from posts I would consider to be the more inspirational of my writing. Later, I am going to create a separate page for these quotes, and I am looking for more. If you have any you might like to add to my page, feel free to email me at bethanyjolee at yahoo dot com.

If you want to tweet these or copy them (hey, I do!), please include my name. bethanyjolee (also my Twitter handle).

Often words are not directed at us personally, but we see ourselves on the other side of the critique, and we must struggle against these words if we want to remain true to who we really are. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2012/02/20/speaking-peace/

Love is so powerful, that even in its silent voice that knows no words, it speaks of beauty in all languages. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2012/02/17/give-your-love-away/

On the other side of your dream, the sun is rising. I will write a post with this theme later.

The thing about fear is that usually when we hide from something, we end up missing out on stuff. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2011/08/02/fear-what-are-you-missing/

And the here and now is all that we have and all that we are promised. Found in http://projectwhitespace.com/2012/02/26/being-in-transit-at-the-airport/

I believe the words we choose and the way we put them together has the power to define our personal outcomes, our characters, our religions, governments and societies in general. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2012/02/21/speaking-health-to-your-body/

To get passion, get vision. To get vision, search ceaselessly. When you find it, you will know, because it will be brilliant before your eyes. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2011/11/14/passion-vision-and-brilliance/

True rest produces contemplation. True rest helps us to sort out the good and the bad. True rest means being thankful for both of those, because when we can be thankful for both, we can move forward. So true rest moves us forward. And so we accomplish something of value in rest. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2011/10/24/time-off-whitespace/

In life, sometimes we think our falls are tremendous. Sometimes we think they are going to ruin us, or mar us in some negative way. But if we just get back up as soon as we can, we will sooner realize that it wasn’t so bad as we first thought. Found in: http://projectwhitespace.com/2011/09/29/the-anatomy-of-a-fall-lessons-learned/

If you enjoyed this post, please share it on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever your social media platform of choice is. Thanks for reading! And here’s to one hundred more posts!

Child Rhetoric

April 5, 2012 in People with 4 Comments

Today I ran across an old piece of paper that I had stuffed into my momento box. It’s a letter from four of my nieces to their mother, written in their youthful penmanship. What I found interesting enough about it to save it, was the rhetoric that went into the writing of it. My sister has eight children, all of which are home schooled. The letter is from the four oldest, who also happen to be girls. My sister was very good about teaching them American History, and it wasn’t hard, I suppose, because they loved (and still love) the stories of any kind of history. They are also very patriotic young ladies, so it’s no surprise that they borrowed from some of the language of important speeches in United States History. Take a look.

Also notice that they are “Alan’s” daughters. Not their mother’s daughters when it comes to this request.

I turned the paper over and found another equally funny thing. They apparently had folded it into eights and then noted something on the front that conflicted just a little  with their signature in the actual note.

From somebody you don’t know! You gotta love it! Truly truly speechwriters in the making. They will be women with a cause someday!!

Discover Your Voice. Discover You.

April 4, 2012 in People, The Study with 9 Comments

At last, we realize our Writer’s Voice is within our own heart and mind. It is who we are, what we have experienced, whom we have met on our journey through life. All the living we’ve done comes into play and we knit these collective experiences into something wonderful called the Writer’s Voice. Once we learn to listen to the voices, we come into our own as writers. With certainty we know that we, too, have a voice and we are ready to speak. –Patricia A. Jones, from Do You Hear What I Hear?

As I have been blogging, one of the things I have tuned into and learned to appreciate even more than ever, is voice. Every writer has a voice whether they like to think about it or not. And whether they think they know what it is or not.

As I have been reading blog after blog after blog, I have not just been enjoying the posts, but I have been enjoying the voices within the posts. When I read someone’s personal blog, after a while, I feel like I’m starting to get to know them. But it’s not just the recounting of the events in their life as they write them in their blog that helps me to get to know them. I feel like I’m getting to know these people also through their writer’s voice. It is their voice which puts the soul into their writing. It’s the soul I end up “following”—it’s the soul for which I keep coming back to read more.

As Writer’s We Need to Accept and Appreciate Our Voices

One of the things I have come to accept as a writer is my voice. I’ve accepted it, and as a blogger, I’m even coming to appreciate it. I used to read others’ writing and wish that I could “sound like that” in my own writing. In fact, because I did that, I hindered my own writing and clasped shut the mouth of my own writer’s voice. I wasn’t willing to let my voice shine through, because I wanted my writer’s voice to be different than what it was. I love reading witty, funny blog posts, the kind that have you laughing out loud, but I will never be a funny writer. I might have an occasional funny post or sentence or two, but my writing, overall, is not that. But I began to realize that there is an audience for every voice. Because people are different, and they like different things. So while someone may only read funny writers, someone else is going to want to read, well, maybe something like mine (i.e. not so funny, but certainly distinct).

As I began to accept my own voice, I also began to appreciate it. My voice is my voice and I can’t make it any different than what it is. If I try to make it a different voice, my writing will be forced and starchy and everyone will know that I’m faking it. And no one will want to read that crap. We need to appreciate our voices because they are as unique as we are. And the more we let our voices express themselves and say truly what they want to say and how they want to say it, the more unique they become and the stronger your writing will be.

Sorting Out the Voices and Finding Yours: One Example

As I’ve tried to discover what my “real” voice is, what I have found is that the reason it’s hard to find it, is because there’s more than one voice in your head. There is the real you–the you that you are meant to be. And then there is one or more other “fakers” that try to keep you away from the real you.

One good example of this is a particular blog I like to read. My friend Scrathers writes a blog devoted to shutting up what she calls the “inside voice”–a voice that she doesn’t like to listen to, because the voice is a negative one. But what I hear in her “conversations” with the inside voice, is not HER “inside voice,” but rather, the real HER that is battling this inside voice. The writer’s voice that I hear in Scrather’s words when she writes about these battles, is one of inner strength (despite what it might feel to her), and one of determination. And it’s that strength and determination that keeps me going back and visiting her blog.

And here’s the thing about Scrather’s inside voice.

As much as she battles it, I think in some way it is the thing that is bringing out the strength and determination that is really and truly her inside voice. She had one such victorious moment when she decided to go on pills for depression. The doctor gave her a prescription without much investigation, and Scrathers took them. “I admit that I accepted the first thing that could possibly help me, because I didn’t really want  to talk at that point.  Talking was pointless.  The inside voice had prattled on at me for so long, i didn’t want to give her an outside voice.  I just wanted to shut her up.” Although she didn’t talk about it with her doctor, she nevertheless was speaking: she was battling the inside voice that was not her true voice and without words, she told the inside voice to shut up. In her recount of this, the reader can see that at that point, Scrathers was fed up with that inside voice and wouldn’t have any more to do with it when it came to her mental health. She would do what she needed to do to feel better. End of discussion, Ms. Inside Voice!

As Scrathers and I continue to write, and continue to grow as people and as writers, what I expect to happen is that more and more our writer’s voices will grow and strengthen. That is because I truly believe that our writer’s voice comes along when we learn from the negative experiences we’ve had, but then lay aside the constant nagging about our failures and fears that those inside voices want to keep prattling on to us about.

 

Dream a Little Dream

March 30, 2012 in The Study with 9 Comments

I have a dream. I’ve been reading all I can about the topic for my dream. I’ve been brainstorming, flipping through ideas about how to implement it and what it might look like once I truly get started. But, oh! I have already started! All of my studying and learning and thinking—this is my start. And I’ve done more than that, because writing this blog right now, I’m practicing.

My Dream’s Small Beginnings

My dream started out as a small idea: I would like to be my own boss, do my own thing, and help other people. But I didn’t know what that “thing”would be and I didn’t know what kind of help I would give or to whom I would give it. This is where I started with my dream and where my thoughts about it started. I knew I needed to discover who I would help and how I would help them.
Project Whitespace has been part of that. I’ve been attempting to discover those two things. You might remember a post I wrote called Reaching Out Means Going In. I shared in that post that I had discovered my purpose in blogging, that as I started “going in” to other writer’s blogs, I started seeing that the best way I could help people was to encourage them in whatever it is that they are doing.

Will You Let Me Be Your “CEO”?

Future CEO. Very competent.

As I’ve been flipping through ideas and reading about what I can do, one stream of advice that I’ve come upon repeatedly is that you should do what you are good at, what you are passionate about, and what you know about. All my life, I have been the happiest, feel the most fulfilled and useful when I am encouraging someone. I have wondered, “well, how do you get a job or make a business around ‘encouragement?’ What would my title be? Chief Encouragement Officer? (at least then I could say I was a CEO of something!).

But as I discovered my purpose with blogging, my passion for it has skyrocketed, and my love for other bloggers and their stories has catapulted. And I realized, I can do this!
Bloggers are an inspiring group of people. By blogging they have found a way to share their passions, desires, struggles, and even just their daily thoughts. Bloggers have something to say, whether they have a huge audience or even just a handful of readers, each and every blogger has something they feel is important enough to be shared. I get that, because that’s me too.

My Dream, With a Little More “Flesh” On It

I want to create the most awesome website ever that will be dedicated to writers and bloggers. I want to help bloggers and writers celebrate their stories. Their stories are amazing—these stories are about overcoming challenges, finding themselves, connecting with other people. I love this stuff! I have already talked to two bloggers who are willing to share their stories with me, so look for their stories in the next few weeks. This is just a start.
I know if I want to create the most awesome website ever for bloggers and writers, there is going to be a lot of work involved. There is going to be a lot of “stuff” to figure out and decisions to be made. (One I already have is should I start with a clean slate and start a new blog and website, or keep Project Whitespace?). But that’s all okay. I can take little steps.
I’d love to hear what you all think about this. I’d also love to hear what kind of dreams you have that you’ve never done anything about.

Reaching Out Means Going In

March 21, 2012 in People with 13 Comments

store front doorway

Reaching out means going in.

One of the reasons I started blogging was because I wanted to reach out to people. I wanted to write stuff that would maybe inspire them, make them feel happy, if even for a moment. I wanted to do this, because I know how I feel sometimes when I get down. It is encouraging when someone reaches out to you.In the past few weeks, I have been stressing about not feeling like I’m doing anything for anyone. Like I’m not helping or making anyone’s life any better. At the same time, I have been slowly gaining momentum on reading a lot more of other people’s blogs, following their stories, and commenting on their blogs. I admit, I started doing this because I wanted others to do the same. But something happened while I was doing this.

I started feeling like I was making connections.

More importantly, I was making connections with other people like me, writers–people who feel the urge for whatever reason to put words to paper. Or words to blog in our case. Bloggers are a brave sort, putting their guts out there for the world to see. The more guts I read, the more interesting their story. The more “real” they are, the more likely I am to “talk back” to them. Again, I’ve been doing more of this lately. What I have found by doing this is that it’s not the blog writing that I do that is reaching out. It’s the reading of other people’s blogs, and the follow up after reading their blogs to comment to them, to have a bit of a conversation.

I have a friend on Facebook, who, whenever I post a new link to my blog on my page, he either clicks “like” or he comments in Facebook. I asked him about this. And he told me, “I try to read as much as I can. I figure people post it up there because they want someone to read it.” I remember reading those words and thinking, “he’s got it figured out. He’s figured out how to be a friend. He knows what people want and he’s doing it. For no apparent selfish reason, he does this.”

What I didn’t know when I realized this, was what a good thing it is, not only for the receiving end, but for the person doing it. At least it is for me. As I have done this with other bloggers, I feel that I am reaching out to them. But not exactly. The words I write in my own blog is reaching out. And that’s a good thing, I think. At least–it has the right heart to it. But it’s when I go into other people’s blogs, read their thoughts, follow their story and maybe start up a conversation, then, I am going in. And that’s what is really important to the writer.

So what I have figured out is that reaching out means going in.

 

Speaking Peace

February 20, 2012 in Inspiration with 1 Comment

grafitti on a cement wall that says "crime"I have been thinking about peace, for to walk in selflessness and in love, one must walk in peace, one must walk non-violently. It’s easy enough to say that I will walk in peace, that I will not cause physical harm to anyone else. Chances are, I will not be in a situation that I formerly would have considered a situation that calls for self-protection with violence. But I’ve been thinking about what I write and what I speak—that I must start living in selflessness, in love and in non-violence in my everyday life, and for me, that means in my speaking and in my writing.

In my life, it has been words that I struggle against, other people’s words that would tear me down. And I think this would probably be true for anyone, that we all struggle with the words that others speak against us, our actions, our motives, our desires, our personalities our idiosyncrasies. Often the words are not directed at us personally, but we see ourselves on the other side of the critique, and we must struggle against those words if we want to remain true to who we really are. The masses speak discouragement, they speak hate, they speak into existence a rigid set of guidelines that we must follow to be accepted. The masses speak violence, and their voice extends into the deepest part of our beings and tears down who we might become.

I want to reject that movement of the masses—I do not want to be a part of that discouragement, I do not want to speak violence into another person with my own set of judgments, my own rigid guidelines. But it comes so naturally, it’s as if we are programmed to do so—to judge and to want others to abide by our guidelines so that we, our own person, can be validated. So I asked God to show me when it is that I speak or write from out of my “self” and not out of love. For only when I speak or write in love will I be able to do so in peace. I would like my writing, then, to focus on, and examine the streams of peace that I find. Not that I will ignore the bad, but that my efforts will follow after peace.

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