the need to be liked

What drives the human person to desire to be liked? It's a driving force that makes a woman change her dress or a man say silly jokes in front of friends. We want others to accept us and reassure we are liked. Even with my family I find myself thinking. Do they like this about me? What if I do this? Or if it was a man and a woman in a relationship work so hard to make the other like him or her.
Is it really worth all the effort we are putting forth? I don't think so. It doesn't matter what others think about us. It's how God views us. He wants us to be his children and love him. Getting liked by others isn't what life is supposed to be all about. There's a greater purpose out there than being popular or accepted. You are the only you that will ever exist. Make sure everyone knows that you won't make yourself as others think you should be but who you are. Anything less is robbery to yourself and the world.
Lucie Inspired

In pop culture sometimes I wonder if it is even worth fighting for correct grammar and word usage. I get discouraged when I see words with numbers in them and people who don't even know what a verb is. But then I think if I don't fight for it meaningful communication will be lost. Grammar and words our one of the things that puts us above animals. It has the power to draw us together or tear us apart. But without it we are no more than blubbering fools who cannot form educated and complete thoughts.
I love grammar, words, and communication and I hope that everyone will see the importance of being able to appreciate the colorful and descriptive adjectives of a moonlit night or the taste of cheesecake. Without words all of this would be impossible. It would be like a mute world full of humans unable to relate to each other or enjoy the fruits of this earth to the fullest measure. How sad that would be.
Lucie Inspired

my new poem

Here is my new poem. Look at the screen shot. It's called Evensong and Turtledoves.

Up the Downward Staircase

Up the Downward Staircase

Up the downward staircase

Trudging, I ascend.   

Rising up slowly,

My baggage weighing me down

Deceit and discouragement beat me.

My effort begins to wane.

Striving ceases to bring me

Contentment, peace, and blessing.

Up the downward staircase

Still, I climb.

Hope gives way to sorrow

Though each step I rise higher

All my work is nothing

Emptiness is all I’ve found

Each step seems that much higher.

Success I’ll never reach.

The staircase ever winding

Into stormy clouds

Defeated but ever climbing

I walk up the downward staircase.

This is my favorite poem that I wrote. It speaks of struggle against yourself. Hoping for something that is better yet being defeated by your own striving. It so often happens in life and we keep on without realizing it. But it doesn't have to be that way. That is the metaphor of walking up a staircase that goes always downward.

Lord of the Rings

I've been reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy and it's been fascinating. JRR Tolkien is a true genius in fantasy. As I'm writing my book, I've been thinking about how to write developed and true characters. I've heard that writers leave little bits of themselves in their characters. I think that's true. Yet I also struggle to not make all the characters like me. I want to portray them as unique. For in real life that's the way it is.
Tolkien was great at describing each characters hopes, feelings, and goals. Aragorn has different motives than Merry. Gandalf may know more than Pippan but they are all weaved to create a beautiful story.
Another thing I noticed about Tolkien's writing is that throughout the trilogy he ties in this every croaching shadow that is bringing doom to the characters. It relates a struggle or conflict with man and time to finish their task before the shadow conquers. It is a metaphor for life. As humans we struggle against circumstance to succeed and fulfill our life purpose before the shadow of death falls on us. We can carry on like Frodo and Sam knowing that what we are striving for will help others in the end, especially if we are Christians.
Lucie

punctuation: what are you?

I have a facination for grammar and punctuation. But I understand that the common person doesn't. So let's have some fun and I'll teach you some things. (I apologize if you already know some of this.)
The two most frustrating misuses of punctuation.
1. The apostrophe in words that are not possessive.
ex."I have a lot of book's."
In this sentence books is just a plural noun and is informing us that I have a lot of books. Now if I were to say this it would be the correct usage of the apostrophe.
ex."Mary Beth's books are well taken cared of." Here it's telling whose books they are. Mine.
2. The semicolin in sentences that should not be joined. Now I know every writer avoids semicolins like the Black Plague but really it's quite simple to use if you just remember two simple rules.
      1. Semicolins can't be used to join two sentences that do not have similar messages and that cannot stand alone as a sentence.
ex."When I read a book; it gives me great pleasure."
When you're trying to communicate you wouldn't leave off your sentence with " when I read a book."  It leaves the listener hanging to find out the answer. What happens when you read a book?
Now here's an example of a proper way bonuses a semicolin.
ex." I love to read; I love to write."
Here these two sentences make sense and don't leave the reader hanging if they were separate but they also have similar structures. It tells what I love.
       2. The second rule to using semicolins that if you have a huge list with a lot if commas already a semicolin is used ti separate the different items being listed.
I hope this little bit information has enlightened you and helped cousin becoming a better writer. Punctuation is needed to help effectively communicate, but if not used correct it actually does the opposite.