Tag: help

Stuck In My Head

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Usually when something irritates me, or I want to ‘talk it out’, I post a blog on it. It allows me the freedom to say what I need to say, and then people can comment on it. It seems really methodical to me. It’s like, ‘I say what I say, and you can say what you think about what I said’. It is one of the few outlets where a person can express things without interruption. And doing it on something like a blog, enables people to read through your varying opinions, and get a good idea of what you are like as a person.

However, what happens when you don’t know how to say what is on your mind? If everything you type up becomes just a ‘hash-bash’ collection of words and, ill thought out, phrases. That is something I have been going through at the moment. There is no slow down of the thought processes and opinions, I just don’t seem to be able to write things the way I intend to. Which is irritating.

Over time, I have learnt that the best way to deal with any creative block, is to ride it out. Is to keep to returning to what you are struggling with, and eventually you will get progress. This is what I am doing now. Everything I have written lately seemed so bad. I just haven’t been able to put what is in my head, into words. And when you lose that ability, it becomes almost a burden, even moreso when you use it as a method of expression. It is like someone has locked you in a room, and have given you the wrong key to get out.You start off, with so much hope, but you just stall to a stop, when it doesn’t work.

I suppose that is something that anyone experiences. It can happen with work, with school, with anything. You just hit some kind of mental brick wall, and you can’t get any further. I guess, the thing to remember is that every brick must fall, someday. So keep on trying, and you will get there. Just don’t get to disheartened.

Just To Save A Life

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

So yesterday, if you follow me on any social networking site at all, you’d have heard that I saw a cat get knocked down yesterday. I carried it off the road, onto the grass, tried to make it comfortable and phoned the SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). The poor cat was dying as soon as it was hit by the car, as his head bore the brunt. As an animal lover, I was devastated, but acted automatically to make sure the cat wasn’t hit again.The cat was taken away by an SSPCA warden, at which point he was dead. Nothing could be done for the cat, and thankfully he seemed to die relatively quickly.

But what bothers me, is that as well as me, and the poor woman who hit the cat (she came back to scene), 5 other people were walking past, and none of them even looked. It was like they ignored it. Surely, a person who is nice, would at least make another creature comfortable if it was in pain. Or maybe, that’s just me. I was crying out loud, and the pool of blood on the road was evident of an accident. But people just walked past, after glancing at me and the cat, and then at the road. I would have wanted someone to sit with my cat, so that’s what I did.

I had a think about it afterwards, about how people reacted to the situation. Which if you witness, is the worst thing ever. But even to see someone in distress, and crying openly, I would stop and see if they were ok. A lady who saw the accident from my work came out, as did a girl I work with. But everyone else just ignored it. I was about 7 feet away from a bus stop, and the guy waited for his bus and watched me trying to keep the cat breathing. I felt a bit strange at that. It was like he didn’t want to be involved.

What if it was a person, or if the car had crashed, would he have helped then? I don’t think he would have. I don’t think a lot of people would have. To me it is nature, because I would always expect someone to act like that to help me. But what if they don’t? What if people just watch, like they did with the cat? I have seen it where people have fallen and hurt themselves, and it is the same, people stand and watch as one person tries to help.

As a person who values all living life in the same light, despite what type of creature it is, I struggle to understand the concept, of people not helping. I would always expect someone to help me, or any of my family or friends, and I wouldn’t dare expect that, if I wouldn’t do the same for someone else. This is also the same for animals, as I didn’t have the heart to leave that little kitten in the road to be run over by other cars. I would hope that other people would do the same. But, if I wasn’t there, then I think the cat would have lay on the road, untill the council would scrape the remains off the road the following day. If you have a pet, or know anyone who has one, you would want it to die as comfortable as possible.

If you can reason letting one animal suffer without aid, what’s saying you would not use the same excuses if it were a person? Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see why there would be a difference, and why you wouldn’t help any creature that was in pain?

Distraction! Distraction! Distraction!

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

In a bit to stop dwelling on the fact that I am utter miserable, I am going to delve into something to try and raise the positivity points for a little. At least distract me for a little while, anyway.

*twiddles thumbs*

*scratches head*

Umm… so what do you say when your mind is as blank as my ‘completed’ Standard Grade Chemistry exam? Well, the same as what any other blogger does. Look at news sites, etc and see if you can find a topic that interests you. Failing that you could always post about a Meme that attracts your attention.

What is a Meme? Well, most people associate it with the Viral videos that spread around the internet like wildfire. You know the type, you’ve probably recieved a video via email, on facebook to the point it may even get mentioned in national media. But as far as the blog meme goes, it is more of a theme, or idea that people post, and it spreads to other blogs. A lot of memes centred around blogging, tend to be either GIF (moving images) posts or posting games.

The first meme I probably encountered was over on LiveJournal, which as I have said before, was my first blog, which is 7 years old this year. The homepage has a section called ‘writer’s block’ where members of the site submit questions, and other blogger answer it in a blog post. It is a good motivator, and I have seen myself use the ‘writer’s block’ to write a few times in a week, to help get into the mood for posting. Meme’s are ideal for people looking to get started in blogging, but don’t quite have the processes in place to blog on a daily basis, with different content. Here, the topic is decided, you just have to write about it. This small function of the ‘writer’s block’ is something unique, in that I am yet to see another mainstream blogging service employ such a service.

But if your blogging service of choice does not include something to help encourage posting, there are Meme sites online, where you can pick their topic or task of the day to help you write. The best site I have found for this is The Daily Meme, a site set up to post memes, which help encourage people to write when they are stuck. The Daily Meme, has the site split into days of the week, so that users can pick from a day, and doing it weekly, such as ‘Creative Writing Friday’. Another site which is rather good is The Music Memoirs, which as you can guess, is similar to The Daily Meme, except is based around music, where you create playlists for the season and things.

I have been a user of both sites for a long time, and they have both helped me out of some pretty serious writer’s blocks, so I can heavily recommend them both. And it is no bad thing if you post using a meme, every so often, because a meme tends to allow the writer to show themselves, which is what blogging is about. It also shows, that you are willing to use sources to help you, if you need to.

Also, and probably the most important thing, seeing as I know A LOT of people starting blogs within the last few months, posting a meme on your blog allows it to be slightly more than one dimensional. If all you do is repost other peoples’ Photoshop tutorials, then you aren’t really employing the blog to it’s full purpose. So if you struggle, try a meme, and it’ll help you get to what is at the heart of a good blog. YOU and your opinions.