Waxing Poetic Once Again

I haven't written poetry for a while but I've recently had an idea bouncing around and I finally decided to scratch it down on paper... Sometimes messing around with poetry helps me clear my mind. Well for one, it gets some of my "irrelevant inspiration" out of the way so that relevant inspiration has room to divide and cross-multiply... and be fruitful and fill my head... or something (pretend that last statement was intelligent and witty). ANYWAY so if you're interested in reading my poetic scribble go to my poetry blog here. (FTR it consists mostly of poetry/songs I did not write, but a few of them I did :P )

Inspiration

Sometimes I am easily inspired. Sometimes not so much. I sometimes go weeks without even looking at my book because I am just SO uninspired. Sometimes if I re-read or work on editing I'll get some inspiration and get some good writing done. But that doesn't even always help. Sometimes, though, I'll just be going for a walk or listening to a [completely unrelated] sermon and BAM it'll hit me. I always try to carry my little blue n white notebook around for times when inspiration will strike but sometimes I forget it. And wouldn't you know it, that's when inspiration strikes. Yes, I know, ce'st la vie ^_^
One of the biggest problems I encounter in writing is schedules. No I don't mean like deadlines. I love to be uber-organized (even though I oftentimes appear to be so unorganized and a lot of times I am :P ), so I like to be able to schedule my day. Only problem is that if I put on my schedule that I will write during a certain time every day, it just doesn't work. I mean, I can work on writing all I want, but if the inspiration won't come, I'm just wasting my time. And like I said, sometimes inspiration hits me at the randomest times so maybe I'll be studying Spanish then all of a sudden I gotta go write. Bye bye Spanish book, bye bye schedule. Why does life have to be so complicated sometimes? :P
So, to my wonderful audience out there (stepping out on faith here and assuming you really do exist :P ), how do YOU get inspired? Do random things inspire you, or do you find specific things more helpful in bringing on the inspiration? Surely I'm not all alone in my inspiration issues :P
G'day!
~me

An interview

So I suppose this is a good place to start. A little interview of sorts so whether you know me or not, you get all the insider info on who I am and what on earth I am doing. Sound interesting? Stick around. I'll be interviewed by my good buddy Fred. The real Fred, for those of you who are confused WHICH Fred...  anyway, here goes:

Fred: Hello Miss Neighbour. Nice of you to join us today for this episode of On the Grill with Fred which, despite the sound of its name, has nothing to do with food but it does have everything to do with "the hot seat"

L: Heya Fred. Good to be here. Hopefully the hot seat won't be too hot b/c I think your A/C is broken. Not that makes much difference in an online interview. NvM that was lame :P

Fred: So start by telling us a little about yourself. Who you are, a little bit of personal history, why on earth you have your feet up on my desk :glare:

L: *moves feet* Well I'm a pretty average country girl type who enjoys life even though sometimes my life can get pretty crazy. I grew up in a houseful of boys, the number of which varied over the years thanks to my family running a boarding school for boys. I started out in Washington, up on Mt Ranier and eventually found myself in Missouri which is where I still am till God puts me elsewhere. As I said, I enjoy life, and my life includes a lot of adventures. I enjoy lots of outdoor activities besides the usual girly stuff of cooking and sewing and keeping house.

Fred: Fascinating... so growing up with all those brothers, was that fun or torturous? I bet that made you a pretty tough cookie, eh?

L: weeelll no, I'm actually a wuss for the most part, but I know a thing or two about holding my own when I need to. I mean, sometimes boys we bring in will try to pick on me, but I usually manage to convince them it's not a good idea... I won't go into too much detail there :P

Anyway, for the most part growing up with brothers was fun. I mean, I always wanted a sister and I let people's pitying me for being the only girl get to me for quite a while, but then as I got older I realized that being the only girl helped make me who I am in a lot of ways. I mean, I was allowed and encouraged to be a girl since I was one, but at the same time I got a close-up look at a lot of stuff guys go through and my bros and I have a lot of discussions about stuff, too so I've seen plenty from both sides of the gender gap. I think maybe it made me more well-rounded, socially speaking. At least I'd like to think so ^_^

Fred: Alright so now tell me a little about WA vs MO and what was it like trekking halfway across the country not knowing anybody and not being familiar with... well, anything in your new state. Was it scary? Adventurous?

L: Adventurous. For the most part anyway. I mean, there was a little bit of a scary factor, just because of all the unknowns, and the tornado horror stories I'd heard and such... but I wasn't too worried about it because God had kinda prepared me and I knew I was where He wanted me so I could trust Him. Though when we experienced our first tornadic storm shortly after arriving in MO it was a little unnerving. They're still kind of scary in a way, but I've gotten pretty used to trusting God about it so I don't really stay up late at night worrying about being swept away by one :P

Ahh as far as not knowing people and coming to an unfamiliar place, to me it was somewhat just part of the adventure. It was a little weird to be a social outsider since I had lived in only 3 different places in my life, relatively close to each other, and when I was much younger so I didn't often have to "start over" making friends and acquaintances. Of course, I never really had a lot of friends in WA (we were somewhat secluded living way up on the mountain :P ) so that aspect wasn't too big a deal and I managed to make a lot of friends shortly after coming to MO. So yeah, for the most part the move was just adventurous and exciting and only a little bit scary.

Fred: So you were totally happy with just picking everything up and moving like that, eh?

L: Pretty much. Like I said, God totally prepared me for it. And anyway if I hadn't been, I learned a long time ago that getting upset about where you are only adds misery to your misery. It’s much easier to just leave things in God’s hands and trust Him and just be content with what you’ve got and where He’s placed you. But yeah, I was fine with it :)

Fred: Ok so let's move on now to your life as it is now. You went to college, correct?

L: Yes, I took correspondence from Western Dakota Tech and got an Associate of Technology degree in Agricultural Resources and Technology, with and emphasis in Equine Management.

Fred: :Blink:

L: Yeah that's what they all say haa ha

Fred: Ok so then what do you do with it?

L: Play uber-important horsewoman B-) ok just kidding... Actually the plan was to do something to that effect buuut I haven't done much with it since graduation BECAUSE shortly before graduating I felt like God began calling me elsewhere. I wasn't sure for the longest time what all that entailed and I'm still not sure, but I'm finding out one step at a time.

Fred: Aha! So is this where writing comes in then?

L: Well, yes and no... See, at that point I just felt like God was saying, ok so now you can make a horse's life better, what next? What about the people? And that was kinda one of those "of duh" moments when you suddenly connect the pieces of the puzzle… because, you see, I had for a while felt like there was a “bigger goal” in my life than just being a cowgirl or whatever and that was when it finally hit me that what was missing in my life plan was storing up something that would last for eternity. After that, several other pieces of the puzzle began to show up and God began to teach me some very important things and I felt like He wanted me to share them with people. I started to see the big picture God was painting through me and I felt like at that point the only step I was able to take was to start writing, since I’m a word nerd and have played around with writing and such. That’s when I started writing “Journey to the Heart of God”

Fred: So you were always into writing anyway then?

L: Nooo, no… not at all. I mean, I’ve come from a long line of writers in my family history and I used to love writing stories and stuff… but I never finished any of my stories. I’d always lose inspiration and lose interest… I always loved writing descriptive paragraphs or whatever but I never never imagined myself being a writer someday. The thought was kinda cool to me, but I never really wanted to do that.

Fred: You wanted to be a cowgirl…

L: Haa ha well actually I wanted to be a mommy. That’s the only thing I ever always wanted to be… Yeah I wanted to be a cowgirl too, and a ballerina and a figure skater and a few other things along the way. But now I want to be a servant to God… Whatever all that includes or excludes, whether it’s something I’m good at or not. I figure I’m better off leaving it in His hands because I can’t work things out on my own

Fred: Let’s move on to your book now. Tell me basically what it’s about, what inspired you to write, what you want to accomplish, and so on.

L: Well as I said it’s called “Journey to the Heart of God” and it’s about the journey that we are all on, and how for the Christian that journey means that we are striving to be closer to God and to fulfill what He wants for us. It’s kind of a synopsis of the lessons that He’s been teaching me over the years: who you really are in Christ; the importance of our moments and our actions and everything we do; what it really means to pursue righteousness; and the spiritual battle that we are engaged in for the souls of men and the kingdom of God.

I hope that this book will inspire people to step back and take a look at themselves and determine whether they are really saved or just fooling themselves, to identify the fruit of their lives, to become equipped and active in spiritual warfare, and just to find the heart of God and where He wants His people.

Fred: Sounds pretty deep

L: :nods: And wide ;)

Fred: ok so let’s swim to the shallow end and do some fun questions to close us out.

L: Schweet. I’m all for that B-)

Fred: What’s your favorite writing tool?

L: Hmmmm I totally love my black-ink, fine-point, pilot retractable gel pen, but sometimes I want blue ballpoint and sometimes I simply MUST type… Can’t pick a favorite though… it’s just dependant on my mood or something :P

Fred: Favorite food?

L: Let’s not go there. I’m not one to pick favorites. Food is good, let’s just say that

Fred: Haa haa ok… What would you do with a million dollars that you HAD to spend on yourself (i.e. you couldn’t give it to missions or friends/family)

L: Ohhhh no fair! Because I would totally give it all away except for enough to fly to a few select locations and buy tickets for a few friends to accompany me. So hmmm if I had to spend it all on me I’d probably invest some in real estate, buy a Chevy Silverado, and use the rest to travel around with friends, (does that count?) go visit my cousins in Bolivia, and knock some of my “must-visit” countries off my list ;) not necessarily in that order… :P

Fred: Ah so you love to travel then?

L: LOVE it. That’s not even a big enough word. Traveling is so da bomb B-) I inherited the Neighbour nomadic genes fo sho! :P

Fred: Ok last question then we’ll turn the grill off

L: Shoot

Fred: Bang

L: :-B

Fred: What’s the coolest thing about your life as-is?

L: Save the hardest for last, eh? It’s totally a combination between my kids on Sunday mornings, my awesome incredible friends/family/fanbase, and just knowing that I can leave everything in God’s hands and have no worries J

Fred: Very cool

L: Oh, you know it is.

Fred: Well thanks for joining us, no go chill and get some writing done!

L: Yes sir!

And there you have it :)

Introducing Scarabocchi

The writing blog of L. E. Neighbour. Scarabocchi is an Italian word which I believe means, roughly, "scribbles". Hopefully this blog will be a little more than scribbling. I want to inspire and encourage you as I am inspired and encouraged through various things in my life. I feel my attempts are unworthy scribbles next to the Great Author of the universe, but I hope that he will use my feeble scribbles to bring life.