If you’ve ever been in one of my writing classes you may have heard me talk about skiffs, sailboats and tankers. I liken them to people and thus to characters. All three, the skiff, sailboat and tanker traverse the water; each can handle different amounts of what the ocean has to offer. People experience a whole spectrum of emotions. If  they have experienced only a small amount of what is out there, never venturing into  deep water, then they are a skiff, but the oil tanker–ah, he does deep water all the time. Some people are skiffs some are sailboats and some are tankers. I don’t ever want to be a tanker. There are things I never want to know, things I don’t want to feel. So it’s a sailboat life for me. As for the characters in your life-ask yourself what they are. Which are you and why?

QUOTE: “We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.”  Aristotle Onassis

Geez, it’s been hot!  And I think this is one of the busiest summers I’ve ever seen. As much as I hate to admit it, the roundabouts, despite being too small, are helping with the flow of our busy summer traffic. Plus the the view from the bridge is fantastic.  So what is there to complain about? Not a darn thing. Just want to remind everybody to be careful of the undertow, wear plenty of sunscreen, be kind to the tourons,  (they just don’t know any better and they are visiting our home) And if any tourists are reading, please frequent our local businesses, we do appreciate you. Holland’s Shelter will be opening on the 29th of this month and they are the tastiest! when it comes to seafood.

QUOTE:  “I want to do things of significance, things that will inspire people to know how good life can be.” Judge Reinhold

WRITING TIP: The above is one of the reasons I write. It gives purpose, supplies joy and makes me feel whole-like God loves me. It’s a feeling I like to share. It certainly does not make me financially well off, but it brings wealth to my soul.

A friend and I were sitting on her deck, enjoying the day–you know, complaining about the traffic, the trash on the beach, the trash on the beach–hmm. Anyway, we were having a ball just chatting away when all of a sudden this little guy flew into one of the railings on her porch. “Oh my gosh!” we both exclaimed-and we wondered if the poor little bird was dead or dazed. Fortunately it was only dazed-we were glad and just as we were about to go to his aid Momma bird flew up to examine her baby. She made a fuss–chirping and hopping about. Beats me what she was saying to the little guy, but it must have been fantastic, because soon baby bird was off and within half a second so was momma.

Simple little things like this are so profound; they always humble me and remind me that there are other worlds beside mine.

QUOTE: “If you aren’t humble, whatever empathy you claim is false and probably results from some arrogance or the desire to control. But true empathy is rooted in humility and the understanding that there are many people with as much to contribute in life as you.” Anand Mahindra

WRITING TIP: The more I write, the more I learn–conversely, the more humble I become about my importance.

Hammerheads are sooo scary. I remember seeing one glide past our  40 foot fishing boat, and it seemed at least half as long. Maybe my fear made it larger than it was, but nevertheless, these man eaters are MANEATERS. YOW! But, lest my fear and ignorance judge them too quickly, there is a little known fact about hammerheads and their ilk: they may have genes that could save countless human lives. Yep! Recent studies have shown that sharks have an increased immunity to cancer due to their overall highly evolved immune systems. And it’s the scariest sharks out there, hammerheads and great whites that are the species which exhibit these extraordinary genes.

Oh, how quick we are to judge-Sharks are not all bad. But humans tend to judge things quickly and indiscriminately-out of fear, ignorance? like books by their covers, people by the cars they drive, folks by their incomes-all kinds of things that don’t fit into their little box.  Sort of reminds me of a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a woman. She remarked that on her worst day, she could never look as bad as the people who shop at Walmart. “That,” she said, “is the reason I can’t stand going there.”  Now, I’m not advocating shopping at the store or anything else to bolster the store’s patronage; to each their own, I say. But having pondered that day and the woman, I feel ashamed for her, for her fear and ignorance.

QUOTE: “I have learned the hard way to mind my business, without judging who people are and what they do. I am more troubled by the lack of space being provided for the truth to unfold. Humans cannot seem to wait for or honor the truth. Instead, we make it up based on who we believe people should or should not be.” Iyanla Vanzant

WRITING TIP: Observe the character, try not to judge him/her.