There is a crack in the wall
I scrape it with fingernails
Chipping out a bit of paint
I feel the plaster crumbling;
Or is it just brittle cuticles
From a hand tired of gnawing
At barriers mocking me with
Promises of light and warmth
Beyond the dent in the enclosure
I participated in the @WriteFluence December Blog and Win challenge by penning down 3 blog posts overflowing with Christmas nostalgia and personal experiences.
Do read, comment, and vote for all three. I am sure you will enjoy the reading experience:
This season, take away the winter blues
It was more purple than green
An ugly gash refusing to heal
Salve nor balm, rest nor restrain
Strong enough to erase the pain
A bruise so blue, a crimson tear
Sweet hurt with trembling fear
Yet, I tend to these injuries deep
Purge the venom, not let it seep
Into crevices of my soul so grim
Discard memories like dead skin
It hurt a bit, the little scratch
When a vagrant nail scraped
With nonchalant smugness;
What pained more, was the yarn
Pulled out from a cozy space
It stared at me, pleading repair
It’s world ready to unravel
With a stitch now haywire
I held the woolen memory
Lovingly in my warm hand
Still smelling of mothballs
Just subdued by gentle wash;
Grabbed a frigid crochet hook
Delicately weaved in the strand
Tied a neat knot, pulled it tight
Tucked it all away, out of sight
I have been consuming a lot of learning material these days in my professional area. Podcasts, videos, PDFs, blogs, and trainings. The use of devices has always resulted in fatigue, diversions, and attention deficit. I was consuming but not retaining. I have downloaded PDFs, presentations, and copy-pasted snippets in Notes apps, yet the semblance of organized assimilation of information was missing. My mind was not processing the information completely.
So, today I went absolutely old school. Picked up a notebook and pen, placed my phone on a stand, and just watched or read, and took notes. I have been at it for hours now and the learning is definitely more focused.
It may be a personal choice because people these days prefer digital learning through podcasts and short videos. However, even with training videos, I like to read the transcript. I feel the old ways are the best. For me, any number of digital highlights, bookmarks, and notes in the Cloud can not replace the immersive experience of pen ✒️ and paper 📝.
Incidentally, this is something I recommend to my son also, especially since all classes are online. I tell him notes-taking and creating learning maps and tables help to retain information.
One of the recommended techniques for proofreading and editing is to read the printout. I know of editors who prefer doing it, however, printing out reams of information daily for marking is extravagant with environment-related implications ♻️. Over the years, I have moved to effectively review and edit PDFs.
With self-learning, I am probably going to fill in some more notebooks. 📒 📓. Here’s to #happylearning with #paperandpen to
#writeandlearn. What is your favorite learning style – do you take notes, do you have beautiful notebooks filled with doodles and cursive handwriting. This reminds me of a gorgeous post on BoredPanda that compiles fantastic handwriting samples. See it here.
Blue Pen Strokes 