GIGI GOES GAGA

THE HEART OF A FOOL

I've always worn my heart on my sleeve; I don't know how not to. Diplomacy comes easy to me, tact -- most definitely. I don't have trouble with concealing my not-so-nice thoughts because I'm inherently a nice person, I think. Other than that, my face is an open book and my eyes always betray everything -- which is probably why I never became a lawyer or politician, despite my keen interest in both fields. Thus I've always believed that one of the reasons I try to avoid trouble is because I wouldn't know how to lie and get out of it later; I've decided it's much simpler if I didn't have to deal with subterfuge, to begin with.

I can't say that honesty has always served me well, I'm afraid -- at least not in the short term. My logical side knows that there are times when things are best left unsaid, at least for self-preservation's sake but especially when the truth can make things complicated. And yet, despite knowing this, I've opted to show my heart because when the future's at stake, I always bet on my heart over my brain. And, yes, I know that smarter people would disagree with me.

I suppose I won't be able to say, at least not until the end of my life, if being this way got in the way of getting what I wanted or if it caused me to have the kind of life I deserved. The only thing I do know, however, is that anyone I've ever cared about or loved in this life always knew how I felt. Whether or not they felt the same way about me probably had nothing to do with them knowing that I did at all, but hopefully it made them feel good that someone once did.

I can't help but to feel deeply, I was just made this way. And even if it means I get hurt a bit too much or too often, I'd like to believe the world is much better off, especially these days, with more people who can still feel, who are still guided by their hearts. Even my head tells me so.

"The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart"  ~ Benjamin Franklin

WHERE I HANG MY HAT THESE DAYS

I've been writing here lately. But I'll still keep posting away here, too.

Why the new blog? Because I'm writing with a talented group of writers for the next two months: The Undeniables.

GONE A MONTH?(!!!)

I can't believe I've been gone an entire month!

So much has been happening -- one would think I'd be writing almost daily. If I were more disciplined I probably would have been.

Which is why today is Day One (of 43 days) of intense daily writing for my Creative Fiction writing class. I don't know if this means I'll be blogging here as well -- but I hope so, and I certainly will try. They say writing is a muscle you need to keep strengthening and flexing, and so I'll be in training for the next six weeks.

I've also joined a writer's online workshop, which requires all of us to be writing daily as well on yet another blog I had to set up for this purpose. In 12 days I've written only four short essays -- letters, actually, since my chosen category was "correspondence." I need to step it up, obviously, especially since the workshop goes on for only 60 days. I should be able to write every day -- for 60 days and six weeks, right?

I'm looking forward to this, even if I'm a bit scared. Fear is good, though -- at least the kind that, say, actors and singers feel before they go on stage. I don't know exactly what I'm afraid of, although I suspect it has something to do with how I simply stopped writing in my mid-20s because I thought I wasn't good enough. I didn't start writing again until six years ago, when I started up this blog.

In the meantime I get to make writing a habit; doesn't it take six weeks to make anything a habit, after all?