THE DEPARTMENT OF POETIC LICENSE wants you to step out of your COMFORT ZONE for a little while. Join us on the quest. Join us as we push the envelope… Let’s realize our full potential. All we ever wanted is for you to excel, to not be confined to the parameters and the gravity or dictates of this world. The DPL is interested in helping you to explore your imagination, what’s in you and around you; and in doing so we benefit from the ride as well. You see!!! That’s the benefit and the joy of it all. It’s a two way street. A ‘WIN, WIN’ for all parties involved.
We are sure you have heard of the phrase, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ So, does that mean one word is worth one thousandth of a picture. Perhaps. If the journey of walking a mile begins with the first step; then writing one thousand words begins with the first one.
photo by Pixabay
Now this may sound absurd but the only goal we really want to achieve with this blog is to write ONE THOUSAND WORDS. That’s it. We don’t really want to teach you anything. We don’t want to educate you. We just want you to read further. Sounds rather selfish, doesn’t it? But if you read this without having any expectations, then you just might get something out of it. What? Only you will know. So let’s see where this journey takes us.
Many years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties, I was a member of an improvisation performance group called, the Improv Poets. The founder of the group was a rather eccentric, cosmic and lovely woman named Ludmilla. Ludmilla had acted in an off Broadway play when she was younger (she was twenty or so years older than us) with the legendary actress Claudette Colbert. She actually had a picture of the two of them rehearsing a scene.
If there was ever someone who was an example of RAW, ‘in your face’ creativity, Ludmilla was it. We took our raw improvisation performances to many different venues including bars. Basically, any place that would accommodate us. It was Ludmilla’s idea that we rip pages from a thesaurus and arbitrarily hand them to members of the audience. Whoever she picked was allowed to pick any word off of the page. Then we would perform based off of that word.
I Don’t mean to sound like a ‘Trekey’, but these performances took me to places I had never gone before. We fed off of each other’s energy. I would spout off words, any words that came to mind, while another members (one guy was an actor) would act out as if we were doing a play and Ludmilla would dance. She had the build of a little ballerina. One of the things I found most amazing was how she would just stop dancing and stood still like a mummy for minutes at a time. And this was even before striking a pose was in ‘VOGUE’.
When the audience applauded at the end, I wasn’t quite sure if they actually liked it or just appreciated the fact that we had the guts to do something like that-especially IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. Either way, when I heard them clapping, it was enough for me, my prayers were answered.
Half way there already. My how time flies.
Getting back to Ludmilla. This petite woman (who was originally from Ukraine) was not only fascinating to me but she also had a commanding presence. Her accent never completely left her and when she spoke she elongated her vowels in such a way that every word would linger in the air as if in a bubble. She taught us how to also use silence and stillness as part of the performance. It wasn’t necessary to move and talk all the time; you can still make a statement. She taught us that sometimes less is more. One time I summoned enough courage to ask her, “how can you stand there and do nothing for so long?” “Oh but I am doing something-I’M BREATHING.”
Like in the movie, Forest Gump, ” life is a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re going to get.” The DPL is like a box of chocolate. Each blog is its own entity. We’re like literary rebels who sometimes break the rules. Rebels with a cause. Whether we write in the first or second person our focus is to be THOUGHT PROVOKING, INSPIRING, MOTIVATING AND ENTERTAINING. We have incorporated hyperlinks to magnify the experience. So if a post has a blue hyperlink please click on it. We want you to get the full experience.
We want you to continue to have a sweet tooth and read as if you are eating a box of chocolate. You can even take a bite off of each one, put it in the back in the box, go back and finish it later. Please feel free to share. There is plenty of chocolate to go around.
Our goal is give each writing a life of its own. This blog format allows us to make changes. So, it is possible that the next time you go back and read again, it could be slightly changed or tweaked. That’s the beauty of this blog format, unlike print.
If you are reading this blog for the first time you may wonder, ‘why isn’t he talking more about poetry.’ Although I do consider myself a poet and a writer, but by not holding the reins so tightly, the DPL has morphed into what it is.
We feel creativity is like water. It is pliable and takes the shape of whatever container it is poured into. It can also, when frozen, become a solid: ice. But it is still water. In Whatever form we may appear, our primary focus always comes back to writing. We want to be an inspiration.
So, don’t hold on to those reins so tight. Keep your mind open. Loosen that grip. RELA X. Let it flow. SMILE. A smile can be worth more than a thousand words. Your smile has the power to light up a room and connect with people without saying a single word. You may not have anything to smile about but smile anyway. You might be thinking. Why does it matter whether I smile or not? I’m wearing a mask (during the pandemic) so people don’t know whether I’m smiling or not. Smile anyway. We don’t always have to see it, to feel it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyHoohNyYkw
We started writing this post not knowing what to write about. Our only goal was to write a thousand words and here we are. Just about there…
If you feel the need and have enough time to count and make sure we reached our goal. Well, that means you have a lot of time on your hands. Which means you certainly have time to write… so pick up that pen or tap at that keyboard and GET ‘ER DONE!
REMEMBER. THE JOURNEY TO A THOUSAND WORDS BEGINS WITH WRITING THE FIRST ONE.
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