What's Up Wednesday- July 30th

 Snorkeling is for Lovers, Wicked Mystics & the Meaning of Life

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING

WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr. I needed a little escapism this week and this definitely fit the bill. A lightweight Summer read that had me turning the pages. A mortal, a Summer King and one bitch of a mother Winter Queen. It was a fun read.

MYSTIC CITY by Theo Lawrence- I'm liking this one so far. It might be a tad predictable, but the premise is interesting and I like how the world is spinning out. And again, pure escapism is one of the rare qualities in books that I adore. Especially when the real world is a mess.

WHAT I'M WRITING

I was being very good. I was budgeting at least an hour every morning to write. But then, instead of working on what I should be working on, I wrote 10 pages of a new magical realism idea that's been haunting me. *facepalm* Shiny new ideas are the bane of my existence.


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Snorkeling at Lover's Key was so much fun. We saw tons of giant starfish, sea horses and a gorgeous little sea turtle. My favorite part was snorkeling across the deeper main channel and having a thousand little silverlings dash about in huge schools of flashing silver and bump into my scuba mask. And of course we did complete the sea grass survey, which was ostensibly why we were out there in the first place. *grin* My Kingdom for a scuba mask that doesn't pull out my hair though. 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

During the last couple of weeks on the What's Up Wednesday post, I had a very fun exchange with the lovely Kitty Murry regarding the Mary Oliver quote, "What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" It's a line I've had tacked on my wall for several years now and helped me get closer to the answer to that question than I've ever been. I have a tendency to forget about poetry for long stretches of time. Besides obsessing over song lyrics, I forget to read poetry. But there's something about certain kinds of poetry that distills the essential elements of life down to an elixir so pure and so obvious as to make you rethink your very existence. So I've been devouring poetry again. (Which is funny because reading a book of poetry was also a square on the YAB Summer Reading challenge and also one that I thought I'd skip.) But I found another line, also by Mary Oliver, that turned my bones to glass. (Below: It makes my brain shout "Yes!") 

I want to wake up every morning and live deliberately. Not just with the shallow breath of subsistence, but to every pore. I want to fling myself into the raging tide and make myself swim. Not just to survive, but to thrill in the absolute existence of being. I do not want to die not having fully lived. I hold my own life in the palm of my hand and I am the only one that can see that I make the most of it.