Found out today that this blog is still up and running. It's been years since I last posted here.
I'd moved on to other things and have since expanded and grown. So much so that now, I've gone into declutter mode. Have no fear. I've rediscovered quite a few things since I entered the world of releasing the past to make room for the future.
Perhaps that's why I've suddenly come across this blog and my access to it. Whatever the reason, it seems fitting that I do this now.
I hope all of your journeys into future endeavors take on growth elements that achieve more than merely minimizing your clutter.
My only suggestion is to take a small amount of time to recall why you kept something before you let it go. It's part of the process of ridding oneself of emotional ties/considerations as well as the physical object (s).

Have great life and take only what you love with you on that road.

A bientot, my friends,
Claudsy

2voices1song.com

Hello there, readers--

I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten you, left you out in the cold, or slipped away without leaving a forwarding address.

Wrong! 

What I did was get a website where everything I do can come together in one place. Meena Rose and I now collaborate on a website labeled Two Voices, One Song.

Over there you'll find Claudsy's Calliope, Claudsy's Blog, and much more. The rooms there are spacious and attractive. We can branch out into fiction, reviews, profiles, inspiration pieces, poetry, travel, etc. It's like a department store for readers.

Why did we do this? We both felt the need to expand and test our wings in other skies. We also had some fun doing it.

Right now we're coming out of NaNoWriMo. For those who've never done it or seen the insanity it brings, know this; very little else gets accomplished during November. Couple NaNo with the November PAD Chapbook Challenge over at Poetic Asides and you have manic novel writing episodes leavened with poetry created to someone else's tune.

We've moved into the bigger holiday season, which means we'll be posting more regularly than during November but not as often as in months previously.

There are also other reasons for the slowdown. We've both got major projects in the works right now and the push is on.

We so enjoy having friends and neighbors drop in for a look-see. Please come whenever you like, stay as long as you like, leave us a note if we're not home to let us know you popped in for a visit. We certainly don't mind. We do return the favor and visits.

Now you know why you see nothing new here. Several of you have stopped by to see me here and found me gone. I hope you'll move your viewing pleasure to the new digs. I've missed seeing all of you. I think you'll like what you see there as much or more than what I presented here. Try it. You may really like it. 

The address is: 2voices1song.com/  You can't miss it. It's the big place on the corner of Dreams and Motivation.

TaTaForNow

Claudsy

New Home, New Post

I've posted a new piece on Calliope at its new home at www.2voices1song.com/

This post reports on the marvelous lecture I went to last evening with Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, Tibetan mond and founder of Ewam: Garden of a Thousand Buddhas in Arlee, MT.

Please stop by and read about this man and his mission. And please investigate the links provided for additional information.

Thanks, all

Claudsy

Getting a New Home

Ready for a move?

Sad as I am to say it, there's excitement, too. Claudsy's Calliope has moved to a new locale with new sights and sounds and adventures galore.

Regular readers know that it's been difficult for me to keep up with Calliope and Claudsy's Blog, plus Two Voices, One Song, in recent weeks. 

That aspect is, hopefully, going to be remedied with this move. Calliope and Claudsy's Blog have found a new home within the body of Two Voices, One Song so that readers and I can have a bit of one stop shopping for things to read, learn, and enjoy.

For instance, you'll be happy to know that I did, finally, get my office quasi-organized. I'll be giving a complete report on that in a few weeks or so. I found my whole desk area. Soon I'm going to completely redo my room so that I'll have an entirely new work space. I really do need to do the Feng Shui thing in here and I'm looking forward to it.

I'm going to do some serious work on getting manuscripts out the door to agents/publishers. I have two nearly ready to go and will have to concentrate on them more than I've done this past month. That's the main purpose in moving the blogs to Two Voices.

And there you have it. I won't be any more difficult to find. There will be more there to read on the entire site, and who knows, you might find even more to see and do while you're there.

All of the readers of Calliope deserve a hearty thank you from me. THANK YOU ALL. You've been coming here for a long time and I appreciate your loyalty and attendance. I hope you'll take your viewing time over to Two Voices, One Song as well. The address is easy.

www.2voices1song.com/

Hope to see you there. Until then,

Claudsy

Today is a look forward, back, and side-wise. It is a speculation on a future as yet unformed. All of the past ceased to exist when the present moment came into existence, and all of tomorrow can never exist for this moment in time is all that can exist. Embracing this truth means knowing that everything before this breath reaches the bottom of my lungs has faded as fog to the morning sun, and all that I can be, have, do, think, and will must be chosen within the space of that breath. That knowledge is mighty and terrifying in its entirety, for I must choose well or continue to hide from disturbing consequences that greet me each moment of the rest of my life.

I'm playing again today, trying to decide how many of these I can create for a wee chapbook. Let me know what you think. The feedback will help me determine which goes in and which stays out.

Thanks for giving your opinion on 1.) whether poem is accentuated by this photo, 2.) whether placement of poem should shift to a different position or take on a different color font, or 3.) should I give up the idea of doing a chapbook of this type.

Waiting for opinions,

Claudsy

Days of Learning, Days of Growing

Courtesy of BJ Jones Photography

This past couples of weeks has been interesting. Have you ever had a time in your life when you seem to have gone back to school, but you don’t go to class? It’s as if everywhere you go, everything you encounter are lessons of one form or another.

What do you do with the experience of meeting a person casually who begins telling you their life story at that moment, for seemingly no other reason than because you happen to stand next to them? And what do you do when something in what they say “clicks” in your head audibly, telling you that this bit of information, this insight is something that must be remembered?

Here’s another example. I’ve been concentrating on several small projects lately aside from the blogs and website. I send out at least two, sometimes three, submissions each week; poetry at least once and fiction. I’m putting together a growing list of submission markets for both genres.

My biggest project at present is my book of poetry “The Moon Sees All.” It’s out with my beta readers. It’s being poked, prodded, and evaluated for necessary/suggested changes to make it absolutely irresistible to publishers. That’s an enormous step for me.

My rejection rate is decreasing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. I’d just like to know the reason. In the meantime, I’ll accept this change and the blessing.

Life seems more settled for me in many ways right now. I actively write less, but produce better, given the acceptances lately. I don’t feel harried any longer, which is another blessing. On top of all that, these tiny lessons in changing my thoughts, attitudes, aspirations, etc. have begun bearing fruit in small but effective ways.

Perhaps, in the end, that’s really the take-away for life. Small changes—choosing to spend the day enjoying the outdoors and appreciating those natural gifts we can only experience where they live—repay us with fresher minds and hearts. Our spirits are rejuvenated because we focused on something outside ourselves for a while.

Doing the dishes allows for quiet thinking time. It isn’t the task that’s so important, it’s the time you spend with yourself, considering and pondering those caches of thoughts tucked away in mental closets that you’ve not had time for lately. Mundane chores, while necessary to a tidy household, are also opportunities to review, renew, and reconnect with that piece of yourself that you’ve neglected.

At least, that’s what I’ve concluded. For instance, a few weeks back I showed everyone my office area and how bad it was in the disorder department.  I’m about to get radical with it. I’m clearing out those things that don’t grow corn for me anymore.

About half of the items occupying my space will be eliminated in the next few weeks. I am simplifying my life, my work, and my intentions. The goals remain the same. It’s the approach that needs a clean sweep.

And there you have it. Part of my studying has led me here. The rest comes from lessons encountered willy-nilly in unexpected places.

Things should get really interesting before long. I’m looking forward to it.

Now, let me ask you again. Have you been given surprising lessons lately? Leave a comment and tell me about them. We all have them. It’s whether we recognize their delivery or not.

Until later,

Claudsy