A. D. Joyce

Follow my new blog at adjoyce.com It’s called A. D. Joyce – poetry and the butterfly psyche 🙂

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2014

Writing Another Chapter

If you’re reading this, you may be interested to know that I started a new blog, A.D. Joyce–poetry and the butterfly psyche. I already have two posts up. Take a look and maybe even subscribe! Also, I have a new Twitter account, @ad__joyce, so follow me there, too.

From now on, I’ll blog infrequently at Sweepy Jean Explores the World, if at all, and I will soon dismantle the @sweepyjean twitter account.

So what’s the deal? Well, this blog started off as a way  to stretch my limits and get rid of inhibitions as a writer.

I very quickly found a way to write authentically. People loved the “Sweepy Jean” moniker but eventually I was able to be more open about who I am as a real person living on Earth. Sometimes, though, I found that I was writing myself into other boxes, fighting against the idea of branding, rejecting the notion that the “MFA” type of writing was the benchmark  for good poetry, and struggling with traditional concepts of how a poet is supposed to build an audience. I’ve figured out some things but not everything, and I don’t really want to get to the point where I know it all. I truly embrace my stance as a perpetual student of poetry and life.

One of the things I’ve done to try to work out the answers to these questions is  a “game” I called 1 + 1 Wednesday, a weekly post I started here and eventually created a separate blog for. I invited readers to leave two words in the comment section and I did the same. The words could be related to any random thing. I saw it as a way to look at language and meaning differently and to shake up our thought patterns.

Then I ran the Third Sunday Blog Carnival. Again, the idea was to promote free self expression among writers, expand our readership, and share the collective knowledge.

“Sweepy Jean” was always the go-to blog for personal expression. But although I’m still an explorer, it’s been a while since I was Sweepy. She has long become a third person pronoun; now it’s time to completely step out of that shadow to let Adriene shine. (As most of  you know, A.D. Joyce is the name I use to sign my poetry. “A.D.” is a nickname for Adriene and Joyce is my middle name.)

Whereas in this blog I did a lot of explaining myself and public self analysis, my new blog will not contain much of that at all. The archives will remain here if you want to read personal details about me. Over at A.D. Joyce–poetry and the butterfly psyche, I’ll be transparent and self expressive in a way that will remain undefined, at least by me. But as always I hope you will find something there for you.

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2014

Here I go again …

Life gives us many opportunities for “do-overs.” For instance, I think parenthood is an opportunity to redo our childhoods. While some of us repeat mistakes made by our parents, some of us seize the opportunity to do things differently. That’s the concept on a big scale but there are opportunities for do-overs on a smaller scale nearly every day.

I’ve been going through some sort of a spiritual journey that started taking shape in a significant way

the carnival

shadows crawl underground
therefore the end of the carnival

dreams decay at first light
therefore the end of the carnival

De fumée et des miroirs des miroirs et de fumée
therefore the end of the carnival

the sound of laughter absorbed by time
therefore the end of the carnival

walking the grounds empty of more
therefore the end of the carnival

discretion tethered to the rising sun
therefore the end of the carnival

the mask revealed under the mask
therefore the end of the carnival

strawberry wisps melted on the tongue
therefore the end of the carnival

trapped and lost without the crowd
therefore the end of the carnival

searching faces for Dolores
therefore the end of the carnival

gratitude abandons a broken heart
therefore the end of the carnival

the carnival exists therefore the end
therefore the end of the carnival

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2013

The Blog Post Cliff

Today, America waits to see if it will fall over the fiscal cliff. I hope that just this once, politics can be set aside so that we the people who are all affected by the crushing effects of a depressed economy can finally catch a break. With my recent layoff, I was late to the party–unless, of course, you count the fact that the rest of my immediate family have been variously unemployed and underemployed throughout the entire recession. It’s been going on for nearly five years now.

I usually don’t engage in political talk here. But my preoccupation with keeping my head above water has almost made me go over the Blog Post Cliff, which is to neglect mentioning that this month marks this blog’s third year anniversary!

This was a strange and interesting year for me personally with regard to external life changes. But I also feel it was a breakthrough year internally with my poetry. I am more at peace with the words now than ever before.

I’ve shared a lot of poetry this year, included the ones in my mini collection Like. Love. Hate. available for download at Amazon and Smashwords.

Most of all, I have formed and strengthened many of my relationships with real life people, as well as with fellow bloggers and blog readers. These relationships are what get me through the day, every day.

Speaking of fellow bloggers, I just want to mention the latest wonderful writers who have honored me recently with awards. First, there’s Stuart Nager, whose latest blog is called The Opening of Doors. The tag line for the blog is “Writing To Heal, Cope, and be Restored,” which he does in a creative and honest way. Stu graciously gave me the Inspiring Blog Award.

Muriel Jacques, another stellar blogger, writes insightfully about living in London as a French expatriate. Her blog is called 40blogSpot – A French Yummy Mummy In London and she gave me the Liebster Award.

So there you have it. I’ve done my part. Here’s hoping that our political leaders do theirs.

Happy New Year, everyone! ❤

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2012

Blog Lovin’ and the Big Reveal

Two really cool, really talented blogger friends of mine have recently bestowed on me some blog awards. I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Stu of Tale Spinning and bornstoryteller. Stu has an incredible amount of creative energy and has the output to prove it. Yet he still makes time to lend his support to fellow artists in a variety of ways.

I received the Versatile Blogger Award from Rolando of Rolando’s Website. He also is a champion of the creative community to which he belongs. He generously shares his keen observations of the writing business with us as he makes his way along the path of self-publishing, most recently with his charming collection of short stories, The Sun Zebra.

I’m supposed to reveal something about myself and pass the award on to other bloggers. But as you will see from revelation #1:

NaPoWriMo 2012: Who’s Doing It?

Visit These Sites and Cheer Them On! NaPoWriMo 2012 Participants (Sweepy’s Cypher)

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World
Lyric Fire
AscendingTheHills
142 Books
Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs
To create…
memoirs of a homemaker
For Jen’s Sake
One Time Pad
Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn…
EllieBloo
Chris Galvin
Poetry, Prose, Art and other Creative Things
Stephen Kellogg’s Blog
Turning Paige

I started the NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) challenge April 3 last year on a whim, but I’ve learned my lesson. I’m on top of things this time. Is anybody with me?

The NaPoWriMo challenge is to write a poem a day for the month of April. If you are going to participate, too, you may want to add your blog link to the participating sites at the NaPoWriMo website. During the month, visit that site often as Maureen Thorson–the poet who created this event 10 years ago–provides daily prompts. You don’t have to use them but some days they may come in handy.

When I began NaPoWriMo last year, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to finish out the month with a poem a day. It surprised me that I could and did. One of the things I learned firsthand is that it’s not always about being “inspired” or even having a great deal of time: It’s simply a matter of doing it. If I want to write a poem a day and I only have an hour to spare, then I’ll have to write it in an hour. More often than not, though, I can find more time if I need to by using my time more wisely.

One problem with posting NaPoWriMo poems on a blog, presumably for everyone to see, is the fear that you’re not putting out your best work but simply writing something just to fulfill the requirement. Granted, that may be the case sometimes. One way to minimize the garbage poems is to keep them short, which makes it easier to write and revise something that’s at least presentable. It really comes down to whether you mind your audience seeing you in various states of undress.

Everyone has expectations about what they want to get out of the NaPoWriMo experience. For me, the point is not about each poem being perfect at this stage. In fact, few of the poems posted on this site are what I consider to be final versions. I continue to work on them offline. But there is something in me that needs to share what I’m thinking or feeling, so I don’t always want to wait until they’re
“done.”

During last year’s NaPoWriMo, I exercised the discipline I thought I didn’t have, flexed muscles, explored new modes of expression, got things off my chest. Simply put, in the vernacular, I did me. Also, I met some great people who I may not have come across otherwise by following the NaPoWriMo links. I really felt like I was a part of something.

I’m starting my own list of poet’s blogs who are going to participate in NaPoWriMo 2012. Let’s visit each other when we can (and comment on the poems) for inspiration and encouragement. I’ll update the list throughout April. If you start the month and don’t finish it, I won’t be mad at you. The thought counts!

Contact me by email, on Facebook, on Twitter, or here in the comment section with a link to your blog. Good luck and have fun!

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2012.

Blog Tag

I’m it for now but I won’t be by the time I finish writing this post. But some of you will!

Thank you, poet/writer/bloggin’ buddy Chris Galvin Nguyen for tagging me into the game. The rules are as follows:

1. Post the rules.
2. Tag up to eleven bloggers by posting links to their blogs, and let them know.
3. Create eleven questions for the people you’ve tagged.
4. Answer the questions your tagger posed for you.
5. Have fun!

So, #1, done.

#2 Here are the fellow bloggers I’m tagging. Visit them, visit each other. You’ll be glad you did:

A. D. Joyce Has Gone Hollywood

The title of this post refers to my reading of my poem “The” that I recorded, which was subsequently made into the awesome video you see below. The video was created by the creative powers that be at Blognostics–or BN as we insiders like to call it! BN is a cool community for poets, fiction writers, and visual artists, so check them out.

In other news, look for more readings from me and maybe even  a Vlog in the future. For the most part, though, I’m going to keep my nose to the grindstone for the next few weeks trying to finish a poetry project I’ve been working on forever.

In April, I intend to participate in the NaPoWriMo challenge again and post a poem a day. I hope to get through it and learn as much about myself this year as I did last year.

TTFN!

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2012.

From the Outside Looking In

There are two types of bloggers: Those whose close family members read their blog fairly regularly and those whose families avoid reading it like the plague.

I’m a Typhoid Mary type of blogger.

To be fair, some of my family members read the blog when I first started it but have long since tapered off. They and others will read it if I ask them to look at a particular post. Others will promise to read it but never do.

Of course, I don’t badger anyone about reading my blog and for that reason I hadn’t asked them why they don’t read it–until recently. What I heard from two people I know extremely well was interesting.

One person said that they were happy knowing what they knew about me (which is a lot) and they didn’t felt uncomfortable delving any further than that. The other said that reading the blog is disorienting because of the difference between their perception of me and my thoughts as they are expressed here.

I probably imagine myself to be more transparent than I really am, though I’m positive I have improved in that area over the years. Is there something about writing out your feelings that is different from talking about them?

Assuming we are trying to be true to ourselves, is there any way to reconcile what we think, what we say, and how we behave? Do we need to observe all of these aspects in a person to form a complete picture?

Can we ever be who we think we are?

Do we ever really know each other?

© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2012.