Drops of Inspira

  Hello! We are more than halfway through 2021! *slumps over, exhausted* Honestly, what happened to the year? I'm pretty sure it was April just yesterday. Oh well... If the year is more than halfway over, then that just means we are closer to Christmas! *breaks out Christmas carols and throws a party* Okay. Okay. It may be a tad bit early to do that, but you can never start too early. I love Christmas! But that is not why we are here. (Get back on topic, Julia.) Ahem... Today's topic is the halfway point. The idea of being in between something. So, this month's poetry prompt will reflect that idea. Hm... You know, for someone that is as terrified of the ocean as I am, I sure do write a lot of ocean-based things. The wonderful thing about the ocean is that it's a place of both fear and wonder. A place of in-betweenness. A place where you can have one foot on land, and the other in the sea. As always, please feel free to use the prompt to generate your own creativeness. U...

  Hello! This month is the second round of Camp NaNoWriMo where writers from around the world get together in person or online and set a goal to write more words on a project they are working on. That being said, the push to produce more means more hours at the keyboard, more hours sitting and staring at a screen or at the very least, at your paper or whatever you use to write. So today, I wanted to write about a few ways that writers can use to write and keep healthy. 1. Good Posture and Ergonomics Posture affects everything from your breathing to your mood to headaches and joint problems. Take it from someone who was yelled at most of her life to "keep your back straight! Sit up! Shoulders back!" You know the drill. This applies to so many other areas besides writing (piano, a desk job, etc.), but I want to specifically address writers here.  Get a comfortable chair that supports your posture. Typically, you should be sitting with your shoulders back, back straight (not slo...

  Hello! Today is usually the day when I show a bit of poetry that was inspired by a prompt, but I'm going to do things a little differently. A few weeks ago I posted my first poetry anthology on Wattpad.com. If you aren't familiar with Wattpad, it's a free site that allows you to read and comment on other peoples' books and to post your own for others to read.  I've been on Wattpad for years, but only as a reader. Lately, a friend posted her own poetry on the site and it inspired me to post my own. So here is the cover (link below): The Shadow Wars by Julia Garcia The Shadow Wars is a poetry anthology of darkness, hope and my struggles with mental health. Trigger Warning: Some of the poems may contain allusions to self-harm. I've written these poems over a period of five or more years. Some of them I've posted here on the blog, so for those of you who have been around for a while, they might be familiar.  In life, there is darkness, but there is always ligh...

  Hello! This month is Audiobook Appreciation Month and today I'm showing you what I have listened to in one year of using Audible. So before I begin, let me answer some questions you may be having. What is Audible? In short, Audible is an Amazon.com company where you can listen to audiobooks. It's perfect for doing housework, long drives, if you'd rather listen to a book than read it or if you just need a distraction. What does Audible cost? This is where it gets tricky. There are several options. Either 1. Pay one of two different subscription fees which will get you different options. I'm linking the pricing page for those options here . Or 2. you can buy the individual audiobooks (which can get pricey, but then you are not locked into a subscription.).  If you have any other questions, please place them in the comment section below, and I will try to do my best to answer them. Now to the actual post. I've listened to exactly six audiobooks this past year, mostly...

  Hello!  It's the last couple of weeks of the semester for me. One of the re-occurring themes we've been discussing is identity. What makes us who we are?   In a discussion board, we had to answer the question: does our occupation define us? Honestly, the question made me mad. I've gone through so many different jobs since I started working at 16, and if I changed identities as many times as I changed occupations, I would be an even more insecure wreck than I am now.   I don't like the question because it places limits on who I am. It tries to stick me in a box and diagnose me. The rebel in me hates that. Before I get completely run away with the topic, let me give you this month's prompt. This month's poetry prompt is: Okay, so what does a mirror have to do with the subject of identity? Well, let me just tell you with my response to the above prompt. I tried to fit it on a nice and pretty graphic, but it wouldn't fit. How appropriate.... Broken by  J...

Hello! May is "Get Caught Reading" Month. Did you know that? I certaintly didn't until I did a bit of research last month. I think it's pretty awesome that there is a whole month dedicated to reading.  I've decided to scale my reading list back since this month is finals' month for me, but I thought I would share my TBR (to-be-read) list with you so you can see what I'm going to attempt to read this month. I've thrown some short stories, a poetry book and an ARC copy (advanced-reader-copy. I get to read it before it hits shelves.) into the mix. Dust is a re-read for me, but it's been a year since I read it and it's the book before Shadow so I thought it would be a good idea to revisit it. Do you keep a TBR list? What are you looking forward to reading this month? Until next time.... -Julia Garcia / Arysta Henry

  Hello! It's been an eventful month for me. It's the middle of my semester at college and everything seems to be piling up, conspiring together to stifle any creative juices so it's been a struggle to pull anything together.  With that being said, here is this month's prompt: In the middle of the semester, this sense of "betweenness" is a heavy feeling. I feel like I'm on the border of two very important events, but I'm not sure exactly what they are. It's not school. That is accounted for. Whatever this is, this feeling of being between things is very prominent.  My response to this prompt is a bit of poetry I actually wrote a month ago while thinking about the meeting of sand and shore. It's fictional, but the feeling of betweenness is very real, a feeling of belonging to two different worlds.                        (If you are on mobile, you might have to click  to enlarge it.)      ...