The 8-Year-Old, Writer.

Gavin is having a bit of an issue with his writing teacher.

It’s troubling him. He feels dread when thinking bout this class. Apparently his teacher yells.

His teacher is on him about sentence structure and how to create an introduction, followed by chapters, followed by chapters, followed by perfect mR and Msr’s. Eh.

Followed by a conclusion.

Gavin has an imagination abundant in, Everything. He’s brave. He’s stealth mixed with clever-wit. He speaks with great annunciation and kindness. Gavin is at his best when he’s allowed, well, to be himself. He’s not being allowed to use his imagination. Thank God he told us about how he’s feeling and how crushed his writing and spirit has become.

Thankfully, I may, or may not, know at least one thing about writing 🙂

I will not let a school setting destroy the Gift that Gavin has within his mind, heart, and soul. I’m not saying his teacher is a bad teacher- not at all. But I know when he needs me to jump in and help bring the joy back to where it belongs.

Writing should fill his soul. Not empty it.

Imma teach him to break the rules, just a little bit, to help them come to a compromise of minds lol

I, for one, would much rather read about a lion riding on the back of a dragon who contains the ability to speak in dragon tongue and announce when to unleash the raging fire!!! Rather than, the cat jumped over the mouse. The mouse ran. So fast. So. So fast.

I don’t even care if his 8-year-old-self misspells each word: bring on that dragon raging fire with the lion standing on it’s back yielding tangled tongues that shred the thunderous skies!!

I can’t wait for Gavin to get home.

Cheers everyone!!!

Matt

🙂

ps- He’s 8. He’s already written two books. Self illustrated too! His teacher hasn’t seen them. We should fix that.

# 15

This is the third month in a row that I’ve posted 15 times.

Each month is beating the previous.

By a lot.

In my book.

So, I’ll keep doing this and we’ll see how high the numbers grow.

Thanks, Tara! I know you said you don’t know how you helped me with this….but you did.

Broke though a little crack in a wall that never existed.

Matt

Poem

And just like that
I’m up again
and Every day is new

-M. Taggart

Late Winter Storm

And just like that, Old Man Winter is Back!

Here, in our region of Maine, we were just gifted with nearly a foot of snow. The storm is unique in that you can stand on the snow, without snowshoes, and not sink. A tough, thick layer of sleet and ice has encrusted, and packed, the top of the snow.

I can literally jump on the snow and nothing happens. It’s been a few decades for this experience to repeat itself.

I went outside with Gavin and the dog. We went from full on mud season, to this frozen tundra, overnight. New England’s weather is fickle. And while Mother Nature may not hold loyalty toward any one region, she is fiercely loyal to the natural unexpected to become expected here in New England.

I love it. I love the extreme differences. I haven’t any interest in perfect weather, day-after-day. Maybe tomorrow we’ll see a tornado 🙂 that’d be fun!

Have fun out there!

Matt

lol Gavin didn’t even bother putting his snow gear on. Who really needs it when you can float.

poem

the stupid latch
onto the intelligent

and that has nothing to do
with succe

wait…

-M. Taggart

poem

Writing-
Are memories
made tangible

Some of the most vivid
crawl from the page
back to the mind,
to the heart

Some days,
I’m not so sure
how to feel about that

-M. Taggart

It’s gonna be OK

Just in case you need to hear this,
You are enough.

Maybe there’s no one near to you to say this, so I am.

I know how it feels to climb inside and feel alone while standing in a packed room. And if someone is killing your mindset with a million slices, go find a mirror and tell yourself that you are enough. Because you are. Look in the mirror and repeat it over and over. “I am enough.”

We all have these moments in life where it feels like torture. I’ve been through multiple versions of this. I always knew it would be ok. But, even while knowing that, it didn’t always help. The OK part sometimes doesn’t come for a while.

It’s gonna be OK. I hope you start with the mirror because the easiest person to lie to is yourself. Start there. Build what you need via truth. The mirror can not lie unless you tell it to.

-Matt

Poem

I’m just now sipping my coffee
I’m having it black, with a bit of sugar

I’m viewing a photo, that I took of the sky,
yesterday afternoon.
Weather was coming in, it was starting to rain
The clouds were gathering together

Now I’m looking at the photo
Wondering if it’s good enough

Of course it is
It is what it is and it’s good enough

And this coffee isn’t so bad either

-M. Taggart

Asking for a Friend!

Hey everyone! What’s a few good self-publishing platforms?

A great childhood friend of mine ( -not the one who is recovering) is ready to write his story, and ready to self-publish, but, doesn’t know which platform to go with.

I told Nate, that I would ask all of you. Some of you are so well educated in this that I consider you experts. It’s possible that a few of you like one platform more than another- we’d like to hear anything that any of you would like to share.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Once feedback for Nate arrives, I’ll share this post with him, and collect his thoughts.

Thank you all!

-Matt

I’m so incredibly out-of-touch with the self-publishing platforms that I’m of no use lol. And Nate, (like my friend in recovery) is like a brother to me. I have to find a way to help.

Poem

Sometimes we just need to feel
a bit of sun

It’s been like that today,
for me.
I can feel the wrong way pulling
So it’s time to pull back

-M. Taggart