Return to flip book view
Jay Ramirez Creative Writer Spring of 2021
Sto ry tell ing The idea that just a single word like storytelling can trigger your brain to think of dragons and wizards or even family history told by aging parents is remarkable Now think what a sentence can do for that same brain That s the inspiration that leads me down the path I find myself on now I started out my writing career with poems of love and hardship only writing about what I dreamed and imagined Never did I think that I would one day possess the abilities and talent to turn life events and mere journal entries and logs into stories that pass on meanings and throw back the curtains hiding my acknowledgment of myself that I never knew I had Through my stories and memories I ve had to relive throughout this semester I ve evolved my state of mind to a broader one Looking back to events I once feared and comparing them to the struggles of a young adult Reliving the war stories of my ancestors and allowing myself to carry on their touch Even having to question me on what I see religion as my happy space and all the good things I ve seen along the way Watching my own writing grow alongside me is one of the most memorizing things I ve seen along with discovering new views of mine I would like to share this experience with you by allowing you to look through my memories with me by reading the entries I have provided in the next pages Read how a young hyperactive child turned into a vibrant young writer Please enjoy
Table of Contents A Gentle Birthing 4 Fragmented Memories 5 Hidden Sanctum 6 hocus pocus 7 Incubator 8 Sweet Tooth 9 The Butterfly Affect 10 Time Traveling Watch 11
A Gentle Birthing You ve heard those stories of great birthing You have those children born deep within enemy territory during the catastrophe known as war You have those children born during the harshest weather such as bitter blizzards or vigorous flooding You even have those children who were birthed during the gentler of holidays like a snowy Christmas evening or a family celebrated thanksgiving However truthfully I don t have such a birth story I know that my sound foreign to hear but there was no big exciting event that caused my birth There was no heartbreaking terrifying event that happened during my birth my birth was as natural as the average everyday Joe s A guy liked a girl dated and hooked up got pregnant and then ended up getting married There was no complication during the pregnancy nor the birth I came out healthy as can be It s hard for me to try and imagine a different birth because it s the one that I always been told that I was just an average kid However if I really wanted to be creative with it I could say that as soon as I was pushed out the choirs of the heavens sang and rejoiced for my arrival has been blessed to this earth Rain fell with anticipation to wash away the sins of my past life into rebirth me as a new creature that will dwell on this earth and may leave my marking behind when my time comes to fade to dust blowing in the wind
Fragmented Memories I sat strapped into my car seat I remember holding a bottle of chocolate milk while gazing out the window Different palm trees casting looming shadows on me I remember thinking each tree was a different creature resting quietly rooted to the ground I remember smelling cherries It belonged to the cheap Chapstick my older sister always wore I looked at her while squinting through the blinding light of the reflecting sun She wore a wooden necklace made up of beads that were bigger than the moon I blinked my eyes then stared down my kitchen table From my highchair I could see everyone s half finished plates Some filled with mashed potatoes while others still held corn and pork chops The overwhelming smell of chocolate filled my senses Out of excitement I remember throwing the little food I had left on the floor I remember blurry faces yelling at me and pointing to the floor I looked down and noticed my stuffed bear had somehow wormed his way out of my crib I sat upright and cried till the heavens could hear my pleas and like the sun always showing looming hands brought Willow back to me I snuggle into his lavender scented pelt and closed my eyes
Hidden Sanctum Nothing nor no man is perfect Yet would it be so wrong to want someplace perfect for yourself Somewhere than can act as a safe space for you like your own little slice of heaven where you could do anything that defines you as you For me that would be a sacred place for me to create my writings in peace and tranquility My designer space would be in a remote area that I could be alone in A place that I ve always wanted to spend my time writing in is somewhere in the woods Somewhere where I could be surrounded by plenty of nature and be accompanied by sounds of the surrounding ecosystem that I am a guest to One of the rules I would need to break is Write freely A lot of times whenever I write a poem or a short story I always find myself censoring and editing what I actually want to write In order for it to be more appealing to the audience Having the chance to write something down without worrying about the outside opinion is very appealing to me because I would love to see where my writing can take me Another rule I would like to break is the generic No Distractions A lot of the time people see distractions as a means of escaping their work but to have the opportunity to have my mind wander beyond the pen and paper is exciting for it can always lead me to a new journey to a new memory to a new idea All to which I can jot down peacefully in my ideal writing place However the one rule I would have to limit myself with is to stay away from the past A lot of my writings become repetitive and one tracked whenever I decide to relive and write about the same moment in time Having to concentration and motivation to write about new and exciting things will surely better my stories and poems or whatever I wish to write about
Hocus Pocus Fear has always been a part of my life Growing up with a stutter caused a lot of self confidence issues eternally for me I struggled a lot with anxiety and the fear of being judged for how I spoke and sounded Some days were worse than others One of these days was the day of the talent show My little 3rd grader heart could not be any faster than what it already was It may have seemed rhythmic however it was similar to of a racehorse Although I practice my tricks and my magic words for weeks the auditorium full of wandering eyes made all my knowledge disappear After my teacher took notice of my aggressive shakiness and nervous pacing she wandered over to me checking on me and make sure I was not having a conniption fit After explaining to her my fears and doubts I remember her telling me a piece of information that to this day I hold to the standard of gospel She had told me to just imagine that I m shaking not in fear but out of anticipation and excitement With so simple as that in my mind it made me question the whole concept of fear and the way I had been coping with it With my new horizon opening to my eyes I began to smile and with that smile the feeling of doubt and anguish flew away from my body as if it was one of my magical doves My nerves calmed and my heart rate steadied and I took the stage and blew everyone s mind away
Incubator As abnormal as it may seem I myself am not a man of God I don t worship a higher being or revolve my life around the gospel of such With that being said I mean no disrespect to anyone who has a religion of their own and those who hold it to a high standard I support those beliefs you may have to the moon and back However with personal beliefs belonging to me religion is something I have not invested my life into I don t relate or have an understanding of what s considered Holy or Spiritual However a place that will always feel sacred to me would be my bedroom within my home You can start by walking into the front door of the house and would be welcomed with the warm smell of chestnuts and an army of family portraits There s a happy dog waiting to jump on you and share his excitement of your arrival with you You walk through the house and hear the different voices accompanied by different waves of laughter filling the halls Then when you reach the end of the hallway on your left you walk through the door and are instantly transported into a different environment Your environment A room that can be decorated and filled with whatever and however you want A room you can hide away from the sharp edges of the world in A room that truly feels like it s a corner room at the edge of a vast never ending universe
Sweet Tooth Nothing will ever be sweeter than the day you stepped into my life my beloved Kayla Billington Before our paths crossed I was merely going through the everyday motions of life There was the chore of waking up for education Being shipped away to work Then drifting back to sleep where I would dream of you Then I would wash rinse and repeat Every day felt like a tedious cycle with no escape sight However the fated day when I caught your eye shall be carved into the caves of history as the most memorable day of my existence You make me feel like the kind of person I want to be at the beginning of every year s resolution while also having the capability of making me feel okay with myself when two weeks later kicks in and I abandon all my goals Every time your warm smile falls upon me it brings with it that feeling after a reassuring hug And when those eyes start to outshine the stars above I know they will always be my guide towards my happiness You are my true motivation during the darkest of nights You are what makes me see the good in this world Being able to share countless memories with one person who means the world to you is the greatest gift mankind has ever achieved Although our paths have only been entwined for 3 years you have made them the most memorable to me Regardless of which way the future will control our lives I know what I have with you will forever bring light to the part of me that I never knew I had And that will always be thanks to you
The Butterfly Affect When my parents first got a divorce I was only in the eighth grade I had to move towns move schools and make all new friends and all that fun jazz Of course being a young angsty teen I was not having a very good transition I was having a hard time getting used to the new classes new friends new courses new ways of teaching all of that fun stuff However I remember sitting in my history class at 9 20 in the morning when I made my very first friend at that school Her name was Erica and she was my age and in my grade She was the first person to go out of the way and talk with me and try to make that connection with me as a friend After a few weeks of getting more comfortable with her I decided to talk to her about my parent s divorced and my whole situation in life I remember of course being a little passionate about it After she had seen how I felt about it she took out a piece of paper and wrote down a simple sentence that said If nothing ever changed there d be no butterflies and gave me that paper To this very day I still have that same piece of paper because it inspires me to accept change Without a change in life no new things can come to you no new experiences All that life has to offer can only be created with change If you re not willing to step out of your comfort zone to accept a new situation and embrace the change around you you may be deemed lost to your own self
Time Traveling Watch For generations a very certain watch has been passed down through generations of my family My great great great great grandfather purchased a watch during the First World War in a little general store somewhere in Tennessee on the day he was about to leave for Paris I m told the watch was worn by him every single day of the war After the first war my great grandfather stored the watch in an old coffee can for years until his oldest son went to go fight in the second war The watch was given to him as a sign of good luck but sadly didn t meet him with such Faced against a rock and a hard place he knew his death was soon upon him Close to his death bed he asked a good friend of his an air force gunner to deliver the watch to his infant son for whom he had never gotten the chance to meet Accepting this responsibility the gunner took the watch and carried it with him throughout the rest of the war When it thankfully came to an end he began his search to find the man s son It took the man many years for he only knew his friend s state of origin By the time he had found his friend s son they were old and gray Once my great great grandfather received the watch and was informed of the story of glory hidden behind it he began passing it down to his son and the son after Until one day my father sat me down and told me the story of my ancestors before and the value of the watch And until this day the watch sits in a hidden place guarded within my room My only goal for it is to one day pass it on to a child of my own along with the story of my fathers before me