A Little Bit of History
Welcome to my world of poetry and prose. I first purchased a domain name judiespoetryandprose and kept it for one year. When it came time to renew the name, I let it go. It didn't feel right going back to Judie, which is how I spelled Judy in my later years before coming full circle to my birth name, Judith. Recently, I contacted an old friend and when she called me Jude, something lit up inside. So I decided to purchase a new domain name JudesPoetryandProse, and it now feels right. The site is basically the same as I created well over a year ago, which I had added to my other website VisionsFromAfrom, but now there is only a link to this site. I hope you enjoy what has taken decades of time to piece together and share ... sharing a part of me.
The inspiration to write goes back to my childhood when I was called Judy, short for Judith - too big a name for a little girl. I remember the joy I felt when I penciled rhymes and sang happy songs, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that the inner flame to express myself, my life, my emotions had vastly consumed me. I was in my early 20’s then, when my friends called me Jude ... it seemed to fit me. The nickname faded in time, but it reminds me of a time when I had friends and we had a lot of fun. Something I had missed out on during my teenage years. Yet, in midst of things my journey of finding love brought deep and painful despair. Over the years I felt like life was a constant upheaval of hopes and dreams dissolved into life lessons and, thank God were followed by blessings. Remembering Jude brings those good ol' 1970s vibes back around. The 1970s was a time when I poured my thoughts into pages and pages of poetry. After that, I found myself escaping into a fantasy world while attempting to write a romance novel, that never came to fruition called ‘The Boy On The Horse.’ The winds of a different reality swept me away.
The inspiration eventually was sparked again with a much greater passion in the late 1980s when I wrote and published my first book in 1990 on my research of Christmas. It was absolutely unexpected that I would ever write on the subject of Christmas - and although the way it went was totally not my intent - the disturbing issues I unveiled became a mountainous challenge that changed my life path. In the early 1990s I wrote many articles and sent query letters to various magazines for an opportunity to be published. I eventually gave up trying to get published and instead went head deep into computers ... which was one of my smarter decisions in life.
Wading through life's murky waters had turned many a dream into a nightmare, yet the nightmares drew me to search for light, and light I always seemed to find. Because of many unwanted circumstances, I know the darkness well, as I have dwelt in the depth of its utter misery. I have lived and witnessed the glorious blessings and miracles that come from a bold, strong, and powerful faith. I know what my life has gone through was not in vain. I know because I must know.
During my life, there were so many doors that opened before me and many lured me in, taking me to places I had never been. Some, sadly, lead me astray. I was, and I am a hopeful wandering soul, not a puppet soul, or an owned soul, in which I had escaped such shackles time and time and time again. Only in time did I come to perceive the reason why ... and, many times - what I felt - was devious deception.
My life certainly has ’lived and survived’. The long enduring path has given me a spiritual foundation built stronger, wiser, and is one that has at times kept me from completely cracking. I have both tread and sifted through the seen and the unseen dark forces at work, and I’ve been illuminated in the brightest of light. The word ‘endurance’ has always been my way ... to endure is to reach everlasting.
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