Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 31 – Core Story. What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world? (Bonus: Consider your reflections from this month. Look through them to discover a thread you may not have noticed until today.) (Author: Molly O’Neill)
I'm a seeker, a perpetual student with an insatiable desire to understand things. That includes people--I want to see how others view the world, to see the world through their eyes. I think that's my core story. For today, at least.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Gift
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 30 – Gift Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year? (Author: Holly Root)
As a facilitator of expressive writing groups, I'm privileged to watch people fall in love with the poetry therapy process and rediscover themselves on the page. It's very rewarding work. The most memorable gift I received this year was the comment made by a 78-year-old writer at the end of one of our weekly sessions: "This is the writing group I have been looking for my entire life." He died a few weeks later, but not before blessing every member of that group with his poetry, his giving spirit, his presence. Especially me.
December 30 – Gift Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year? (Author: Holly Root)
As a facilitator of expressive writing groups, I'm privileged to watch people fall in love with the poetry therapy process and rediscover themselves on the page. It's very rewarding work. The most memorable gift I received this year was the comment made by a 78-year-old writer at the end of one of our weekly sessions: "This is the writing group I have been looking for my entire life." He died a few weeks later, but not before blessing every member of that group with his poetry, his giving spirit, his presence. Especially me.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Defining Moment
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 29 – Defining Moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)
The phone call came on January 12 around 4:00 PM. When I listened to the recorded message, I could tell from the flat affect in my sister-in-law's voice that something was terribly wrong with my brother. I was unable to reach her for two hours. Two very long hours. When I arrived at the hospital, I heard the news that has changed the lives of our entire family. Those were dire days. He's doing better now, but he hasn't fully recovered from the brain bleeds he had that day, and may never. But he's walking and talking, and working hard to retrain his brain. Short term memory is the area that has been compromised the most. I've paid much more attention to life this year, every little detail. It's so short, and it changes so quickly.
December 29 – Defining Moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year. (Author: Kathryn Fitzmaurice)
The phone call came on January 12 around 4:00 PM. When I listened to the recorded message, I could tell from the flat affect in my sister-in-law's voice that something was terribly wrong with my brother. I was unable to reach her for two hours. Two very long hours. When I arrived at the hospital, I heard the news that has changed the lives of our entire family. Those were dire days. He's doing better now, but he hasn't fully recovered from the brain bleeds he had that day, and may never. But he's walking and talking, and working hard to retrain his brain. Short term memory is the area that has been compromised the most. I've paid much more attention to life this year, every little detail. It's so short, and it changes so quickly.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Achieve
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 28 – Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara [...]
I think that one of the reasons I have been so resistant to most of these Reverb10 prompts is that they are so "cookbook." I hate to say it, but they are a lot like the creative writing prompts I gave my 5th and 6th graders when I taught middle school. It's no wonder so many of my students just stared at their blank notebooks. So I'm rewriting this one, making it more like what I would give to my current writing groups. Open-ended.
I've achieved a lot of things in my life, many of which I intended. Sometimes I think that my life didn't start until I achieved retirement, and at that point, I thought I was through achieving. Through striving. I was wrong, of course. The next four years were some of the hardest and most fulfilling times of my life. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but I sure wouldn't want to relive them. Setting and reaching goals takes discipline and courage, but mostly discipline. It was hard for me to put my nose to the grindstone after retiring from 30 years of doing just that. But in order to reach my goal, that's just what I had to do. So now I claim to be through achieving, once and for all. And I'm wise enough to know that it doesn't work that way. I'm just in a holding pattern.
I prefer living with as little stress as possible, or with only the ordinary stresses of everyday living, and the occasional "bombs" that drop from time to time. For that reason, I tend to avoid the "achievement list," goal-setting, and the like. If I really want to do something, I do it. Never mind if it's hard or easy.
It seems to me that "accomplish" is an easier word to work with. As in, "What did you accomplish today, or this year?" "Achieve" seems weightier, makes me think of someone climbing up a very large, slippery triangle with the word "GOAL" balanced precariously on the top. Let someone else go that route. Not me.
I don't make a list of accomplishments, either. At the end of each day, I reach for my bedside journal and try to capture the day in at least 3 words. If I'm feeling poetic, it'll be three words, or a haiku of 17 syllables. If I'm uninspired, it'll be like one of those 3-line "Dear Diary" entries in a 5-year daily journal. On good days it's just something like "Laundry, crickets, the full moon."
So, what do I want to achieve next year? One thing for sure: to write at least 3 words in my bedside journal every night. Three words that sum up my day. Anything else is gravy.
December 28 – Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today. (Author: Tara [...]
I think that one of the reasons I have been so resistant to most of these Reverb10 prompts is that they are so "cookbook." I hate to say it, but they are a lot like the creative writing prompts I gave my 5th and 6th graders when I taught middle school. It's no wonder so many of my students just stared at their blank notebooks. So I'm rewriting this one, making it more like what I would give to my current writing groups. Open-ended.
Write from the word achieve...
I've achieved a lot of things in my life, many of which I intended. Sometimes I think that my life didn't start until I achieved retirement, and at that point, I thought I was through achieving. Through striving. I was wrong, of course. The next four years were some of the hardest and most fulfilling times of my life. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but I sure wouldn't want to relive them. Setting and reaching goals takes discipline and courage, but mostly discipline. It was hard for me to put my nose to the grindstone after retiring from 30 years of doing just that. But in order to reach my goal, that's just what I had to do. So now I claim to be through achieving, once and for all. And I'm wise enough to know that it doesn't work that way. I'm just in a holding pattern.
I prefer living with as little stress as possible, or with only the ordinary stresses of everyday living, and the occasional "bombs" that drop from time to time. For that reason, I tend to avoid the "achievement list," goal-setting, and the like. If I really want to do something, I do it. Never mind if it's hard or easy.
It seems to me that "accomplish" is an easier word to work with. As in, "What did you accomplish today, or this year?" "Achieve" seems weightier, makes me think of someone climbing up a very large, slippery triangle with the word "GOAL" balanced precariously on the top. Let someone else go that route. Not me.
I don't make a list of accomplishments, either. At the end of each day, I reach for my bedside journal and try to capture the day in at least 3 words. If I'm feeling poetic, it'll be three words, or a haiku of 17 syllables. If I'm uninspired, it'll be like one of those 3-line "Dear Diary" entries in a 5-year daily journal. On good days it's just something like "Laundry, crickets, the full moon."
So, what do I want to achieve next year? One thing for sure: to write at least 3 words in my bedside journal every night. Three words that sum up my day. Anything else is gravy.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Ordinary Joy
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 27 – Ordinary Joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? (Author: Brené Brown)
We were returning home from a small country town, after an evening meeting. Since I wasn't driving, I decided to practice being aware of only the present moment. There's a particular stretch of this rural highway where, as the road descends from ridge into valley, the woods crowd close to the shoulders. As we drove through this area, even though it was dark, I was suddenly aware of the power of the trees, could almost hear them. It made me wonder: how much do I miss each and every day, simply because I am too busy going somewhere else, rather than being where I am?
December 27 – Ordinary Joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? (Author: Brené Brown)
We were returning home from a small country town, after an evening meeting. Since I wasn't driving, I decided to practice being aware of only the present moment. There's a particular stretch of this rural highway where, as the road descends from ridge into valley, the woods crowd close to the shoulders. As we drove through this area, even though it was dark, I was suddenly aware of the power of the trees, could almost hear them. It made me wonder: how much do I miss each and every day, simply because I am too busy going somewhere else, rather than being where I am?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Soul food
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul? (Author: Elise Marie Collins)
New favorite food: Baby Bok Choy, garlic and shitake mushrooms sautéd in olive oil then steamed with Shoyu. One of those vegan/macrobiotic dishes that makes me feel good down to my toes. As for touching my soul, food would only do that because it's part of this wonderful universe. Many things touch my soul, most especially nature. And a few select people. You know who you are...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Prompt: Soul food. What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul? (Author: Elise Marie Collins)
New favorite food: Baby Bok Choy, garlic and shitake mushrooms sautéd in olive oil then steamed with Shoyu. One of those vegan/macrobiotic dishes that makes me feel good down to my toes. As for touching my soul, food would only do that because it's part of this wonderful universe. Many things touch my soul, most especially nature. And a few select people. You know who you are...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Photo
Reverb's Prompt-a-Day Blog Challenge
December 25 – Photo – a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and [...] (Author: Tracey Clark)
Really! I'm still waiting for that one. Maybe it's the impossible shot. I'm so elusive. Ha ha.
December 25 – Photo – a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and [...] (Author: Tracey Clark)
Really! I'm still waiting for that one. Maybe it's the impossible shot. I'm so elusive. Ha ha.
Is it possible to capture someone in a photo? I've never seen a photo of me that captured who I am. Maybe I'm totally different on the inside.
If you read this blog post (or non-post), why don't you answer it? I would be interested to know if you have such a photo of yourself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)