Prompts

The challenge of freewriting . . . Prompt #765

The challenge of freewriting is getting Self out of the way. Let your writing flow with no judging. Release your worries about your writing. Allow your creative mind to play with words.  With freewrites, you are writing for yourself, not for an audience. Give yourself permission to be open to whatever comes up while you are writing. A freewrite is a way of writing freely, with no worries about the outcome. Choose a time when you will not be interrupted. Select a prompt. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and write without pausing to think. If you run out of things to say, write “I remember” and go from there. Or, write “What I really want to say . . .”  Give your inner critic time off during this writing. Lists are a great way to inspire freewrites. ~ Make a list of issues and experiences, important or trivial, in…

Sparks

Offer It Up

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Offer it Up By Tracy L. Wood It was a catch phrase of my mother’s. Whether our sweater was itchy, or our new church shoes gave us blisters, or a sibling was teasing us, Mom’s standard reply was Offer it Up.  As a young person, this response was unsatisfying. It didn’t fix anything, and it felt dismissive. More often than not, I wanted her other catch phrase, which similarly didn’t fix anything. But at least Oh Honey came bearing sympathy. This was before Mom got involved in Al-Anon where she learned about the Serenity Prayer and to Let Go and Let God. In many ways those adages offer the same comfort, or challenge depending on one’s state of grace, and were simply another way of saying Offer it Up. I like Mom’s version better. I often hear Mom’s voice nudging me to…

Sparks

River Walk

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. River Walk By Cheryl Moore As its tides ebb and flow following the moon’s journey across the sky—egrets, herons, sand pipers wade in the shallows on muddy banks mallards, coots, grebes paddle in the river flow, a night heron rousts on a birch tree branch.   In the distance fog slowly evaporates revealing the huge hump of Sonoma Mt its golden slopes patterned with dark green trees.   To and from my river walk I meet and greet dog walkers at Wickersham Park I pause to watch a dog sprinting after a ball his human has thrown he leaps in the air—a spirit of joy.   The park’s stately trees seem to smile to see such active exuberance.   Cheryl Moore grew up in the mid-west, went to college in San Francisco, then lived in foreign…

Guest Bloggers

Creativity Is A Practice

Suzanne Murray writes about the rewards of engaging our creativity. There is a growing awareness that creativity is a capacity that everyone has, though they may not understand what is involved in accessing it. One of the main things that gets in the way of people embracing their creative gifts is a belief that creativity should be easy; that it should just flow out. They think they should be good at it immediately. If they are not and it’s not easy, there is a tendency to think there is something wrong with them and it’s never going to work. Yet creativity in whatever form you choose to pursue is a complex process that actually asks a lot of us. This is why is feels so good to engage since it helps us discover that we are capable of more than we thought possible, including working from expanded abilities. It is…

Sparks

Changing Seasons

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Changing Seasons By Julie Sherman My garden is feeing anxious. The hydrangeas are protesting with powdery mildew on her large leaves. The yellow stargazers are shrinking back into themselves refusing to open. The last of the white roses are reluctantly peeling back one petal at a time, objecting to the assault of cold temperatures after having owned a sunny resort for the past 4 months. The plumbago has given up altogether, and the sweet peas are trying their best to climb the trellis. The last few pink ballerinas are hanging precariously to their brittle fuchsia branches before folding in their tutus, turning brown, and falling to the ground. Only the chrysanthemums are welcoming the morning chill and pale gray skies. The veteran plants know what’s coming and are bracing themselves, feeling tough enough to survive. They…

Sparks

Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas

Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page. Seasonal Considerations in 14 Stanzas By Christine Renaudin Yesterday’s rain was announced,yet came as a surprise,we’ve grown so used to dreading drought and fire. Yesterday’s rain was a giftearly for the wet season,tardy for the thirsty and parched. Yesterday’s rain relieved anxieties, expectations, released myriads of winged insects dancing in today’s afternoon sunlight. Some are termites, I think, roused by the premature sprinkle.They flutter aimlessly as if lost in the midst of dream.In two hours, I hear, their wings will fall and drop them home to thrive or die. Yesterday’s rain took us insidetrading shade for shelterto share a Sunday lunch with friends. Today the sun glistens over puddles,the air feels clean, cobwebs glitter,alive with earthy fragrances. Breath deepens, heart quickens,there is a bounce in the season: I want to catch its tune. Soon the grass…

Prompts

Birth Day . . . Prompt #749

Remember self-care when writing about difficult topics: Get up, walk around. Take a sip of water or herbal tea. Choose something in your surroundings to look at when the writing gets difficult. Look at that focal point as a reminder to breathe. Take a deep breath in. Hold. And release. Take a few more calming breaths. Write this in your notebook or on a piece of paper. What I really want to say . . . I remember . . . I don’t remember . . . If you are stuck with writing, you can use one of these phrases and go from there. Writing Prompt: Birth Day Think about your Birth Day. Maybe you had many birthday parties. Maybe you had a handful of parties, or one or two. Maybe your Birth Day is a big deal and you wildly celebrate. Or, maybe you are the quiet type, preferring…

Book Reviews

Shaman Heart, Turning Pain Into Passion and Purpose

“Shaman Heart, Turning Pain Into Passion and Purpose”, a Brave Healer Production, invites readers to develop a shaman heart — one that can only be obtained by coming through our darkest moments more healed and whole and then lighting the way for others. As the anthology’s lead author, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and teacher Stephanie Urbina Jones writes, “Whether it’s a death of a loved one, divorce, illness or depression, we can turn our pain into an initiation and be a sacred witness or messenger in these bittersweet, crossroad moments in life. From this place of humbled, broken-open wisdom and grace, we can then walk with others and assist them as they journey through their own darkness to the dawn of a new beginning.” The genesis for Shaman Heart occurred on January 5, 2022, when Urbina Jones and 25 other leading spiritual teachers, preachers, and healers spent a week together at the Dreaming House in the heart of Mexico. “Each author…