Prompts

The thing about grief . . . Prompt #754

Inspired by an email from Susan Bono: I was at Dollar Tree the other day and didn’t have quite enough cash to cover my Halloween garlands. As I fumbled with my card, the cashier said, “I never carry cash anymore.” I said, “I don’t either, but I miss it sometimes.” She looked at me full in the face and said, “There are things I miss every single day about the way things used to be.” I saw such grief in her face before she smiled and urged me to have a nice day. Prompt: Write whatever comes up for you . . . Shopping at the Dollar Tree store Halloween Cash vs credit card I miss . . . The way things used to be . . . The thing about grief is . . . Susan Bono is the author of “What Have We Here: Essays about Keeping House…

Prompts

Got away with it . . . Prompt #752

Sit back. Relax into your chair. Take a deep breath in. Hold. Release. Empty your mind. Let go of thoughts. Settle your mind. Remember back to your teenage years. Full of promise and full of hope for fun. Hope that special someone notices you. Looking forward to fun times. Hope you won’t get caught doing whatever you weren’t supposed to be doing. Because this was a time to take risks, to sneak past authority, to try new behavior. Prompt: Write about one of those times . . . you got away with something you shouldn’t have been doing.

Guest Bloggers

Show Up And See What Happens

Photo by Marlene Cullen Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about the power of commitment and practice. Whether it’s for writing, meditation, exercise, or anything you want to do but feel resistance to, establishing a practice can help you move forward in magical ways. It signals to the universe that you are committed. Having a practice means that you show up every day, no matter what. Release all expectations of outcome or where you think you want things to go. It doesn’t matter how good you are or what you accomplish or what happens with the practice. You sit down to meditate and your mind goes wild with chatter the entire time, that’s fine. You show up to write and find yourself whining on the page, that’s okay. The point is to show up and practice. A lot of things are happening when you show up consistently to something. You begin…

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…