English as a First Language By Ken Delpit If I could learn a foreign language that I currently do not know all that well, I might choose English. That’s silly, you might say. You’re writing in English now. What’s to learn? This is a legitimate question. Allow me to explain. My comprehension of English is OK much of the time. I can get by. Once in a while, it may approach pretty good. In disturbingly frequent other times, though, even moderate fluency is sadly lacking on my part. For example, I would like to learn the English spoken by people whom I do not understand. Crazy as their thoughts might be when heard by my ears, I would like to hear those thoughts through theirs. Or, among everyday geniuses, when people reveal astute perspectives or brilliant insights, I would love to grasp the language that gave rise to those sparks….
Author: mcullen
Marlene Cullen is enthusiastic about encouraging people to write, even those who think they can’t write. Her series of books, The Write Spot anthologies, features writing that entertains as well as inspires writing. Every story, vignette, and poem in The Write Spot books include writing prompts motivating readers to become writers.
Marlene hosts The Write Spot Blog, a treasure chest of inspirational gems for writers.
Fulfilling her passion for writing and sharing with others, Marlene has created unique writing environments such as Jumpstart Writing Workshops, where participants often experience transformational changes. Her workshops provide essential elements for successful writing.
Marlene is the founder of Writers Forum of Petaluma, a monthly literary event featuring presenters talking about the craft and business of writing.
Marlene's awarding winning short stories and essays have been published in literary journals, anthologies, and newspapers, including Tiny Lights, Building Bridges, More Bridges, Redwood Writers anthologies, and The Write Spot anthologies.
She is a member of the California Writer's Club.
Sankalpa
It’s so easy to get caught up in our day-to-day busyness that we forget we have an inner spiritual core that is the basic strength for everything we do. What do you do to support this core? I recently learned about Sankalpa when experiencing a guided meditation class called Yoga Nidra/iRest with my friend and meditation/yoga instructor, Rhonda Gerhard. Guest Blogger Rhonda writes: Yoga Nidra is a meditation of self-inquiry. In the beginning of this practice, we ask ourselves: What is my Sankalpa (a heartfelt desire or intention) towards healing, strength, and wholeness? We welcome our unique Inner Resources—calling up peaceful places or protective and nurturing beings—so that we can draw on our deep inner knowing and loving-kindness. With continued practice, we build our resilience. Sankalpa means an intention formed by the heart and mind—a solemn vow, determination, or will. A Sankalpa is a way to refine the will, and…
Best Year of Your Life . . . Prompt #551
If you could choose the best year of your life, what would it be and why?
Be like a lighthouse.
If you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.—Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Graphic T-Shirt . . . Prompt #550
If you were going to design a graphic t-shirt that explains you, or your fictional character, what would it say and what would the graphic be?
Choices
Guest Blogger Nancy Julien Kopp wrote about choosing a path and exploring your choice. It seems like a perfect writing prompt for the start of a new year. Nancy wrote on her blog: Life is full of choices. I think often of Robert Frost’s poem that tells us of two roads diverging in a yellow wood, and the poet said he took the one less traveled by. But don’t we always wonder if this choice would be better than that choice or another one? For a writing exercise today, look at the four photos. Each of them is somewhere you can walk. Two have water while the others are filled with green trees. What is your choice? Where would you prefer to walk? A, B, C or D? Choose one and write a paragraph or several paragraphs about the photo you liked best. Study the photo and ask yourself a…
Silence . . . Prompt #549
Write about a silence. A silent night. A silent vigil. A quiet experience perhaps in a church or in nature. Or a calm experience, perhaps while watching a performance, or listening to music, or while watching children or animals or while walking.
The Lotus Flower Miracle . . . Prompt #548
Before diving into writing, I’m inviting you to sit back, and relax. Take a deep in. Exhale fully. Another deep breath. And exhale. Take some deep nourishing breaths as you read this prompt. Notice where there is tension in your body. Put your hand there, if you can. Or, put your thoughts there. Easily and comfortably think about what could be causing that discomfort. If you are not experiencing any discomfort, notice what you are thinking about. Going over, in your mind, the past few days, have you had a troubling conversation or a difficult interaction? For now, just notice these things. Set them aside, or make a quick list of these things. Staying as relaxed as you can in your body, read the first part of the prompt, which is inspired by Viktor Frankl. You have probably heard of him or you might be very familiar with him. He…
What is the cloud hanging over you? Prompt #547
What is the cloud hanging over you? What is the cloud that surrounds you now? Write about a situation or feeling that’s so all-encompassing it’s hard to see forward or back, left or right. Then, write about seeing a rainbow after the clouds disperse. Today’s writing prompt is inspired by Rebecca Rebouché, Prompt 106. of Suleika Jaouad‘s “The Isolation Journals.”
Inescapable longing. Prompt #546
Quotes from The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt. “You don’t grow up missing what you never had, but throughout life there is hovering over you an inescapable longing for something you never had.” — Susan Sontag “As a child, you generally aren’t aware that your family is different from any other. You have no frame of reference.” — Anderson Cooper Writing Prompts: Can you miss what you don’t know? Can you miss what you didn’t have? What, or who, do you miss? Write about an inescapable longing.