Search Results for: trauma

Today I celebrate . . . Prompt #500

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Today I celebrate Prompt #500 on The Write Spot Blog. That’s a lot of prompts! I didn’t know what would happen when I started this blog September 24, 2003. That seems so long ago, and yet it’s only 17 years. A life-time for some, a blip for others. Since that first blog post, my daughter married, both my sons married, two granddaughters were born, we renovated our yard, bought tons of groceries, did umpteen loads of laundry, and so much happened locally, state-wide, nationally, and internationally. And I learned to Zoom. There are 1,252 posts on The Write Spot Blog: Places to submit your writing, book reviews, quotes, and guest bloggers sharing their thoughts about writing. Hopefully some of the posts have been inspirational to help you and your writing. Since 2003, five Write Spot anthologies have been published. I’ve given talks about freewrites, blogging, and how to write about…

How did I get here? Prompt #465

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Sometimes we drive a familiar route as if in a daze. At some point we become aware that we have been driving unaware and wonder, “How did I get here?” Sometimes we’re at a job, either paid or volunteer, or we’re enmeshed in an activity, either fun or dramatic or both. Perhaps we’ve been consumed with this activity. Maybe we wake up one day and wonder, “How did I get here?” Sometimes we look around and all of a sudden we’re 40, or 50, or 60 years old, or in my case, in my early seventies. Sometimes we wonder, “How did I get here?” Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice is inspired from Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming. This journal helps “to alleviate the pressure of knowing what to write about.”  “Writing Becoming led [Michelle] Obama to see the importance of taking time for contemplation. When asked about her…

The mind can’t tell the difference . . .

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Today’s guest blogger is the extraordinary Brad Yates, Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping (EFT) instructor. Reposted from his 8/19/2019 Email. Reviewing the Past In spite of all the encouragement to live in the present or focus on the future, most of us are likely to still spend a fair amount of time reviewing the past. And, more often than not, the moments we dwell on are not necessarily the highlights. It’s normal … but it isn’t without cost. Because the mind can’t tell the difference between something that is real and something that is imagined, just thinking about past troubles triggers the same chemical reactions and the same uncomfortable feelings. Given that we create our reality based on what we are feeling, you can see where this could be problematic. Each time we go through those unpleasant experiences, we hardwire those memories and feelings more firmly, making it more likely we’ll keep…

Freewrites: Opening Doors to Discoveries

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Notes from Marlene Cullen’s talk about freewrites. Scroll down for links about how to use freewrites and how to write about difficult subjects without adding trauma. I gave a talk about freewrites at the Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club. I’m sharing my notes so you, too, can enjoy the freewrite method of writing. I love freewrites because they are so . . . freeing. Freewrites can open doors to discoveries. I was thrilled to discover freewrites, unlike short story and novel writing, this was something I could do. I hope these tips help make your freewrites fun and successful in inspiring your writing.  What is a freewrite? A freewrite is writing spontaneously with no thinking. Just putting down word after word, with no worries about spelling, punctuation, how it will sound, and no worries about the final product. Sometimes when you are engrossed in your writing project and…

Write what is hard to admit. Prompt #435

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“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, excerpted from The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper. Anderson Cooper continues: “As a child, you generally aren’t aware that your family is different from any other. You have no frame of reference.”   The following is excerpted from What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg. “I am thinking of how right he was when he said that people want to be deceived. I have learned the truth of that notion over and over; but I never admitted to its obvious presence in my own life. After all, I claimed I did not need my mother. I said I had replaced her.” Prompt: Write about something you have been unwilling to admit or something you have been deceiving yourself about. Note: No one…

Why write your story?

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Why write your story? So you can move on. Today’s post is inspired by Patricia Hampl’s book, “I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourn in the Land of Memory.” Tell your story so you can move on. “When a writer keeps things inside, it becomes a ball of tangled yarn. As each story is told, the ball becomes untangled. Writing from memory can help us to let go of those stories we tell over and over again. We may not even need to tell them again [after writing about them].” Note from Marlene: I think writing from memory can also be a type of self-help . . . a vehicle for transporting oneself back in time and getting in touch with what really happened. Patricia Hampl is an American memoirist, writer, lecturer, and educator. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is one of…

Mental Snapshot . . . Prompt #390

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Our minds register events like snapshots, especially stressful or shocking events. Our minds take a snapshot as if we need to remember that point in time. For example, you probably remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about John F. Kennedy being shot or September 11th or the October Northern California fires. For this prompt, I’d like to make it more personal. Yes, you can write about a global event. Or, you can use this prompt as an opportunity to take a deeper look at something that is personally meaningful to you. Something that was a type of surprise or shock so you took a mental snapshot. It could be good or surprising news. It could be something that was upsetting or disturbing. I invite you to go inward and write about a mental snapshot you carry with you. When writing about difficult experiences, take…

Writing About Difficult Times In Your Life

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Guest Blogger Nancy Julien Kopp writes about a topic I am passionate about: Healing through writing. WRITING ABOUT DIFFICULT TIMES IN YOUR LIFE When life hands us situations that hurt, we sometimes want to push it away, hide it in a closet. It’s too hard to bring it forth and try to deal with the misfortune. There are so many events in our life that create deep wounds and leave scars—the death of a spouse, losing a child, being in a terrible accident, losing a home to fire or a tornado, a difficult romance and break-up. The list could go on and on. I believe that writing about whatever happened has benefits. It is cathartic for the writer and can be a help to readers who have gone through a similar situation. You’re a double winner if you aid both yourself and those readers who have been through something difficult….

Guest Blogger Alison Luterman . . . Go deep into your writing.

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Guest Blogger Alison Luterman  writes about going deep with your writing. Originally posted in her May 1 newsletter. Many years ago, in Hawaii, I got a chance to go “scuba diving.” I’m putting the words in quotes because it was really pretend scuba diving for tourists. There was no training involved other than the most basic instructions on how to breathe through a tube connected to the oxygen tank that was strapped to each person’s back. I think we had to sign a waiver saying we would not sue the company if we drowned. Then a group of us waded out, submerged, and voila! We were “scuba diving.” Well, not quite. My man-friend, S., had heavy bones and big muscles and he descended like a stone to the ocean floor. I could see him fifteen feet below me picking up beautiful shells while I floated directly above him. I couldn’t…

Guest Blogger Susan Hagen: Birthdays, cupcakes, and healing through writing

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Note from Marlene: Guest Blogger Susan Hagen encourages us to have fun. And shows us how we can heal through writing . . . one of my strong beliefs, also. I hope you enjoy Susan’s post: To celebrate our 62nd birthdays, my best friend and I recently spent the weekend in Disneyland. Despite creaky knees and stiff backs, we were ready to party like … well, like eight-year-olds. We had great fun on the (not-too-wild) rides and enjoyed being playful and somewhat silly. But in that space of awareness about our childhoods, what arose in both of us were memories of disappointing birthdays of the past. It’s never too late to have that birthday cupcake. For me, it was 1963, the year I turned eight. My mother was supposed to bring chocolate cupcakes to my third-grade class at the end of the school day. But a few days before my birthday, President…