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.”
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.
Imagine you, or your fictional character, are six years old.
It’s time to sit on Santa’s lap. What happens?
Or, what doesn’t happen?
Back in the day we called the December-January school break: Christmas Break.
We called Columbus Day: Columbus Day.
We didn’t care about calories, especially on Thanksgiving and for holiday meals.
We played outside with kids in our neighborhood.
We “scrolled” through comic books.
We danced to music from jukeboxes.
Writing Prompt: Back in the day.
What do you need?
Right now. What do you need?
Other prompts relating to need:
What do you need to hear? Lin Manuel Miranda pondered this question and the result is surprising.
Want vs need. Discovering wants versus needs.
| Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray shares why freewrites inspire writing: I have taught the creative writing process for more than twenty years, working in part with a technique known as “freewriting” where I encourage participants to “just let it rip”. We don’t worry about punctuation, spelling, grammar or whether it is good. We suspend the censor and let our first thoughts spill out onto the page. People new to the class are always nervous about this kind of letting go. Since I write and share my own raw writing with the group, I was rather nervous when I first started teaching the classes but found that by maintaining a safe and sacred atmosphere of unconditional acceptance for whatever wanted to come forth it really calmed the fear for everyone. We learn quite early to fear making mistakes. We all have a well-developed censor that confines us within the limiting parameters of being socially acceptable. Neuroscientists have identified a part of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) that is closely associated with impulse control. It keeps us from embarrassing ourselves or saying the wrong thing to our boss or spouse. Young children create so naturally because their censors don’t yet exist. The DLPFC is the last part of the brain to fully develop. Around 4th grade it engages and children lose interest in making art in the classroom. If we are worried about making a mistake, saying the wrong thing or doing something poorly we often end up doing nothing at all. The censor has us holding back our latent talent. In a study by a neuroscientist looking at brain activity in jazz musicians engaged in improvisation, research subjects showed increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with self-expression, while at the same time the DLPFC or censor appeared to deactivate. At this point there is a surge of raw material coming forth but rather than being random or chaotic it is organized or structured by the rules of the form. In the case of jazz musicians, they naturally improvised in the right key and tempo. I have noticed this tendency in my freewriting workshops. Students bypass the censor yet they also naturally wrote in the form that seemed to most call or appeal to them. Individuals drawn to poetry and who read a lot of poetry had the raw writing take on a poetic quality. The same was true with fiction, memoir or non-fiction. It’s why I always tell people that reading the kind of writing you want to do is one of the best things you can do to improve your work because when you let go and let the creativity flow, your brain then has a sense of how to organize it. When we let go, we have access to the vast storehouse of the unconscious mind. I really encourage creative play and practice, free from the expectation that we have to produce something, as a way to opening up to our creative gifts and talents. Learning to let go and create an atmosphere of inner permission, acceptance and allowance can really help us more fully express ourselves creatively. Now in the time to really let our creativity fly in our own live and the world. Wishing you all well. Sending you all lots of love and inspiration, Suzanne Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives. |
| Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Combining Western psychology with Chinese acupressure, it works to actually rewrite subconscious patterns and limiting beliefs that keep us stuck. I’ve had miraculous results and have been working with EFT in new ways that allow us to laser in on the issue and shift it at the core and change your life from the inside out. We often make significant shifts in a single session. Sessions are available by phone and Skype. CREATIVE LIFE COACHING Would you like to live from an expanded place of grace, ease and flow? Would you like to tap the wisdom and power of your heart and soul? We work with soul based ways to let go of limitation and gain clarity of the next steps to living a more joyful, authentic life. CREATIVITY COACHING Do you want to experience the pleasure and joy that comes from adding satisfaction and meaning and a sense of well being to your life through creative expression. I will offer practical, emotional and soulful strategies to help you fully uncover your creative gifts and support yourself in expressing them. I will provide encouragement and support in understanding of the creative process and its stages and exercises for accessing the wisdom of your imagination. I’ll help you set realistic goals and support you in achieving them. We will work with tools for coaching yourself through the issues that get in the way of your creativity including career concerns, blocks, limiting beliefs, relationship issues and the existential and spiritual questions that can arise from wanting and needing to create. THE HEART OF WRITING COACHING Do you want to ignite your creativity and show up to your writing on a regular basis or go deeper into the process and craft? I offer online coaching to support you and coach you through any resistance or problems along the way. I can send you daily lessons and assignments that cover important aspects of the writing process and information on craft. I hold the space of unconditional acceptance and support to nurturing your unique voice and work on the stories that are really important to you. The Heart of Writing eBook Jumpstart the Process, Find Your Voice, Calm the Inner Critic and Tap the Creative Flow I have been working an exercise a day through your The Heart of Writing eBook. I love it! It’s like being in class again. – Tonya Osinkosky Now available on Amazon Kindle! http://amzn.to/1d7oe60 or still available is a pdf download from my website (includes a one hour mp3 interview about writing process) https://www.creativitygoeswild.com/the-heart-of-writing/ For more detailed information on all my offerings check web site at https://www.creativitygoeswild.com or call Suzanne Murray at 707.360.7776 or email creativitygoeswild@gmail.com . Also check out my Blog at https://www.creativitygoeswild.com/blog-1/ for ideas on writing, creativity and life coaching. Follow me on Twitter at @wildcreativity where I tweet inspirational quotes for creativity and life. |
What can you control?
What can you let go of?
If you could invite anyone to share a meal with, dead or alive, who would you invite and why?