Prompts

Over the weekend I saw this suggestion for encouraging writers to write. Begin sentences with “I write of”. Here are some of my sentences from today:

I write of nature because it contains so much beauty, power, rhythm and a space for me from the pressing things of life.

I write of things quirky because I have a sense of humour and a curiosity that enjoys such things.

I write of the ordinary and the good to offer a balance against the glitz, hype and unpleasant that occurs in our world.

I write of the ordinary and good because I know the value that both offer to me and to others.

I write of simple traditions such as cooking for others, writing letters, gardening, knitting, singing in a group, walking, spending time with people we love and connect with.

I write of books simply because I love books.

I write of books because they have helped me in a myriad of ways throughout my life.

What do you write of?

Another prompt I found was over at http://concernedwithstory.wordpress.com was to write beginning with “Right now….”

So for me today, Monday 25th July 2011:

Right now I am very grateful for heating, warm clothing and warm food on such a cold day.

Right now I can see the birds enjoying the apples I have hung for them for winter food.

Right now I am pleased to have paid the bills and grateful for having the money to pay them.

Right now I am wondering if my cat will increase his food intake.

Right now I am processing the information I received about a family member who served in WW2.

Right now I am thinking a lot about resilience and the notes I made this afternoon.

Right now I am pleased to have fixed the errors in the socks I am knitting my grandson.

Right now I have meal preparation to do so I am off to begin that:-)

When I ran self awareness groups I would use a “Right now” exercise at the beginning of the session to help clear the immediate, scattered stuff that was “on top” for participants. Once this happened, focus was easier for everyone in the group.

Writing “right now” sentences offers me similar but different clearing, focus and more.

I’d be interested in your discoveries from writing some “Right Now” sentences.

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A simple tradition

I posted a letter to my 2 year old grandson today. He is on holiday in a different city for about a fortnight with his Mum and Dad.

My Mum would regularly write to my children and especially if we were on holiday for a reasonable length of time and mail was able to reach us. My children all remember how their Gran wrote to them and we still have some of those letters and cards. She would also enclose cuttings from newspaper or other written items that she thought would interest the recipient.

Mum was a great correspondent and wrote to many, many people regularly. She also loved to receive letters. A letter arriving would see her make a cup of tea and sit straight down to read the news. She often expressed her delight in the mail that came and how much she enjoyed being able to read and re- read the letter. A long, newsy phone call from afar was also enjoyed but the written word she could savour over time and draw much from it.

As well as some questions about their road trip, sights along the way and what they might be doing on their holiday I briefly told our wee chap about life here. I cut a photo from the newspaper which he will be interested in and his aunty drew him a picture with a short message to enjoy.

I hope he enjoys his letter as much as we enjoyed putting it together for him.