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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If it is Tuesday it must be singing

I belong to a local singing group.  We meet for 8 weeks every school term and there are four of those.  We meet from 7.30 until 8.45pm on a Tuesday night.  The only requirement for joining this group is that you like to sing.  No auditions, no ability to read music, just a desire to sing with others.  So for a nominal fee, around $6 per session I get to sing a range of  music with a great group of people, led by a talented and funny guy.

The age range in the group is from 12 to possibly 80 years of age.  Our musical leader has the group divided into those who like to sing high, or low and then the rest of us are middles.  Keep it simple and it works brilliantly.   He adds in “keep it friendly” and every session we have a couple of short breaks from singing to say hello and catch up with the people sitting near by.

Twice each term we sing while enjoying supper together.  We also get to sing out in public.  The group sings once at year at the Wellington Railway Station for the evening commuters.  This term we are scheduled to sing at the Wellington Airport for those flying at dinner time.  Other singing get-togethers in various locations and for various reasons are also arranged.

Do we sound good?  Yes, a lot of the time.  Do we make mistakes?  Yes, especially when a song is new but also when we have practiced and practiced.  Do we laugh a lot?  Oh yes!!!

Most people in the group would say that singing each week is the highlight of their working week.  For 75 minutes on a Tuesday night all the stresses, troubles and cares in our lives evaporate and we leave feeling relaxed and much better prepared to face the world.

It is a very simple formula and it works a treat.

A timely quote

This quote turned up on April 26th in a daily message I receive.  It fits my blog….how cool is that?

The power of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doing.
–Blaise Pascal

Goodness from mentoring

I’ve just been to see a health practitioner for an annual check up.  My practitioner has cared for our family for over 15 years now and so knows us well. One of my adult children is studying to become a practitioner in this field. 

Our practitioner generously offers work experience to my son whenever he is at home on university holidays.  Not only is he able to observe her work, once patient consent has been granted, but she challenges him with questions, ideas  and theories during the consultation.  He has an excellent knowledge of a range of specialist products used in this field and she draws on this to assist in her treatment plans.

As a self employed business owner time is money so there is a business cost to her in having a student sit in.  There is also a personal cost to her in terms of her having to think about involving and challenging him while at the same time providing a professional service as a qualified specialist to her patients.

It is a fine example of mentoring and one that will benefit both the field they have chosen to work in but more especially my son’s future and the people he treats.  Her generosity will not hit the media headlines and her mentoring may not be seen as anything more than what “should” happen in health professions.  So it could be deemed ordinary practice but the goodness is far reaching.

Ordinary good

I read somewhere recently that it is unlikely that we, as individual human beings, are each going to be able to do exceptional good in the world.  It suggested that  we could each do a lot of ordinary good and that could make an exceptional difference in the world.  This idea appealed to me a lot. 

After a series of major life altering and life threatening events in my life I find myself in a vastly different place to the one I was anticipating 6 years ago.  One of the many ways that have helped me adapt to my new circumstances is to look for the ordinary and good things around me and to really enjoy those.   I also love exceptional and extra special people, events and occasions but my focus in this blog will be on the more humble, day by day, good things that are meaningful to me. 

Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world”.  I figure if we all do our little bit to make the world a more pleasant and positive place then that is a pretty good place to begin.