Today's writing prompt:
What is your favorite fruit? Go into detail, describe it's color, texture, scent and taste....
Most importantly, keep writing, don't stop, write for at least 20 minutes. Don't worry about your grammar or spelling, just keep going! ;)
Thank you to the ladies that came this past Tuesday! Here is a brief recap of the evening...
The "free write prompt" was "a bat circling the sky". I wanted to share this with you. It was written by Rosa:
A Bat Circling the Sky
Out of the box I fly
To circle in the sky
I can see so much
Of spiders, bugs, and such
Mine is a merry life
Carefree, empty of strife
I’m nature’s Orkin man
Eating as many bugs as I can
I, also, eat small frogs
Scoop them up off logs
I am free to fly away
Yet, I will sleep all day
We then took some time to reflect on the following quotes that I found on time:
“Creativity represents a miraculous coming together of the uninhibited energy of the child with its apparent opposite and enemy, the sense of order imposed on the disciplined adult intelligence. “ Norman Podherotz
“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr. quotes (American best selling writer, author of Life's Little Instruction Book)
“Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them.” ~Dion Boucicault
“Time is making fools of us again.” ~J.K. Rowling
“The time you think you're missing, misses you too.” ~Ymber Delecto
“Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst.” ~William Penn
“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” Charles Bixton
Do any of these quotes speak to you? I know that they do to me. Personally, I stink at managing my time. I have no idea where it goes. I always start my days with the best of intentions. I have some time actually blocked out for writing or art, and on my way to my space, I see some dishes in the sink, a quick load of laundry to be done, an email or 2 to answer, some dust to be swiffered, and the list goes on and on until it's time for me to go pick up my daughter or start dinner or for my husband to get home...
I have no idea why I allow all of these other things to intrude on my "creative me time". Seriously, none of my above said time bandits are emergencies that have to be dealt with before anything else, I have plenty of dishes, and certainly plenty of clothes, no one is going to die if I don't immediately respond to an email, and well, if I were really that much of a clean freak, I wouldn't be seeing any dust to swiffer now would I?
Take some time, reflect on the above quotes and then think about what your "time bandits" are. Try to be more aware of them and see if it changes your day at all. Will you have a few extra minutes for yourself and your writing? Or your art? Or a few extra minutes to spend quietly with God?
Reminder...
We will be meeting Tuesday evening, March 10th at 7PM in the worship arts area at the church... Just bring yourself, some paper, a writing utensil and be ready to write....
I am looking forward to getting together again...
If you have any questions, just shoot me an email cshafer@comcast.net
What is the most bizarre food you have ever eaten? Why did you try it? Did you like it? Would you ever eat it again?
Just an early reminder, we will be meeting next Tuesday evening, March 10th at 7PM (we will be meeting at the church, just perhaps a location other than worship arts~I will let you know soon where that will be)
Last night we were watching the show, Rita Rocks. If you are not familiar with it, it's a comedy about a wife and mom that lives a typical suburban life but on Friday evenings, she gets together with a group of various people(her mail carrier, an unemployed neighbor, and her teenage daughter's boyfriend) and plays in a garage band (literally in her garage). I had never seen the initial episode before and it happened to be the one that was on last night. Anyway, there was this great scene where Rita is sitting on the floor of her closet at 3AM looking through old photo albums. Her husband wakes up and finds her in there and asks her what she is doing. Now I don't remember the dialogue exactly but basically she said, "Nobody knows me as Rita anymore, I am your wife, the girls' mom, the teenage daughter's probation officer, I don't know who I am anymore". When he asked her what she was looking for in the photo albums, she said, "I am looking for my sparkle, you know that sparkle I had in my eye when I was in my Bengals Tribute Band."
Anyway, she ends up getting her old guitar out of the garage and she and her friends play an old Otis Redding song, "Try a Little Tenderness". When she first starts, she is very hesitant and tentative but as the song goes on, she loosens up, lets go and really gets into it and is having a blast, then realizes that her husband has been standing there watching. She stops and becomes very self conscious. He tells her that she has her sparkle back...
Now, I have just done a hurendous job of describing the show, and have totally made it sound corny and you will probably just be better off watching it yourself(you can probably find it on hulu, or on demand, or on a re-run---it's on Lifetime network at 8PM)
So to bottom line all of this and get to the point, I totally identify with this character. She is a woman, who has lost herself, not by any tragic event, but just by living life, and a basically happy life at that. She has everything she could ask for, a great husband, 2 daughters, a home, and friends. What more could she ask for? She realizes though, that in being everything to everyone else, she has become nothing to herself. She wants her own identity, her own voice, her sparkle back....
We all get that special sparkle in our eye from something, Rita's is music, mine comes when I am writing or sketching. What about you? Have you lost your sparkle? If so, consider spending some time reflecting on what is missing... Did you use to write? Sketch? Paint? Sculpt? Sing or play an instrument? Can you make some small changes to allow time for these activities once again?
Okay, well I guess you all can probably figure out what my writing prompt is for today....
Snow Days!
What is your favorite thing about snow days?
What would your ideal snow day be?
Would you go back to bed and sleep in?
Would you start a fire in the fireplace and snuggle up with a great book and some hot tea or cocoa?
Or would you sit by the window with your easel and paints and start a new painting?
Or maybe, you would get all bundled up and go out for a long walk?
Or perhaps even be a smidgen more adventurous and go sledding? When was the last you time you had a real belly laugh from flying down a hill at a high rate of speed with the snow and wind hitting you in the face?
There are no wrong answers or ideas, remember this is your snowday, do with it what you want...
