JOURNAL PROMPTS

Happy Writing

Seven New Writing Prompts for Joy and Grace

  1. Write the story of discovering grace unexpectedly. What happened? If needed, use the blog as model.
  2. Write the story of giving grace or doing a kindness for someone else. What did you do? What was the result?
  3. When have you volunteered or served others? What surprised you about the experience?
  4. Who moves through your life with a grace you admire? Write about them or write them a note thanking them for their grace.
  5. What gives you the greatest joy at this time of year?
  6. What do you need to remember during the hustle and bustle of the season? What will calm you down or bring you joy?
  7. What can you do to make this season more joyful for others and for you?

Seven New Writing Prompts for Well-Being and Gratitude

  1. Enjoy the Moment! Explore what happens around you in the coming day. Find a moment that holds some beauty for you. Explore that moment. Why did this experience capture your attention? If you need a model, use the blog.
  2. Explore the New! What is new in your life? In your own words write about the things that are new for you—and celebrate them. Are you reading a book you like? Have you made a new friend? What have you learned or want to learn? Gratitude for learning helps us continue to be curious and to grow.
  3. Appreciate Your Work. What work do you do that you appreciate? Do you like your job, like helping with food boxes at your church, like talking with an older friend on the phone? Explore how doing this specific task gives you meaning.
  4. Find Your Best Qualities. What are your best qualities and how can you use them? Positive psychology teaches us how important it is to embrace our best qualities and to use them to make our life fuller. If you are a great listener, you may want to share this gift with your grandmother and learn some of her amazing stories.
  5. Choose One Person Who Matters. Who is one person in your life who you deeply appreciate? Who are they and how do they make a positive difference in your life or the lives of others? Should you send them a thank you note?
  6. Honor Your Health. What about your health should you honor? Often we focus on why we feel bad. Instead write about what gifts your body and your health have given you.  Even if you are facing a terrible diagnosis, you have something to be thankful for. Focus on that.
  7. Embrace Nature. When does nature call to you? At what times do you realize how stunning our Earth can be?  How and when does this happen? Write about that.

Ten Writing Prompts for Hope

Explore any or all of these hopeful prompts–

  1. A text message from an idol filled Hannah with hope when she most needed it. What has given you hope when you most needed it?
  2. What is hope?  What does it look like?  What color is it? Where have you seen it?
  3. Where do you like to go to feel uplifted?  Describe being in this special place.
  4. Who inspires hope in you?  Why?
  5. What is one thing you have done to bring hope to others? Tell that story.
  6. Think of one book or movie that brought you a feeling of hope. Explore.
  7. What are your hopes for the future?  Explore those.
  8. How can you give hope to someone who has just had a bad health diagnosis?
  9. What art inspires you?  Can you dance with hope? Paint with hope? Or sing a hopeful song?
  10. Who is the best listener you know? Do they make you feel happy or hopeful?

A Spark of Creativity

  1. What have you struggled to understand? Tell me that story.
  2. What is one creative idea or project you have had? Describe the discovery process of creating or the act of creating. What did you do? How does the process feel?
  3. What is the most amazing creative work you have explored—a building? A work of art? A symphony? A singer’s performance?  Share the experience you had and the power of this creative work. How did it impact you?

Finding Meaning

Early Memory. Brainstorm early memories. Ask yourself how did you make sense of something unexpected. Santa Claus? A family move? A loss. Now write that story. Let the blog serve as a model for this writing. Explore how you handled the experience. Was someone there to support you? How did it come out?

Quotes. Choose, reflect, and write about one or more of these extraordinary quotes on meaning:

  • “I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” Herman Hesse
  • “ Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl
  • “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl
  • Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” Viktor Frankl

Being Curious! 

    1. A Simple Exploration. B. F. Skinner said “When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.” Make a list of five topics you would like to explore. Choose one and write what you know and follow this with questions—what do you want to know?  Then begin your search.
    2. A Visit. Choose a bookshop, the library, a park, a museum, or a botanical garden.  Economist John Maynard Keynes once noted that visiting a bookshop should not be like booking a train ticket. You don’t know exactly what you are searching for. “One should enter it vaguely, almost in a dream, and allow what is there freely to attract and influence the eye.”  Take your journal to this special place and when the time is right, explore the experience. Which of your five senses are activated? What sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings do you experience? Breathe the space in. Learn from it. Write about it.
    3. Connect. Leonardo Da Vinci listed what he was curious about and trying to learn. Here are three entries on one day—
    • Examine the crossbow of Maestro Gianetto.
    • Find a Master of Hydraulics and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill, in the Lombard manner.
    • Ask about the measurement of the sun, promised me by Maestro Giovanni Francese

    Leonardo is remembered as one of the most curious people of all time. Let’s follow his example. He often turned to others or connected with others to explore what he found curious. Let’s try it! Find someone in your life who is an expert and ask them to help you explore an interest. List your questions in your journal and then set up an interview. Write about what you are surprised to learn.

    (Gratitude to Ian Leslie for the ideas in his book on curiosity!)

Captured Moments—inspired by Judy’s work!

How wonderful to explore a treasured moment. Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Being Present in the Present. Explore being present in a moment, in your body, in a place, taking in all the sensory details and allowing them to influence the experience.
  2. Exploring a trip. Think of a trip you have taken that remains vivid and powerful in your mind. Focus on being there. What do you remember? What did you experience? Bring to mind as much sensory detail as possible.
  3. Exploring a quote. Take the Helen Keller quote. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” Freewrite. What comes to mind? Pepper your writing with sensory details to make it come alive.
  4. Exploring a special event. My son just had a birthday, and I wrote about how I saw his father cry for the first time when he held little Matt. Your turn. Think of a special moment and write about it. Recall the sounds, smells, sights, and details that come to mind. How did you feel? Make the moment sparkle on paper!
  5. Exploring a special place. I have just refurbished my garden. I sit out there in the evening and am so satisfied I have my own little piece of nature close at hand. What place is special for you?  Write about a place you go to renew yourself and fill it with sensory sights, sounds, and feelings.

The Circle of Life

Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Think of the birth of a child or of a new personal passion (art, welding, etc.) Write about the experience of this birth. What did you feel and think?  How did it change you?
  2. Recall an unexpected loss. If you are ready to write about it, describe what happened. What was hard about this loss and how did you cope? Who helped you? What did you learn?
  3. Share a moment of new love. When did you fall in love or realize their was a friend or pet that you cared about deeply?  Share the magic of that moment in detail, sharing emotions and thoughts. Did it change you?
  4. Circle of life. Share one unexpected moment of life change in detail. What was memorable or meaningful?  Why?

The Artist Within 

Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Think of an art you love (singing, playing a guitar, drawing nature sketches, painting, digital design, sewing, etc.) and write the story of discovering this part of your “artist within.”
  2. Is there a time in your life when you lost the artist within? How did this happen? What did you learn? Have you rediscovered this part of you? If so, how?
  3. Describe an important “art experience” you have had—discovering an amazing building, an incredible work of art, or perhaps reading a book that transformed your way of thinking. Explore this experience. What happened? How did you feel? What did you learn? Why was this experience so special?

Legacy Writing  

As Merle teaches, and as I have experienced in teaching and working with Story Corps, it is important to find and share the stories that have taught us something worthwhile. Here are a few great question “starters” for legacy writing—

  1. What was one of the happiest, most memorable moments in your life?
  2. What is one of the saddest memories you hold?
  3. Who has had an important influence on you? How? Explore this story.
  4. What have you done or accomplished that makes you proud? Share this story.
  5. Do you have any regrets that you would want to share with others and that might help them know what to avoid?
  6. What other lessons have you learned? You could write about one these regularly and share your responses in a legacy book with your children or close friends.
  7. What advice would you like to pass on to those who come after you? Feel free to explore how you learned this and why it matters.
  8. What has been important to you? Explore.
  9. Who would you like to honor with a memory you treasure? Share that story.
  10. How would you like to be remembered? Why?

More questions to write and honor your legacy are found at one of my favorite sites:

https://storycorps.org/participate/great-questions/

Loving and Growing

Writing Prompt: Never Stop Dancing

I always think of February as the month of love.  But often writers tell me they struggle with romantic love and hate to focus on it. In reading psychologist Barbara Frederickson, I have learned to treasure the many dimensions of love.  I wrote the blog based on the moment I realized I loved to dance.

Think about it. What lights you up?  What brings you joy? What is your bliss?  Do you love to paint, run, hike, garden, dance, travel, sip coffee with a dear friend?

Sit back and revel in what you love. Then choose one of these prompts:

  1. How did I find this dimension of my life? This bliss? Tell that story.
  2. What makes this bliss so wonderful for you?
  3. What are your best memories connected to this bliss that “lights you up?”

Writing Prompt:  Remember to “Love the Self”

It is often said we can’t love others if we don’t learn to love ourselves. Write about one of these prompts:

  1. What is one strength I have that makes me special? How did I discover that strength?
  2. What is one thing I have done that I can always treasure? Tell that story.

Writing Prompt:  Love Notes

In February I love to surprise Steve by creating or mailing him a valentine (to our home) or sticking a note or a child’s valentine on the steering wheel that he will find on his way to work.  I have decided to stretch this beyond the man I love. Here are some ideas:

  1. Write a poem for a friend or create a simple child-like valentine (or send one) to a friend.
  2. Write a letter to a mentor or someone your often forget to honor with the love they deserve.

The New Year!

Writing Prompt: Embracing Possibilities

“We all have possibilities we don’ know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.”  Dale Carnegie

Pause and think. Using this quote, write about what new possibilities you can bring into your life this year—planting an herb garden? Working on the environment? writing a legacy book? Creating a memoir?  Exploring cooking?  Hiking?  You can make a list or simply let go and free write about the beauty of new possibilities. Enjoy!

Writing Prompt:  Sharing Memories and Wishes

A simple, profound, and meaningful way to celebrate this new year, is by spending time with loved one recalling and writing down favorite memories from the past. After you write and share these, write and share your hopes for the upcoming year. We often don’t make time to reflect on our memories or hopes with our families, but these conversations can inspire togetherness and lovely traditions for years to come.

Writing Prompt: Creating New Intentions and Possibilities!

Resolutions often frustrate us so I suggest scrapping them altogether. Instead I work to embrace intentions. These are what I have come to call “gentle goals.”  They are a call to action. Something you want to happen but will not pressure yourself or bully yourself about. Instead embrace and try to gently weave them into your life with kindness. If they don’t work, gracefully dismiss them. Let’s begin our New Year by writing about a few positive intentions—and you can slip a few possibilities in as well! Then choose one to begin with—I lonely start with one, but if you want more that is fine, too.

Remember we are writing about positive things we want to bring into our lives. Here’s how I get started each year:

  1. Make a list of what you would like to accomplish or do. While I have listed a few ideas, come up with what you want.
    1. Learn something new?
    2. Relax more regularly?
    3. Work out regularly?
    4. Practice journaling?
    5. Take or create a class.
    6. Write a story, a chapbook, a memoir?
    7. I follow this by choosing one item (intention, goal, or possibility) and exploring it with these questions–
      1. Why is this intention important to you?
      2. How can you make it happen?
  • What kind of commitment could you make to make it happen?

Reflection. Come back once a week to explore your intentions and possibilities. Take them where you need to take them. Let 2024 open in beautiful ways!

Five Writing Prompts–Thoughtful, Treasured Gifts

The gifts I treasure the most of late have had thoughtfulness put into them. My granddaughter knows I love hummingbirds and last year I received a painting of a hummingbird from her. It took time, thought, and love to give me this gift. It is hung with pride in my home and will be treasured always.

Here are possible thoughtful gifts you might choose to create in this season of celebration.

Writing Prompt One–Create a Gift Poem

Karen gave me the gift of “Wisdom Tree” and Anne Frank shared poems with her family. You can do the same. Create a poem for someone special. You might want to begin by choosing a meaningful word that can guide your poem—as the word “wisdom” guided Karen. What word would your recipient treasure?  Patience? Kindness? Humor? After you choose your word, create a cluster around this word. Do this by jotting the word in the center of a piece of paper and circling it. Draw sticks out from it and create new bubbles with the images that come to mind that help you explore your word.

When your cluster is complete, do as Karen did, and place your musings, line after line, in a simple poem. Polish it. Print it. Maybe frame it or roll it up and tie a bow around it. Give your gift!

Writing Prompt Two–Small Treasured Quotes.

Select one quote (see the list below) or create a quote that you think will resonate with someone you love.  Plan for this to be a gift for them. Print the quote in your own unique handwriting on special paper. If a story or poem surfaces as you work, you can choose to write that story or poem. If you are artistic you may want to paint or to use markers to create a lovely border or illustrations to go with your quote.

Writing Prompt Three—Thoughtfully Chosen Book Gift

Spend time picking the right book for the right person as a gift. Wrap it and then write a note to the person explaining why you bought this special book for them. Attach your note to the gift!  (I just bought Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy book for a friend who I believe will love his style!)

Writing Prompt Four—Photos or Photo Collage Gift

In her blog, My Inspired Life, poet Michele Sefton writes short pieces (stories, experiences, or poems) and takes photos to go with them. They are magical and this would make a great gift. You could collect photos of one experience and write what you remember and share that as a simple, but thoughtful gift!  Or you could collect photos from experiences with one special person and make a collage to gift to them. You could frame it, wrap it, and tie a special bow around it, too.

Writing Prompt Five—Thoughtful Experience Gift

Perhaps you have a special experience memory that is calling to be written and given to someone, or perhaps you need to give a special experience as the gift—a zoo visit, lunch at the botanical garden, a book talk, a hike, or tea at a special tea shop. Go. Have fun!  Then consider writing up or taking photos to gift those as well. Enjoy!

Ten Quotes for Peace and Joy

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.—Joseph Campbell

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.–Anne Frank

May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter and every window be open to great possibility.”  Mary Anne Radmacher

Let your joy be in your journey—not in some distant goal. —Tim Cook

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. —Albert Einstein

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles, and it must be taken one step at a time. —Lyndon B. Johnson

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. —Desmond Tutu

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. —Jimi Hendrix

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one. —John Lennon

Peace begins with a smile. —Mother Teresa

Seven Powerful Writing Prompts for Gratitude–

Gratitude Notes
My blog “Overcoming” was created as my first “gratitude note” of the month. It is clearly written as a “thank you” to my husband for what he brings into my life. (It will be a gift for him when he opens this newsletter. Shhh!) It can serve as a model, or not. I got a bit carried away.

Please note that thank you notes can be simple. One sentence even. The practice of writing thank you notes as gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver!

Let’s write on!
Writing a Poem of Gratitude

Read this lovely poem by Jane Kenyon. Then write your own poem of gratitude or simply freewrite about all the beautiful moments that you have created in your life—a walk, your writing, a personal meditation, your gardening, whatever brings you daily joy. Notice it! Here is the poem:

Otherwise

By Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

(Used for educational purposes only.)

Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.
A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
Daily Journal Gratitudes

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. Let the gratitudes give you the serotonin and dopamine you need in these challenging times. Let them take you forward!

A Gratitude Story
It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

  1. I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .
  2. I am grateful for my family because . . .
  3. I am grateful for the work I do because . . .
  4. I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .
  5. Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

A Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

 

Our Scars Tell Our Stories

Dana Jennings wrote, “Our scars tell our stories. Sometimes they are stark tales of of life-threatening catastrophes, but more often they’re just footnotes to the ordinary but bloody detours that befall us on the roadways of life.”

What scars have left a mark on your life? Choose one scar, emotional or physicial, that has had an impact on you. Write that story.

When the time is right reflect on it. You may even want to share it with someone who would treasure it. 

Moving Forward 

Often we grow weary of looking back and we need to take time and look ahead. I encourage you to write a story looking into your future. What do you want to see?  What do you hope for?  Remember how important our positive stories are, too!

The Storyteller

Who are the storytellers in your life?  You might want to do a short collage or sketch of who these folks are.

 Then you might want to choose one storyteller and write your experiences with this person—just as I did with Les. It is particularly fun to tell one of their stories and to work to capture the magic of the story.

You may want to revise the story and perhaps you will want to share it at a storytelling session in your community. Check out what the moth or local bookstores offer.

 Of course, you could just share it with your storyteller.

Acts of Beauty

Last week my friend Billie sent me a piece of her writing that brought “truth tears” to my eyes. It reminded me of a profoundly special moment in my life. Billie I shared four very special moments in her life.

Now it’s your turn. Think of those “moments of beauty” in your life. Begin by making a list. Use Billie’s blog if you need a model.

Then choose one or more moments to share as a story. Let the words and story carry you forward. Feel no pressure. Breathe deeply and let the words find you.

You may want to share this story with someone as a gift. Billie’s share was a powerful gift for me! Happy writing!

Write a Beautiful Story

Answer these three questions:

Think of a person who has made you a better person. Why?

Think of a place you love to be?  Why do you love this space?

Think of a moment that made you feel whole and wonderful?

Now write about one of these. Tell us the story of one other person, one special space, or one moment that has been a gift in your life. Feel no pressure. Breathe deeply and let the words find you. I will talk more about this in the upcoming class.

A Creative Growth Cluster

©Sandra Marinella

In recent years I have created and experimented with “creative growth clusters.”  You create a positive cluster around a word you would like to integrate more fully into your life. Try this:

  • Choose one of these words:
    • Possibility
    • Learning
    • A Strength
  • Place it in the center of your paper.
  • Circle it. Now branch out using lines and new bubbles to create the images or memoires that come.
  • Be free and open to explore what comes!

Write a story that surfaces from one of more the bubbles in your cluster. Let the story happen. Simply work to tell the story with your memories, thoughts, and feelings. Write until it feels complete.

Closing
Thank you for joining me here. May you find your words and the light that summer brings in the coming days.

With love and gratitudes,

Sandra

Kindness

Write about one or more of these–

  1. What is kindness? Discuss what it is and how you have experienced it. Share a story of kindness if it fits your exploration.
  2. Here are few lines from Naomi’s beautiful poem. What do they mean? Connect your experience with kindness to these lines–

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

  1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said, “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Think about this quote and then write about it. Do you agree or disagree? If you can share a story that proves our point.

 

Child’s Play

If you can, begin by studying how a group of children play—perhaps your children, grandchildren, or visit a park close to you. Then either write about the experience

OR choose one of these topics and explore it for several minutes.

  1. When I was a child, I loved to play . . .
  2. The most fun I ever had was the day . . .
  3. I never laughed so hard as when . . .
  4. I dream of creating a fun-filled day that would begin with . . .
  5. If I could explore any place in the world, I would . . .

After you write, reflect on what you have written. What brings you joy or fun? Can you learn from the way children play? Can you bring more fun into each day? How?

I Am Becoming

Read a snippet from Jane Relaford Brown’s poem, “Finding Her Here.” Place your pen on paper and write freely. Begin with the starter phrase, “I am becoming . . . .”  Write until this writing or story feels complete.

Give it time and review it later. What have you learned?

From “Finding Her Here”

I am becoming the woman I’ve wanted,

[Who] knows she’s a survivor—

that whatever comes,

she can outlast it.

I am becoming a deep

weathered basket.

I am becoming the woman I’ve longed for.

The poem is by ©Jane Relaford Brown. Educational use. It comes from her book My First Real Tree(Foothills.)

Seven Simple Ways to Grow Love

Start with my list above. Think about it?  What would you change? Now create your own list. You can borrow from my list, tweak it, or scribble it out and start from scratch. You can even do research if you are inspired. But end up with a list that works for you because it shares your “simple ways to grow love.” (I had great fun creating my list!)

Follow up by giving your list to someone you care about and ask them to create their own list. 

Share your lists. Talk about what you hope to do to live with a little more love! 

Create a Love Story

Create a list of experiences that you associate with love—any kind of love. (Love for nature, love for singing, love for a person.) Choose one. Put it in the center of the paper and cluster around it:  what do you remember about this one experience?  What did you feel? What did you see? Hear? Taste? Or smell?

Write. After you collect your memories, spend some quiet time writing a story about this experience bringing as much detail to it as you can.

Share. If you like the result, tweak it and turn it into a gift for someone else who was part of this experience.

Finding Meaning

Looking back so many books have a profound impact on our lives. I wrote about Moby-Dick which was quite a struggle in college, but now I see there was a multitude of meanings to be found within those pages.

Make a list of five books that have mattered in your life. Then choose one that you think taught you something that would make a big difference in your life. What did you learn?  Why did it matter to you?  How has it connected to your life?

Have fun exploring that meaning that has come to you!

Daily Gratitudes

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. If you need a model or inspiration, read the blog and enjoy the gratitudes of Martha. Make a commitment to write your own daily gratitudes.

Gratitude Notes
The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!
Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

1.       I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .

2.      I am grateful for my family because . . .

3.      I am grateful for the work I do because . . .

4.      I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .

5.      Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. If you need a model or inspiration, read the blog and enjoy the gratitudes of Martha. Make a commitment to write your own daily gratitudes.

Gratitude Notes
The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!
Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

1.       I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .

2.      I am grateful for my family because . . .

3.      I am grateful for the work I do because . . .

4.      I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .

5.      Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

A New Voice

Think of a trip you have taken in the past or a move you have made to a new job or new place to live. Write about this experience. Bring into it all the sensory detail you can. Include your thoughts and feelings about the experience.

How did it affect or change you?

Did it change your unique way of viewing the world?

Did you find your voice changed as a result of this experience?

Explore.

Book Magic

Make a list of books or stories or possibly movies that have changed you. Go for five to ten. Then place stars by the ones that had a huge impact on you. If you remember the story of this book or movie in your life, write it.

Let us know: who is in the story?  What happened?  How did this book or story connect with you? Was there a point in the reading where a bit of insight or magic seemed to surface. Did the story have a lasting impact on you? Explore.

Reflection

Come back to this writing later. Read it. Ponder:  what have you learned from that one book or movie? This writing can be done in a journal over and over again. I am writing profusely about the impact of The Overstory, and I learn more each time I write!

Choosing a Moment

In the coming day choose an event that is unfolding in your life. It can be a hike, a visit from a friend, a trip to the grocery, a visit to a gallery, time spent in your garden, singing in a choir, babysitting, or perhaps something as simple as doing the dishes!  Choose this experience because you want to embrace it and experiment with being mindful.  As you go through this event, ask yourself to begin by taking a few slow, deep breaths. Clearing your mind. To prepare to write about this later, you can take notes—if you want. Or simply pay close attention to what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. What feelings are evoked? What do you experience? Try to enjoy the experience and see what you notice that you have never noticed before.

Reflection

Afterwards take time to write up this event. What sensory input stood out?  What were you conscious of that you often ignore? How did you feel? Did you experience anything new? Share an insight or two.

Who Changed You?

Write the story of a person or a pet who helped you navigate the pandemic or another challenge you have faced. Explore how you came to know this person or pet. Describe an experience you shared. Create a character portrait that explores the strengths of this person or pet. How did he or she change you?  (The blog is a fine model.)

Here are optional sentence starters to help jump-start the writing:

When I met _____ I could not believe . . .

When I came to know _____, I did not expect . . .

Everything changed the day I . . .

Looking back _____ has made the biggest difference in my life because . . .

At the start of the pandemic, I discovered . . .

(Let the writing take you where it needs to take you!)

Reflection

Later look back and learn from your writing. If you wrote about a person, you may want to tell them or share your writing!  While I don’t have a pet, I suspect telling them—especially dogs and cats, works, too! 😊 .

Five Writing Prompts:  Exploring Summer

Freewrite. Summer is rolling in. After a couple of years of being cooped up, are you seeking adventure, or do you want to find a quiet space and enjoy the beauty of nature? Since summer has many faces, I will give you five different prompts. Choose one and write a story that comes of it. Try to write for at least ten minutes, but if you take off on story, stick with it! If one prompt fails, try another. You can create a story or write a story from your life. See what happens. Enjoy!

1.       Adventure. Share an adventure that stands out in your mind. What did you do? What do you recall? What did you love about the experience? Were there unexpected challenges or surprises? What did you learn?

2.      Imagination. As you head into summer, imagine a most incredible summer. (Many children’s books are written this way!) Tell the story of a fantastical time you hope to have. OR make this a fiction story where adventures are happening to characters you are creating. Have fun!

3.      Laughter. Do you recall a fun time that holds a special place in your memory? Perhaps with your siblings, cousins, or friends. Did you laugh so hard your stomach hurt? Maybe you anticipated this experience would be engaging. Perhaps it was a time you dreaded, and it turned out to be magical or hilarious. Write that story.

4.      Peace. Recall a time of incredible calm in your life. Maybe a trip to the ocean or the mountains or a time spent out in nature. It could even be time spent with a special person or friend who opens you up to your best self or to a peace within you. Share that story.

5.      Road trips. Have you taken an incredible road trip or train trip. Where? When? What happened? Write that story.

Your Story of Change

Freewrite. It’s spring.  For us that usually means renewal, rebirth, or change. Let’s embrace the new season by writing about it. Tell me your story of change or renewal.  When did you learn something new?  Or when did you realize you had a passion, a gift, or a talent that you needed to pursue? Did you pursue it?  Or when did you make a discovery that led you on a new path to change? If so, how?  What happened?  What did you feel and experience? How did you change?

Creating Uplifting Mantras

A mantra is a phrase to guide you and lift you up. While they are often used in meditation, they can be guideposts or intentions for our everyday living. Since research has established the power of positive words, phrases, and intentions, let’s explore your possible mantras.

Make a list. Let’s begin by making a list of mantras.  Below is an old list of mine. While you will want to create your own, you can start with these to help you explore your possibilities. Doodle. Think. Explore and come up with ones that work for you.

My Examples.

Hold to hope. Hold to faith. Hold to love

I can do this hard thing.

I can. I can.

Change my thoughts; change my world.

May I strive to make this world a better place.

Let me find and embrace words that inspire.

Positive thoughts will guide me.

I create my path; I walk my path with joy.

I choose how I view this world; I will choose to uplift myself and others.

Exploration

Now choose one personal intention or mantra and explore it. I did this in this month’s blog.  Choose your phrase and begin by doodling or clustering a few ideas and then if it inspires you, write!  Ask yourself:  why did I choose this?  What story surrounds this phrase?  What do I want to bring to my life to make this phrase more of who I am. Let this writing take you where it needs to take you.

Reflect

Later reflect on what you have learned from this writing or from creating a mantra. Feel free to share your findings with others or me.

The Beauty in Imperfection

This month I am focusing on finding the beauty in imperfection and exploring it. In my blog, I wrote about my mom coping with imperfections caused by aging.  In my journal, I am exploring how I found beauty in the twisted, barren Arizona ash trees as I hiked along Oak Creek Canyon this past week.

List. Imperfections are a part of our lives. We face the imperfections of daily living, of aging, and of the unexpected all of the time. Make a list of obvious “imperfections” you face or observe.

Cluster. Choose one “imperfection.” Then cluster around it. What makes it hard?  What makes it have its own kind of beauty or wisdom?

Freewrite. Write a poem or story about this imperfection.

Reflect:  Think about what you have learned from this imperfection.

Love in the Time of COVID

 Below is a list of the kinds of love we experience most often –even now! Under each type of love, see if you can share a memory attached to it. If nothing comes to mind, skip that kind of love.

Here are two examples:

Philia – I was so honored when Billie advocated for my literacy program.

Storage – Dolly Lama (my dog) always sat on my feet when I was writing.

Now make your list using these forms of love:

  1. Eros: passionate love
  2. Philia: intimate, authentic friendship
  3. Ludus: playful, uncommitted love
  4. Storge: unconditional, love for family
  5. Philautia: self-love which can be healthy or go overboard
  6. Pragma: committed, companionate love
  7. Agápe: empathetic, universal love for others
  8. Romantic love: a modern melding of eros and phila into a loving bond

Create a Story: after you have a list of memories, which one calls to you to be written? Get comfortable and give yourself time to think and write about this memory. Share what happened, what you felt, and what you learned from this experience. If one memory does not thread itself into a story, try another one.

Reflection. Come back to this writing in a day or so. Add to it and reflect on what you have learned.

Share: You may want to share this story with a friend or partner, especially if it highlights your relationship. It could be a great Valentine’s gift!

Create and Embrace New Intentions

Intentions. An intention is a call to action. Something you want to happen. Resolutions are not as positive because they tend to be centered on things we feel obligated to do and oftentimes we feel burdened by them. Let’s begin our New Year by writing about a few positive intentions.

Remember we are writing about positive things we want to bring into our lives. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Make a list of what you would like to accomplish or do. While I have listed a few ideas, come up with what you want.
    1. Learn something new?
    2. Relax more regularly?
    3. Work out regularly?
    4. Practice journaling?
  1. Choose one or more important intentions and write about each one.
    1. Why is this intention important to you?
    2. How can you make it happen?
    3. What kind of commitment could you make to make it happen?

Reflection. Come back to this writing in a day or so. Add to it and reflect on what will help make 2022 a more fulfilling year for you.

Gratitude Prompts & Activities

Gratitude List

According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar

Take jar or box and decorate it drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me0-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life! It should help.

A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

  1. I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .
  2. I am grateful for my family because . . .
  3. I am grateful for the work I do because . . .
  4. I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .
  5. Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation

We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

Gratitude Notes

The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!

Writing Prompt:  The Guest House

As we honor Breast Cancer Awareness month and as we continue to face-off with the pandemic, let’s write about how we can work to understand “unwanted guests” and to find ways to learn from them.

Begin by simply choosing one of these sentence stems and write about it for five minutes. If it takes you into a story, keep writing. If your writing stalls, try another one.

  1. One of the guests I have loved having in my life is _____ .
  2. One guest I will never forget was ­­­­­_____ .
  3. One unwanted guest in my life was ­­_____ .
  4. A most unwanted guest in my life was  (illness or loss) because _____.
  5. I did not want to face (name of an illness or a loss) but this is what I learned _____.
  6. My illness (or someone else’s illness) taught me ______
  7.  The pandemic has been hard, but I have learned _____

Give yourself some time and space from this writing. Then come back to it and reflect on what you have learned and experienced. What guests have helped you to grow and become more of the person you want to be?

Find Your Calm

Times are challenging right now. The pandemic is dragging on. We need to find personal ways of finding our calm—and remembering to embrace and use them. You can begin this writing in either of these two ways:

  1. Make a list of ways you find your calm. Perhaps walking, cooking, singing? Doodle or add details or specifics you love about each way of finding your calm. OR
  2. Create a cluster. Begin by writing the word “calm” in the center of a piece of paper. Draw a circle around it. Then free associate from the central circled word—calm. What ways calm you? Draw sticks out from your center and create new circles with the specific things that calm you (hiking, meditating, sewing?.) Then add details to how each specific calming way works for you.

Using your list or cluster, freewrite for ten or more minutes. What ways do you find calm? Write about how these moments make you feel. Explore how you can work these moments into your life during challenging times. Explore and live your possibilities Work to make this happen. You can do this!

Unexpected Kindness

Explore a kindness that was shared with you. Then explore a kindness you shared. What is the impact of kindness on our daily lives?

Consider choosing a day a week that you will focus on unexpected kindnesses.

  • What would you like to do for others—make cookies, share a dinner, leave a plant on a doorstep?
  • What could be your signature way of helping others?
  • Volunteering at a homeless shelter?
  • Teaching a class on painting or writing to seniors?
  • Singing in a community choir?

Explore the possibilities and have fun being thoughtful.

Small, Wet Miracles—Embracing Awe

When I arrived in Los Angeles for a memorial last week, I was sad about the loss of my mother-in-law. She had been a great friend, and we shared a passion for the ocean. Both of us had moved to the ocean shortly after graduating from college. I decided to honor her by visiting the ocean and by writing about the wonder that has always come to me in visiting the beach. Clearly, I chose this “writing about awe” to lift me up. And it did.

After months of a pandemic-centered life, I suspect we all need to write about what brings us awe. Here is how:

1.    Make a list of places or events that bring you awe—visiting a botanical garden, going to baseball game, running a marathon, writing a poem, cooking, etc.

2.    Choose one of these places or events and create a cluster around it. What images and memoires come to mind? Positive memories work best!

3.    Study your cluster. Now begin writing your story, looking for the stand-out memories you want to share. Explore how you felt and what evoked awe or joy in you as you experienced this event or place. Have fun with it!

4.    If you have a chance, share your story with others. It makes the experience even more wonderful.

The Rocky Path and Reframing

 When I arrived in Sedona, I was disappointed to see the droves of young people. As I  scribbled in my journal and hiked, I was able to reframe how I saw this experience. I came to appreciate the community and connection that could come of being in this incredible space with many other nature seekers. In the end I found this experience quite beautiful. Here is a simple way to work to reframe a difficult situation you might face.

 We have all faced a few challenges in the past few months. Make a little list of things that bother you. For me, it was the hoards of young people arriving in Sedona when I did. Here’s a simple way to work on reframing the way you look at something:

1.    Briefly write out what is bothering you. This can be a few words or if you want to explore this issue, write about it. What thoughts and feelings do you have?

2.    Then think about it. What are different ways of viewing this irritation or experience? (If you received a bad job review, are you going to see yourself as a loser? Or are you going to talk with someone you respect on how to change your performance? Or will you make positive changes in how you approach your work?)

3.    List or cluster all the different ways to cope or reframe this issue in your life. Take your time. How can you create a better story that feels like a fit for you?

4.    Then consciously make a choice on how you want to view or change your outlook/actions. Then write in detail about how you hope to approach or adjust to this irritation or problem. Explore this. Be open. Be honest. Know that you can.

Leave this writing and come back later and tweak your plan to be one that feels like it will make a positive difference in how you frame and hold this issue in your life.

The Light Gets In

Let’s brainstorm a few ways light or personal wisdom seems to find us–.

·       Taking a walk.

·       Reading a book by _____,

·       Working in the garden

·       Writing a song or a poem

·       Praying or meditating

Now make you own list of three to ten ways you seem to find the light. After you create your list, study it. Choose one path to light that you want to explore. Write about an experience that allowed you to find light or discover some newfound wisdom or insight. Take your time and enjoy this exploration. Come back and explore this writing later.

Embracing the Silence

In this time of pandemic, silence is golden. It can give you the space and quiet you need for healing from trauma, illness, or losses. Silence allows us to take care the self in ways that nourish us. Write about where you find silence. What do you love doing amid silence? What helps you restore your energy? What gives you balance?

After writing about this choose one quiet activity that lifts you up and write about this one special activity that calms you. You might choose from any of these activities—or find your own:

  • Long walks
  • Playing comforting music
  • Gardening
  • Painting
  • Doodling
  • Writing a poem
  • Sipping a tea or latte in a comfy spot
  • Doing a puzzle
  • Coloring
  • Watching feel-good or funny movies
  • Reading a good book
  • Sitting or chatting with a friend

Writing Love Notes

In the diary of Frida Kahlo, she wrote about her lover, Diego Rivera, “Nothing compares to your hand, nothing like the green-gold of your eyes. My body is filled with you for days and days. You are the mirror of the night. The violent flash of lightning. The dampness of the earth. The hollow of your armpits is my shelter.”

It seems fitting to make February a celebration of love. This year I have ordered blank valentine’s cards because I have determined I am going to write personal notes (not as steamy as Frida Kahlo’s) to those I care about—friends, relatives, mentors, and of course, my partner. Here are a few ideas for writing love notes in different ways:

  1. A Post-It note could be posted to your loved one on the mirror in their bathroom.  It could read something as simple as, “I appreciate you.”  or “I love having you in my life!” You could do this every day for a week or whenever you are inspired to share it! Your call.
  2. A love note could be an email that says something important. It could read,

Hi dear one, I just wanted you to know that I loved the way you talked to your mom last night. You are such a kind and patient person. Love, ____.

  1. A tribute blog (like I wrote honoring my parents) is a great way to share something that needs to be shared. (Writing this blog to honor my parents lifted me up. I hope—and believe it will—do the same for you!),
  1. A love letter works when you are sincere and share authentic details. It works best with:
    1. A personal greeting (To my dear friend,)
    2. Sharing why you are writing (I wanted to celebrate you as my valentine.)
    3. Count the ways—tell them how you care. (I love how you listen to me.)
    4. Share a story or experience that has made them meaningful in your life. (I will never forget the time that we picnicked at . . . )
    5. Give the letter a heartfelt closing. (I am so grateful you are in my life. Forever yours, your name.)

Write the notes and letters you feel you need to write. Let’s focus on doing kindnesses and sharing our love.

Embracing New Paths

The past year has seemed dark and difficult. As we prepare and plan for the new year we need to look back, explore what happened, and what can be learned. What possibilities lie in our new paths?  Freewrite on each of these topics for five minutes:

  • What challenges you have faced this past year?
  • What have you have learned?
  • Is there a new job, activity, or experience you would like to take in the coming year? How will you undertake this?
  • What possibilities lie ahead?

Later come back and reflect on this piece.  Is there an insight learned? Is there a new path or new direction you can embrace and pursue?  Take notes to guide you forward on your new path for 2021. Let’s make it a better year!

You Can! You Can!

Create a cluster. In the middle of a sheet of paper draw a circle and write “I can” in the circle. Then cluster out making attached and connected circles. Each one should hold an activity that you would like to learn or do but have not pursued—skating, jogging, yoga, drawing, gardening, cooking, dancing, learning the stars, storytelling, Zooming, etc.

When your cluster is done, write about the circles that genuinely hold interest for you. What are you going to do or learn? Why or why not?  Can you create plan to undertake something fun and new?  Can you say, I can!

Finding Wisdom in the Unexpected 

 As we face the isolation of this pandemic, it is important to rest and enjoy places and moments we might have overlooked before this juncture in our lives. Are you spending time in your garden with plants and trees? Are you enjoying your pet dog or cat? Are you singing or painting or playing the guitar again?  Spend ten or more minutes writing this story. Share the experience and answer these questions:

  • What happened?
  • What do you remember feeling or thinking about this experience?
  • Is there a moment when you were disappointed in you?
  • Is there a moment when you came to understand something new?
  • What did you learn from this experience? Or your dog? Or tree? Etc.

If one of these questions, leads to a deeper exploration, follow your words. Write on. When you finish, leave the writing. Come back to it later and ask yourself: what have I discovered in this writing?

Holding On 

 If you want to write about your own experiences, especially during these times, you may want to do it by trying a structured writing. Do this by answering simple questions that allow you to explore various experiences. As you write simple answers to these questions—or create your own  questions, you may find you are ready to do an in-depth writing on any one of these topics. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration or find some of your joy as you answer these questions—

  • What is it that surprises me the most about living in a pandemic?
  • Do I feel isolated or have I found ways to connect and stay in touch with others?
  • What concerns me about the changes we face?
  • What have I learned?
  • What brings me joy amid this new lifestyle?
  • Is there something I can do to help others?

If one of these questions, leads to a deeper exploration, follow your words. Write on. When you finish, leave the writing. Come back to it later and ask yourself: what have I discovered in this writing. For example, I realized in writing this blog how my yard and nature have become such a new and wonderful learning tool in my COVID life.

Letting the Light In

 At a time when we have not only challenging pandemic news, but have to face off with racial, cultural and political struggles, we need to talk about or write about some of our challenges. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration by writing for five minutes about one of these.

  • Protest and injustices
  • Images on the news
  • Isolation and how it is affecting you
  • Job losses or work changes
  • Limitations you face

It is even more important that we seek to find what lifts us up, brings us joy, or helps us find “a bit of light slipping through the cracks.” Write for at least an additional five minutes on what has made you smile this week, what has brought you joy, or what positive moments can you pause to acknowledge. Did your grandchild begin to crawl? Did you surprise yourself by making the best spaghetti sauce ever? Did you find your words and write a poem? Write about what moments have made you joyful. Let’s all work to find more of those moments when we can “let the light in.”

Later reflect on what you have written. What can I learn from this writing? What can I do to help bring light into my home, my community, my culture? Can I help at food bank? Can I provide books for those who don’t have them? Explore possibilities to bring light to others.

Reaching for Hope

 At a time when we have to juggle frightening news, ongoing health updates, homeschooling, and new uses for technology, it is important to be sure we acknowledge these challenges. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration by writing about just one of these for five minutes:

  • the news
  • ongoing health updates
  • homeschooling
  • technology

It is even more important that we seek to find what calms us and brings us hope. Spend at least five minutes looking inside and celebrating what helps to calm you. Do you play Merle Haggarty or practice online yoga? Do you like to hike trails and perhaps snap photos? Do you write poems or paint pictures about the earth or your pent-up craziness? What do you do that releases you? Calms you? Helps you ground yourself in hope? Write about that.

Later reflect on what you have written. What can I learn from this writing? What can I do to bring more of what calms me into my life? What is in me that I need to explore? What do I need to bring into my life more fully?

Holding to Hope

When I went to the store today and there were no eggs or bread, I realized that this pandemic keeps unfolding in unexpected ways. Initially I felt a bit spooked–and it is no wonder. When we experience a shock, our brains have to absorb it or take it in and find a new way of coping. One way to help is simply to use our writing to help us with the change needed in our thinking and behavior.

To calm my fears, I pulled out my journal and drew a line across the middle of the page. On the top half of the page, I listed all of my fears and worries. On the bottom half, I wrote what I could do or what action I could take to readapt to this time. Here is what I jotted down:

On the top I listed concerns me about the pandemic:

Will we be able to get food?

Will Edna (my mother-in-law in assisted living) be okay?

Do we need to be tested?

On the bottom half I listed what I needed to do:

Call the grocery about the best times to go.

Call Edna throughout the day to check on her. Deliver groceries to her.

Check CDC guidelines on testing and email your physician if concerned.

Holding to Hope. After I made this list, which gave me a sense of what I could and could not control, I ended with freewriting about hope. What gives me joy or makes me feel hopeful?  I wrote with abandon on this and it was pretty clear that I needed to call my friends and grandkids more, prepare my garden for spring, maybe take that online class, try to talk my granddaughter into creating a coronavirus journal tracking this historic time—oh and I have wanted to get a handle on a book I should be writing.

How about you? What brings you joy and hope? Put positive energy into this writing, and I think you will be pleased at the results!

Family Writing Prompt: Journaling Our History

At this time we are part of a living history event. It will be recorded in history books and talked about for generations. Our schools are closed; our sports events are canceled, and people are quarantined across the globe.

Let’s help our children to create a tangible, primary source of their own living history. Ask them to keep a journal over the coming five+ weeks. They can record what is happening day by day. What is different?  What has changed? What are their activities? Their feelings? Their fears? Their joys? What is challenging? What is wonderful amid our hardship? Let them interview their parents, grandparents, and friends. Let them research to see if there has ever been other events like this in our history.

Encourage them to bring their voice to this journal. Don’t fuss over spelling or grammar. Focus on our story. Let it be handwritten, typed, created with photographs or drawings, or if they want to make a video or podcast that is fine, too. When this challenging time is over, save or store this journal in a safe place. When the time is right, share it and give it to your children. They may choose to share it with their children in the future. Let this be a gift of our own historical story.

An Empty Page

An empty page can be intimidating. Lets find our words, by creating a short list of personal images or metaphors. What are you like? Are you a tiger lily in bloom?  An early morning sunrise? A salsa dancer? A bird in flight?  A wise yogi? A tree?  A road racer? A rainbow? A hot fudge sundae? A dragonfly? Etc. Open yourself up. Forget grammar and mechanics. Just work to explore whatever comparisons come into your head.

After you have a list of five to ten metaphors, freewrite for ten minutes or more:

  • Begin by choosing one metaphor you feel a strong connection to.
  • A positive metaphor works best.
  • In the given time, write your story for us. How do you know your life connects to this metaphor? Show us.
  • Try to construct a brief but complete story.
  • Later, come back to this work. Read it. Reflect on it. Rewrite it if you are inspired to do so.

Intentions

Creating intentions for a new year or anytime you need to reboot:

  • Give yourself a quiet space where you can think and write. Bring a latte or tea.
  • Do not rush. You will need time to think and reflect. I like soft music or silence. But you choose! .
  • Make a list or jot notes. Do you want to teach a class on painting at the community center or run a local marathon?
  • Get specific. After brainstorming these intentions, rewrite them. Now work to whittle these intentions into a simple and specific actions that you can carry out. Big lofty goals (I want to write a best seller) do not work. But clear goals (I plan to write a book on how to successfully run in a marathon) are manageable.

After crafting simple, clear—but  not overwhelming intentions, begin the design of a plan. That is the fun part—playing with the plan. Then begin to put concrete steps in your schedule to make it all happen.

Finding Joy In the Season

Free write about the upcoming season. First, discuss the stresses that can build in you during this time of year.

  • What are they? What causes them? How can you release them?
  • Now write about what gives you joy in the season.
  • What traditions do you have?  How do you celebrate?
  • Are there changes you hope to make to create a time of joy for you, your friends, and your loved ones?

Even if you have faced challenges or losses in the past year, write about the ways you can embrace and find joy.  Consider writing about all you have to be thankful for or write about how you can be in the moment and really experience this time. Work to be positive—the joy will come. Embrace it when it does!

Taking Flight or Finding Your Voice

How did you find your voice?  Did someone believe in you and encourage you?  Was it a friend? Your mom? A teacher? A grandparent? Or perhaps a child?  Did singing, dancing, writing, or any other art play a role in the evolution of your voice?  First reflect, and then write for ten or more minutes. These questions can guide your writing:

  • What happened on this journey?
  • What steadied you and helped you grow?
  • What did you learn?
  • How were you changed?

After you write, decide if you want to leave this work private or if you would like to share it. Could you read it or email it to someone who would enjoy discovering this story? Could you include it in bigger piece of writing or a blog? Or should you hold onto the piece until is does grow into a story you know how to share?

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of The Story You Need to Tell  is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Here’s to not only finding your voice, but to having the courage to share it authentically.

A Boost of Inspiration

To find my joy, I learned from many of the veterans and cancer patients the practice of listing the hopes I have. The list can start like this—

  • I hope to take a two-mile hike on South Mountain on Tuesday.
  • I hope to write a story about the girl I met at chemo last week.
  • I hope to create or find ten new riddles that Paul does not know.
  • I hope to take grandma to the movies this weekend.
  • I hope to attend at least one yoga class after work this week.
  • I hope to put a lid on negative self-talk.
  • I hope to make a list of my passions and do something with just one them.

I hope to bake dozens of chocolate chip cookies (and eat only eat five of them!) ?

After you make about ten statements, choose one you want to explore or make happen. Make some notes or freewrite on how you plan to undertake this hope. In five to ten minutes explore one or more of these “hopes.” Try to end this venture with a plan to take an action of some kind. If you are up for it, let me know what you are planning to do—and how it unfolds.

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of this work is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Not only find your inspiration, but find ways to inspire others!

Finding Love

Finding or learning to have both meaningful friendships and loving relationships can be both exhilarating and impossible. Make a simple list of times when you found or struggled to find love or deep friendship with someone else. Avoid writing about a broken relationship that still causes you intense pain.

Choose one item from your list and freewrite, create a poem, or write a dialogue to share this experience. Try to choose a memory that can take a positive twist or holds an insight for you or others. What do you remember? What happened? What did you feel? Looking back, what did you learn or how did this time change you? What do you know now that you did not know then?

Finding Community.
One of the healthiest aspects of our lives is our community, the people and groups of people who are important to us. The folks we connect to and the folks who connect to us. The folks who support us and help us when we need them. Make of list of your community or community groups. It could be dear friends, a club, a book club, a church group, a sports or gym group, a yoga class, a happy hour group, whatever group who helps you to be more fully you.

Then freewrite about this. What gives you the greatest sense of community in your life? Where do you love to be? Who helps you to have fun, to laugh, to think, and to be the person you need to be.  Explore your thoughts on community.

Reflect. Later come back and read what you have written and ask yourself—how can I help to enrich “community” in my life and in the lives of others? Is there a community group I want to support more? To learn from? To help?

Turning Points and Transitions.
If you are ready to explore your turning points or transitions–

  • List three turning points or transitions you have faced.
  • Under each experience list three details that made that experience memorable.
  • Choose one of these experiences and write about it for ten minutes.
  • Work to tell what you remember and to pull the vivid details, emotions, and thoughts of this experience into your writing.
  • Later come back and reflect on this writing. If you gained wisdom from this experience, share it. Let your words flow!

Renewal.
Spring is a time of renewal and change. Before we can begin anew, we need to clear out the debris in the our gardens — or in our lives! What do you need to clean out or release in order to make way for a time of change and renewal? Write for ten minutes — or more! (See Judy’s in-depth activity at http://judyreeveswriter.com/the-lively-muse-blog/)

Gratitude.
Research keeps showing us the power of gratitude. To start your day out with joy, spend ten minutes writing (or thinking) about what or who you are thankful for. Explore what happens when your mind embraces an attitude of being grateful. My favorite site for exploring gratitude in depth is  http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude. Enjoy!

Emotional Intelligence.
Often a word pulls thoughts and memories from us. Find a comfortable spot. Choose a word from the list below and begin to write. If you have chosen the wrong word, pick another.  If you get stuck, simply write “I am stuck” until your brain kicks in. Write freely for five or more minutes. Then reflect on your writing. What have you discovered or learned?
            Anger                         Fear
            Pain                            Loss 
            Hope                          Resilience
            Love                            Peace
            Friendship                Connection
And make a list of new words that you want to explore at a later time.

Positive State of Mind.
My dearest, oldest, best friend, Janis Frazee, recently sent me a copy of The Book of Joy by his Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. These world famous, wisdom-makers share the research of a well-known neuroscientist, Richard Davidson. Davidson holds that there are four brain circuits that allow us to have a “happy brain.” They are:

  • our ability to maintain a positive state
  • our ability to recover from negative states
  • our ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering
  • our ability to be generous

Choose one of these brain circuits and explore this one ability. How does it work in your life? Do you agree that it leads to happiness? Has it led to your happiness? What do you believe is important about this ability? Explain.

Writing can help us slow down and experience the moment. 
Find a quote or two lines from a song or poem you love. Then find a comfortable spot under a tree, in a comfy chair, or by a pool. Take your selected lines and read and reread them. What do you find? What images capture your mind? What meaning comes from these words? Write for five or more minutes. Then reflect on what you have discovered. Write more if you are inspired. Here are two lines from Ellen Bass’s poem, “The Thing Is.” You can use them if you like: 

          to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it.


Treasured Moments.
Think of a time or a moment in your life that you value and remember well. What happened? Write about it. Savor it.  It is a precious moment to hold.

After you write about this experience, think about sending your writing to someone who shared this moment with you. Whether you send it or not, you may want to make a collection of treasured moments. Keep them somewhere special. This may be a gift to give someone in your family or it may be a gift you give yourself to help you write your next story or book.  Happy writing.

Silver Linings.
What are you grateful for?  What are your personal “silver linings?” Spend a few minutes exploring what you have in your life to appreciate– a person, a pet, an event, a hobby, a job? Begin by jotting a simple list. Then free-write on what you are grateful for and why.

Afterwards, reflect on your writing. How did it feel?

Finding Your Positive Path.
If you are ready, write about a challenge you are facing. Choose one you feel ready to explore. Write about what happened.  Write quickly and freely. Share the details you recall. Share your feelings and your thoughts.

Now pause and reflect. How can you make this challenge easier to bear? Who could help? What would help?  Are there resources available for you to seek out?  A friend? A counselor? What possibilities could this challenge hold for you? Work to write and find a way to create a positive path. It can make all the difference.

Curiosity and Creativity.
One of the greatest journal keepers of all time was Leonardo Da Vinci. As I read Walter Isaacson’s new book, Leonardo Da Vinci, I am spellbound by the ideas, creative and curious, of this profound genius. His notebooks have inspired this prompt:

Leonardo studied anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, light – the list is endless.  His curiosity was insatiable. What makes you curious? If you could study any subject you have never had a chance to study, what would you learn about? What questions would you ask?  Why would you choose this topic and what would you hope to learn?

We all learn so differently. Leonardo learned by talking to others and exploring his thoughts in his journal. How about you? Do you learn best by reading? Writing? Doing? Listening to others talk about doing? Explore how you believe you do your best learning. Give examples and explain why you think this method works for you.


Our Words Can Be Our Gifts.
Years ago I gave my mom a poem. A few weeks before I wrote that poem I had seen Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture. My response –tears. The beauty of Mary was overpowering. Afterwards I realized that Michelangelo’s Mary reminded me of my own mom, and I began to draft and redraft a poem for my mom. Sentimental, yes, but this was perhaps the best gift I ever gave her. Or anyone.

At a time of gifts, I hope you will think about creating a poem or writing a story or giving a meaningful book to someone you love. If you want to find your own words, here are a few prompts to help you write.

  • Rummage through your memories of the significant people in your life. Who are the family members, teachers, friends, or mentors who changed you and continue to inspire you? Make a list. See who surfaces.
  • Explore one individual who matters to you. What gifts have they brought into your life? What have you learned from them? How did they change or influence you?
  • With these thoughts and images in mind, create a collage, a poem, a story, or a letter that you can wrap up, tie with a bow, and give to this person in this season of giving – or give when you are ready to share.

Open Up Your Creativity.
Creativity often surfaces from the pain of our experiences, limitations, rejections, and losses. Think back to your past. Then write for at least ten minutes on one of these topics:
• An experience. What experience opened you up and helped you discover or rediscover an ability you might not have explored or known you had? What new ability came from this experience? Dancing? Gardening? Running? Painting? Golfing? Writing? Cooking? Metalworking? Rock-climbing? Explore this.
• A limitation. When did you learn you had a limitation? How did you learn this? How did you feel? What came from this experience?
• A rejection. When have you experienced rejection? How did you feel? How did you handle this experience? What did you learn? Did it change you? How?
• Losses. Have you experienced a loss (a divorce, a death, a move, a retirement) that opened you up to a new aspect of your creativity? How did this happen? What did you learn from this experience?

  • Compassionate
  • Free

Songs, Sketches, and Emojis.
What songs do you love? What phrases capture you from these songs? List a few or choose one from the list below. Then for 5-10 minutes play with this phrase. Imagine it. Depict it or draw it, describe it, and/or write a story or poem about it.  Let go and play. Let your words or scribbles flow and see what happens.

  1. Near, far, wherever you are–I believe that the heart does go on.
  2. We can work it out.
  3. Take a sad song and make it better.
  4. I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
  5. I wanna hold your hand.
  6. That’s life. That’s what all the people say.
  7. Whenever you reach for me, I’ll do all that I can.
  8. Imagine that there are no countries.
  9. I wanna see you be brave.

Finding Your Hero Story.
Find “the hero” in you — or around you. Write about one of these prompts for ten minutes:

  • What is your hero story? When have you been brave? What happened and what did you learn?
  • When was someone you care about a “hero”?  How were they a hero? What happened and how did she overcome her obstacles?
  • Write about a challenge you are facing and how you would like to face or overcome the given obstacles?  What can you do to make this the best possible situation?
  • Take one of these words and simply write. Be free and let the writing take you where it needs to take you:
    • Brave
    • Courageous
    • Heroic
    • Kind

Seven New Writing Prompts for Well-Being and Gratitude

  1. Enjoy the Moment! Explore what happens around you in the coming day. Find a moment that holds some beauty for you. Explore that moment. Why did this experience capture your attention? If you need a model, use the blog.
  2. Explore the New! What is new in your life? In your own words write about the things that are new for you—and celebrate them. Are you reading a book you like? Have you made a new friend? What have you learned or want to learn? Gratitude for learning helps us continue to be curious and to grow.
  3. Appreciate Your Work. What work do you do that you appreciate? Do you like your job, like helping with food boxes at your church, like talking with an older friend on the phone? Explore how doing this specific task gives you meaning.
  4. Find Your Best Qualities. What are your best qualities and how can you use them? Positive psychology teaches us how important it is to embrace our best qualities and to use them to make our life fuller. If you are a great listener, you may want to share this gift with your grandmother and learn some of her amazing stories.
  5. Choose One Person Who Matters. Who is one person in your life who you deeply appreciate? Who are they and how do they make a positive difference in your life or the lives of others? Should you send them a thank you note?
  6. Honor Your Health. What about your health should you honor? Often we focus on why we feel bad. Instead write about what gifts your body and your health have given you.  Even if you are facing a terrible diagnosis, you have something to be thankful for. Focus on that.
  7. Embrace Nature. When does nature call to you? At what times do you realize how stunning our Earth can be?  How and when does this happen? Write about that.

Ten Writing Prompts for Hope

Explore any or all of these hopeful prompts–

  1. A text message from an idol filled Hannah with hope when she most needed it. What has given you hope when you most needed it?
  2. What is hope?  What does it look like?  What color is it? Where have you seen it?
  3. Where do you like to go to feel uplifted?  Describe being in this special place.
  4. Who inspires hope in you?  Why?
  5. What is one thing you have done to bring hope to others? Tell that story.
  6. Think of one book or movie that brought you a feeling of hope. Explore.
  7. What are your hopes for the future?  Explore those.
  8. How can you give hope to someone who has just had a bad health diagnosis?
  9. What art inspires you?  Can you dance with hope? Paint with hope? Or sing a hopeful song?
  10. Who is the best listener you know? Do they make you feel happy or hopeful?

A Spark of Creativity

  1. What have you struggled to understand? Tell me that story.
  2. What is one creative idea or project you have had? Describe the discovery process of creating or the act of creating. What did you do? How does the process feel?
  3. What is the most amazing creative work you have explored—a building? A work of art? A symphony? A singer’s performance?  Share the experience you had and the power of this creative work. How did it impact you?

Finding Meaning

Early Memory. Brainstorm early memories. Ask yourself how did you make sense of something unexpected. Santa Claus? A family move? A loss. Now write that story. Let the blog serve as a model for this writing. Explore how you handled the experience. Was someone there to support you? How did it come out?

Quotes. Choose, reflect, and write about one or more of these extraordinary quotes on meaning:

  • “I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” Herman Hesse
  • “ Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl
  • “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor Frankl
  • Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” Viktor Frankl

Being Curious! 

    1. A Simple Exploration. B. F. Skinner said “When you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.” Make a list of five topics you would like to explore. Choose one and write what you know and follow this with questions—what do you want to know?  Then begin your search.
    2. A Visit. Choose a bookshop, the library, a park, a museum, or a botanical garden.  Economist John Maynard Keynes once noted that visiting a bookshop should not be like booking a train ticket. You don’t know exactly what you are searching for. “One should enter it vaguely, almost in a dream, and allow what is there freely to attract and influence the eye.”  Take your journal to this special place and when the time is right, explore the experience. Which of your five senses are activated? What sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and feelings do you experience? Breathe the space in. Learn from it. Write about it.
    3. Connect. Leonardo Da Vinci listed what he was curious about and trying to learn. Here are three entries on one day—
    • Examine the crossbow of Maestro Gianetto.
    • Find a Master of Hydraulics and get him to tell you how to repair a lock, canal and mill, in the Lombard manner.
    • Ask about the measurement of the sun, promised me by Maestro Giovanni Francese

    Leonardo is remembered as one of the most curious people of all time. Let’s follow his example. He often turned to others or connected with others to explore what he found curious. Let’s try it! Find someone in your life who is an expert and ask them to help you explore an interest. List your questions in your journal and then set up an interview. Write about what you are surprised to learn.

    (Gratitude to Ian Leslie for the ideas in his book on curiosity!)

Captured Moments—inspired by Judy’s work!

How wonderful to explore a treasured moment. Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Being Present in the Present. Explore being present in a moment, in your body, in a place, taking in all the sensory details and allowing them to influence the experience.
  2. Exploring a trip. Think of a trip you have taken that remains vivid and powerful in your mind. Focus on being there. What do you remember? What did you experience? Bring to mind as much sensory detail as possible.
  3. Exploring a quote. Take the Helen Keller quote. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” Freewrite. What comes to mind? Pepper your writing with sensory details to make it come alive.
  4. Exploring a special event. My son just had a birthday, and I wrote about how I saw his father cry for the first time when he held little Matt. Your turn. Think of a special moment and write about it. Recall the sounds, smells, sights, and details that come to mind. How did you feel? Make the moment sparkle on paper!
  5. Exploring a special place. I have just refurbished my garden. I sit out there in the evening and am so satisfied I have my own little piece of nature close at hand. What place is special for you?  Write about a place you go to renew yourself and fill it with sensory sights, sounds, and feelings.

The Circle of Life

Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Think of the birth of a child or of a new personal passion (art, welding, etc.) Write about the experience of this birth. What did you feel and think?  How did it change you?
  2. Recall an unexpected loss. If you are ready to write about it, describe what happened. What was hard about this loss and how did you cope? Who helped you? What did you learn?
  3. Share a moment of new love. When did you fall in love or realize their was a friend or pet that you cared about deeply?  Share the magic of that moment in detail, sharing emotions and thoughts. Did it change you?
  4. Circle of life. Share one unexpected moment of life change in detail. What was memorable or meaningful?  Why?

The Artist Within 

Choose and write about any one of these–

  1. Think of an art you love (singing, playing a guitar, drawing nature sketches, painting, digital design, sewing, etc.) and write the story of discovering this part of your “artist within.”
  2. Is there a time in your life when you lost the artist within? How did this happen? What did you learn? Have you rediscovered this part of you? If so, how?
  3. Describe an important “art experience” you have had—discovering an amazing building, an incredible work of art, or perhaps reading a book that transformed your way of thinking. Explore this experience. What happened? How did you feel? What did you learn? Why was this experience so special?

Legacy Writing  

As Merle teaches, and as I have experienced in teaching and working with Story Corps, it is important to find and share the stories that have taught us something worthwhile. Here are a few great question “starters” for legacy writing—

  1. What was one of the happiest, most memorable moments in your life?
  2. What is one of the saddest memories you hold?
  3. Who has had an important influence on you? How? Explore this story.
  4. What have you done or accomplished that makes you proud? Share this story.
  5. Do you have any regrets that you would want to share with others and that might help them know what to avoid?
  6. What other lessons have you learned? You could write about one these regularly and share your responses in a legacy book with your children or close friends.
  7. What advice would you like to pass on to those who come after you? Feel free to explore how you learned this and why it matters.
  8. What has been important to you? Explore.
  9. Who would you like to honor with a memory you treasure? Share that story.
  10. How would you like to be remembered? Why?

More questions to write and honor your legacy are found at one of my favorite sites:

https://storycorps.org/participate/great-questions/

Loving and Growing

Writing Prompt: Never Stop Dancing

I always think of February as the month of love.  But often writers tell me they struggle with romantic love and hate to focus on it. In reading psychologist Barbara Frederickson, I have learned to treasure the many dimensions of love.  I wrote the blog based on the moment I realized I loved to dance.

Think about it. What lights you up?  What brings you joy? What is your bliss?  Do you love to paint, run, hike, garden, dance, travel, sip coffee with a dear friend?

Sit back and revel in what you love. Then choose one of these prompts:

  1. How did I find this dimension of my life? This bliss? Tell that story.
  2. What makes this bliss so wonderful for you?
  3. What are your best memories connected to this bliss that “lights you up?”

Writing Prompt:  Remember to “Love the Self”

It is often said we can’t love others if we don’t learn to love ourselves. Write about one of these prompts:

  1. What is one strength I have that makes me special? How did I discover that strength?
  2. What is one thing I have done that I can always treasure? Tell that story.

Writing Prompt:  Love Notes

In February I love to surprise Steve by creating or mailing him a valentine (to our home) or sticking a note or a child’s valentine on the steering wheel that he will find on his way to work.  I have decided to stretch this beyond the man I love. Here are some ideas:

  1. Write a poem for a friend or create a simple child-like valentine (or send one) to a friend.
  2. Write a letter to a mentor or someone your often forget to honor with the love they deserve.

The New Year!

Writing Prompt: Embracing Possibilities

“We all have possibilities we don’ know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.”  Dale Carnegie

Pause and think. Using this quote, write about what new possibilities you can bring into your life this year—planting an herb garden? Working on the environment? writing a legacy book? Creating a memoir?  Exploring cooking?  Hiking?  You can make a list or simply let go and free write about the beauty of new possibilities. Enjoy!

Writing Prompt:  Sharing Memories and Wishes

A simple, profound, and meaningful way to celebrate this new year, is by spending time with loved one recalling and writing down favorite memories from the past. After you write and share these, write and share your hopes for the upcoming year. We often don’t make time to reflect on our memories or hopes with our families, but these conversations can inspire togetherness and lovely traditions for years to come.

Writing Prompt: Creating New Intentions and Possibilities!

Resolutions often frustrate us so I suggest scrapping them altogether. Instead I work to embrace intentions. These are what I have come to call “gentle goals.”  They are a call to action. Something you want to happen but will not pressure yourself or bully yourself about. Instead embrace and try to gently weave them into your life with kindness. If they don’t work, gracefully dismiss them. Let’s begin our New Year by writing about a few positive intentions—and you can slip a few possibilities in as well! Then choose one to begin with—I lonely start with one, but if you want more that is fine, too.

Remember we are writing about positive things we want to bring into our lives. Here’s how I get started each year:

  1. Make a list of what you would like to accomplish or do. While I have listed a few ideas, come up with what you want.
    1. Learn something new?
    2. Relax more regularly?
    3. Work out regularly?
    4. Practice journaling?
    5. Take or create a class.
    6. Write a story, a chapbook, a memoir?
    7. I follow this by choosing one item (intention, goal, or possibility) and exploring it with these questions–
      1. Why is this intention important to you?
      2. How can you make it happen?
  • What kind of commitment could you make to make it happen?

Reflection. Come back once a week to explore your intentions and possibilities. Take them where you need to take them. Let 2024 open in beautiful ways!

Five Writing Prompts–Thoughtful, Treasured Gifts

The gifts I treasure the most of late have had thoughtfulness put into them. My granddaughter knows I love hummingbirds and last year I received a painting of a hummingbird from her. It took time, thought, and love to give me this gift. It is hung with pride in my home and will be treasured always.

Here are possible thoughtful gifts you might choose to create in this season of celebration.

Writing Prompt One–Create a Gift Poem

Karen gave me the gift of “Wisdom Tree” and Anne Frank shared poems with her family. You can do the same. Create a poem for someone special. You might want to begin by choosing a meaningful word that can guide your poem—as the word “wisdom” guided Karen. What word would your recipient treasure?  Patience? Kindness? Humor? After you choose your word, create a cluster around this word. Do this by jotting the word in the center of a piece of paper and circling it. Draw sticks out from it and create new bubbles with the images that come to mind that help you explore your word.

When your cluster is complete, do as Karen did, and place your musings, line after line, in a simple poem. Polish it. Print it. Maybe frame it or roll it up and tie a bow around it. Give your gift!

Writing Prompt Two–Small Treasured Quotes.

Select one quote (see the list below) or create a quote that you think will resonate with someone you love.  Plan for this to be a gift for them. Print the quote in your own unique handwriting on special paper. If a story or poem surfaces as you work, you can choose to write that story or poem. If you are artistic you may want to paint or to use markers to create a lovely border or illustrations to go with your quote.

Writing Prompt Three—Thoughtfully Chosen Book Gift

Spend time picking the right book for the right person as a gift. Wrap it and then write a note to the person explaining why you bought this special book for them. Attach your note to the gift!  (I just bought Ross Gay’s Inciting Joy book for a friend who I believe will love his style!)

Writing Prompt Four—Photos or Photo Collage Gift

In her blog, My Inspired Life, poet Michele Sefton writes short pieces (stories, experiences, or poems) and takes photos to go with them. They are magical and this would make a great gift. You could collect photos of one experience and write what you remember and share that as a simple, but thoughtful gift!  Or you could collect photos from experiences with one special person and make a collage to gift to them. You could frame it, wrap it, and tie a special bow around it, too.

Writing Prompt Five—Thoughtful Experience Gift

Perhaps you have a special experience memory that is calling to be written and given to someone, or perhaps you need to give a special experience as the gift—a zoo visit, lunch at the botanical garden, a book talk, a hike, or tea at a special tea shop. Go. Have fun!  Then consider writing up or taking photos to gift those as well. Enjoy!

Ten Quotes for Peace and Joy

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.—Joseph Campbell

Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.–Anne Frank

May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter and every window be open to great possibility.”  Mary Anne Radmacher

Let your joy be in your journey—not in some distant goal. —Tim Cook

Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. —Albert Einstein

Peace is a journey of a thousand miles, and it must be taken one step at a time. —Lyndon B. Johnson

Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. —Desmond Tutu

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. —Jimi Hendrix

Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one. —John Lennon

Peace begins with a smile. —Mother Teresa

Seven Powerful Writing Prompts for Gratitude–

Gratitude Notes
My blog “Overcoming” was created as my first “gratitude note” of the month. It is clearly written as a “thank you” to my husband for what he brings into my life. (It will be a gift for him when he opens this newsletter. Shhh!) It can serve as a model, or not. I got a bit carried away.

Please note that thank you notes can be simple. One sentence even. The practice of writing thank you notes as gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver!

Let’s write on!
Writing a Poem of Gratitude

Read this lovely poem by Jane Kenyon. Then write your own poem of gratitude or simply freewrite about all the beautiful moments that you have created in your life—a walk, your writing, a personal meditation, your gardening, whatever brings you daily joy. Notice it! Here is the poem:

Otherwise

By Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

(Used for educational purposes only.)

Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.
A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
Daily Journal Gratitudes

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. Let the gratitudes give you the serotonin and dopamine you need in these challenging times. Let them take you forward!

A Gratitude Story
It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

  1. I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .
  2. I am grateful for my family because . . .
  3. I am grateful for the work I do because . . .
  4. I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .
  5. Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

A Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

 

Our Scars Tell Our Stories

Dana Jennings wrote, “Our scars tell our stories. Sometimes they are stark tales of of life-threatening catastrophes, but more often they’re just footnotes to the ordinary but bloody detours that befall us on the roadways of life.”

What scars have left a mark on your life? Choose one scar, emotional or physicial, that has had an impact on you. Write that story.

When the time is right reflect on it. You may even want to share it with someone who would treasure it. 

Moving Forward 

Often we grow weary of looking back and we need to take time and look ahead. I encourage you to write a story looking into your future. What do you want to see?  What do you hope for?  Remember how important our positive stories are, too!

The Storyteller

Who are the storytellers in your life?  You might want to do a short collage or sketch of who these folks are.

 Then you might want to choose one storyteller and write your experiences with this person—just as I did with Les. It is particularly fun to tell one of their stories and to work to capture the magic of the story.

You may want to revise the story and perhaps you will want to share it at a storytelling session in your community. Check out what the moth or local bookstores offer.

 Of course, you could just share it with your storyteller.

Acts of Beauty

Last week my friend Billie sent me a piece of her writing that brought “truth tears” to my eyes. It reminded me of a profoundly special moment in my life. Billie I shared four very special moments in her life.

Now it’s your turn. Think of those “moments of beauty” in your life. Begin by making a list. Use Billie’s blog if you need a model.

Then choose one or more moments to share as a story. Let the words and story carry you forward. Feel no pressure. Breathe deeply and let the words find you.

You may want to share this story with someone as a gift. Billie’s share was a powerful gift for me! Happy writing!

Write a Beautiful Story

Answer these three questions:

Think of a person who has made you a better person. Why?

Think of a place you love to be?  Why do you love this space?

Think of a moment that made you feel whole and wonderful?

Now write about one of these. Tell us the story of one other person, one special space, or one moment that has been a gift in your life. Feel no pressure. Breathe deeply and let the words find you. I will talk more about this in the upcoming class.

A Creative Growth Cluster

©Sandra Marinella

In recent years I have created and experimented with “creative growth clusters.”  You create a positive cluster around a word you would like to integrate more fully into your life. Try this:

  • Choose one of these words:
    • Possibility
    • Learning
    • A Strength
  • Place it in the center of your paper.
  • Circle it. Now branch out using lines and new bubbles to create the images or memoires that come.
  • Be free and open to explore what comes!

Write a story that surfaces from one of more the bubbles in your cluster. Let the story happen. Simply work to tell the story with your memories, thoughts, and feelings. Write until it feels complete.

Closing
Thank you for joining me here. May you find your words and the light that summer brings in the coming days.

With love and gratitudes,

Sandra

Kindness

Write about one or more of these–

  1. What is kindness? Discuss what it is and how you have experienced it. Share a story of kindness if it fits your exploration.
  2. Here are few lines from Naomi’s beautiful poem. What do they mean? Connect your experience with kindness to these lines–

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

  1. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said, “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” Think about this quote and then write about it. Do you agree or disagree? If you can share a story that proves our point.

 

Child’s Play

If you can, begin by studying how a group of children play—perhaps your children, grandchildren, or visit a park close to you. Then either write about the experience

OR choose one of these topics and explore it for several minutes.

  1. When I was a child, I loved to play . . .
  2. The most fun I ever had was the day . . .
  3. I never laughed so hard as when . . .
  4. I dream of creating a fun-filled day that would begin with . . .
  5. If I could explore any place in the world, I would . . .

After you write, reflect on what you have written. What brings you joy or fun? Can you learn from the way children play? Can you bring more fun into each day? How?

I Am Becoming

Read a snippet from Jane Relaford Brown’s poem, “Finding Her Here.” Place your pen on paper and write freely. Begin with the starter phrase, “I am becoming . . . .”  Write until this writing or story feels complete.

Give it time and review it later. What have you learned?

From “Finding Her Here”

I am becoming the woman I’ve wanted,

[Who] knows she’s a survivor—

that whatever comes,

she can outlast it.

I am becoming a deep

weathered basket.

I am becoming the woman I’ve longed for.

The poem is by ©Jane Relaford Brown. Educational use. It comes from her book My First Real Tree(Foothills.)

Seven Simple Ways to Grow Love

Start with my list above. Think about it?  What would you change? Now create your own list. You can borrow from my list, tweak it, or scribble it out and start from scratch. You can even do research if you are inspired. But end up with a list that works for you because it shares your “simple ways to grow love.” (I had great fun creating my list!)

Follow up by giving your list to someone you care about and ask them to create their own list. 

Share your lists. Talk about what you hope to do to live with a little more love! 

Create a Love Story

Create a list of experiences that you associate with love—any kind of love. (Love for nature, love for singing, love for a person.) Choose one. Put it in the center of the paper and cluster around it:  what do you remember about this one experience?  What did you feel? What did you see? Hear? Taste? Or smell?

Write. After you collect your memories, spend some quiet time writing a story about this experience bringing as much detail to it as you can.

Share. If you like the result, tweak it and turn it into a gift for someone else who was part of this experience.

Finding Meaning

Looking back so many books have a profound impact on our lives. I wrote about Moby-Dick which was quite a struggle in college, but now I see there was a multitude of meanings to be found within those pages.

Make a list of five books that have mattered in your life. Then choose one that you think taught you something that would make a big difference in your life. What did you learn?  Why did it matter to you?  How has it connected to your life?

Have fun exploring that meaning that has come to you!

Daily Gratitudes

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. If you need a model or inspiration, read the blog and enjoy the gratitudes of Martha. Make a commitment to write your own daily gratitudes.

Gratitude Notes
The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!
Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

1.       I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .

2.      I am grateful for my family because . . .

3.      I am grateful for the work I do because . . .

4.      I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .

5.      Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

As I faced a significant loss in my life, I went to my journal each morning and before I meditated or prayed, I wrote about one thing I could be grateful for. I wrote with abandon and honesty. Sometimes the gratitude was short. Sometimes the paragraph turned into a note to someone I wanted to thank for being special in my life. If you need a model or inspiration, read the blog and enjoy the gratitudes of Martha. Make a commitment to write your own daily gratitudes.

Gratitude Notes
The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!
Gratitude List
According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar
Take a jar or box and decorate it with drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life!
A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

1.       I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .

2.      I am grateful for my family because . . .

3.      I am grateful for the work I do because . . .

4.      I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .

5.      Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation
We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

A New Voice

Think of a trip you have taken in the past or a move you have made to a new job or new place to live. Write about this experience. Bring into it all the sensory detail you can. Include your thoughts and feelings about the experience.

How did it affect or change you?

Did it change your unique way of viewing the world?

Did you find your voice changed as a result of this experience?

Explore.

Book Magic

Make a list of books or stories or possibly movies that have changed you. Go for five to ten. Then place stars by the ones that had a huge impact on you. If you remember the story of this book or movie in your life, write it.

Let us know: who is in the story?  What happened?  How did this book or story connect with you? Was there a point in the reading where a bit of insight or magic seemed to surface. Did the story have a lasting impact on you? Explore.

Reflection

Come back to this writing later. Read it. Ponder:  what have you learned from that one book or movie? This writing can be done in a journal over and over again. I am writing profusely about the impact of The Overstory, and I learn more each time I write!

Choosing a Moment

In the coming day choose an event that is unfolding in your life. It can be a hike, a visit from a friend, a trip to the grocery, a visit to a gallery, time spent in your garden, singing in a choir, babysitting, or perhaps something as simple as doing the dishes!  Choose this experience because you want to embrace it and experiment with being mindful.  As you go through this event, ask yourself to begin by taking a few slow, deep breaths. Clearing your mind. To prepare to write about this later, you can take notes—if you want. Or simply pay close attention to what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. What feelings are evoked? What do you experience? Try to enjoy the experience and see what you notice that you have never noticed before.

Reflection

Afterwards take time to write up this event. What sensory input stood out?  What were you conscious of that you often ignore? How did you feel? Did you experience anything new? Share an insight or two.

Who Changed You?

Write the story of a person or a pet who helped you navigate the pandemic or another challenge you have faced. Explore how you came to know this person or pet. Describe an experience you shared. Create a character portrait that explores the strengths of this person or pet. How did he or she change you?  (The blog is a fine model.)

Here are optional sentence starters to help jump-start the writing:

When I met _____ I could not believe . . .

When I came to know _____, I did not expect . . .

Everything changed the day I . . .

Looking back _____ has made the biggest difference in my life because . . .

At the start of the pandemic, I discovered . . .

(Let the writing take you where it needs to take you!)

Reflection

Later look back and learn from your writing. If you wrote about a person, you may want to tell them or share your writing!  While I don’t have a pet, I suspect telling them—especially dogs and cats, works, too! 😊 .

Five Writing Prompts:  Exploring Summer

Freewrite. Summer is rolling in. After a couple of years of being cooped up, are you seeking adventure, or do you want to find a quiet space and enjoy the beauty of nature? Since summer has many faces, I will give you five different prompts. Choose one and write a story that comes of it. Try to write for at least ten minutes, but if you take off on story, stick with it! If one prompt fails, try another. You can create a story or write a story from your life. See what happens. Enjoy!

1.       Adventure. Share an adventure that stands out in your mind. What did you do? What do you recall? What did you love about the experience? Were there unexpected challenges or surprises? What did you learn?

2.      Imagination. As you head into summer, imagine a most incredible summer. (Many children’s books are written this way!) Tell the story of a fantastical time you hope to have. OR make this a fiction story where adventures are happening to characters you are creating. Have fun!

3.      Laughter. Do you recall a fun time that holds a special place in your memory? Perhaps with your siblings, cousins, or friends. Did you laugh so hard your stomach hurt? Maybe you anticipated this experience would be engaging. Perhaps it was a time you dreaded, and it turned out to be magical or hilarious. Write that story.

4.      Peace. Recall a time of incredible calm in your life. Maybe a trip to the ocean or the mountains or a time spent out in nature. It could even be time spent with a special person or friend who opens you up to your best self or to a peace within you. Share that story.

5.      Road trips. Have you taken an incredible road trip or train trip. Where? When? What happened? Write that story.

Your Story of Change

Freewrite. It’s spring.  For us that usually means renewal, rebirth, or change. Let’s embrace the new season by writing about it. Tell me your story of change or renewal.  When did you learn something new?  Or when did you realize you had a passion, a gift, or a talent that you needed to pursue? Did you pursue it?  Or when did you make a discovery that led you on a new path to change? If so, how?  What happened?  What did you feel and experience? How did you change?

Creating Uplifting Mantras

A mantra is a phrase to guide you and lift you up. While they are often used in meditation, they can be guideposts or intentions for our everyday living. Since research has established the power of positive words, phrases, and intentions, let’s explore your possible mantras.

Make a list. Let’s begin by making a list of mantras.  Below is an old list of mine. While you will want to create your own, you can start with these to help you explore your possibilities. Doodle. Think. Explore and come up with ones that work for you.

My Examples.

Hold to hope. Hold to faith. Hold to love

I can do this hard thing.

I can. I can.

Change my thoughts; change my world.

May I strive to make this world a better place.

Let me find and embrace words that inspire.

Positive thoughts will guide me.

I create my path; I walk my path with joy.

I choose how I view this world; I will choose to uplift myself and others.

Exploration

Now choose one personal intention or mantra and explore it. I did this in this month’s blog.  Choose your phrase and begin by doodling or clustering a few ideas and then if it inspires you, write!  Ask yourself:  why did I choose this?  What story surrounds this phrase?  What do I want to bring to my life to make this phrase more of who I am. Let this writing take you where it needs to take you.

Reflect

Later reflect on what you have learned from this writing or from creating a mantra. Feel free to share your findings with others or me.

The Beauty in Imperfection

This month I am focusing on finding the beauty in imperfection and exploring it. In my blog, I wrote about my mom coping with imperfections caused by aging.  In my journal, I am exploring how I found beauty in the twisted, barren Arizona ash trees as I hiked along Oak Creek Canyon this past week.

List. Imperfections are a part of our lives. We face the imperfections of daily living, of aging, and of the unexpected all of the time. Make a list of obvious “imperfections” you face or observe.

Cluster. Choose one “imperfection.” Then cluster around it. What makes it hard?  What makes it have its own kind of beauty or wisdom?

Freewrite. Write a poem or story about this imperfection.

Reflect:  Think about what you have learned from this imperfection.

Love in the Time of COVID

 Below is a list of the kinds of love we experience most often –even now! Under each type of love, see if you can share a memory attached to it. If nothing comes to mind, skip that kind of love.

Here are two examples:

Philia – I was so honored when Billie advocated for my literacy program.

Storage – Dolly Lama (my dog) always sat on my feet when I was writing.

Now make your list using these forms of love:

  1. Eros: passionate love
  2. Philia: intimate, authentic friendship
  3. Ludus: playful, uncommitted love
  4. Storge: unconditional, love for family
  5. Philautia: self-love which can be healthy or go overboard
  6. Pragma: committed, companionate love
  7. Agápe: empathetic, universal love for others
  8. Romantic love: a modern melding of eros and phila into a loving bond

Create a Story: after you have a list of memories, which one calls to you to be written? Get comfortable and give yourself time to think and write about this memory. Share what happened, what you felt, and what you learned from this experience. If one memory does not thread itself into a story, try another one.

Reflection. Come back to this writing in a day or so. Add to it and reflect on what you have learned.

Share: You may want to share this story with a friend or partner, especially if it highlights your relationship. It could be a great Valentine’s gift!

Create and Embrace New Intentions

Intentions. An intention is a call to action. Something you want to happen. Resolutions are not as positive because they tend to be centered on things we feel obligated to do and oftentimes we feel burdened by them. Let’s begin our New Year by writing about a few positive intentions.

Remember we are writing about positive things we want to bring into our lives. Here’s how to get started:

  1. Make a list of what you would like to accomplish or do. While I have listed a few ideas, come up with what you want.
    1. Learn something new?
    2. Relax more regularly?
    3. Work out regularly?
    4. Practice journaling?
  1. Choose one or more important intentions and write about each one.
    1. Why is this intention important to you?
    2. How can you make it happen?
    3. What kind of commitment could you make to make it happen?

Reflection. Come back to this writing in a day or so. Add to it and reflect on what will help make 2022 a more fulfilling year for you.

Gratitude Prompts & Activities

Gratitude List

According to a report from the United Nations, about 690 million people go to bed hungry. About 150 people in the world are homeless. It doesn’t take too many statistics to make us realize how fortunate we are.  Let’s simply make a list of all the things we are grateful for – food, water, a home, etc. Then choose one thing you have not thought about. Write about it. Reflect on it.

A Gratitude Jar

Take jar or box and decorate it drawings or photos of things or people you appreciate. Or like me just tie a big blue bow around it. Then each day slip a paper into the jar with one special gratitude. Whenever you feel low and need a quick pick-me0-up, open the jar and read all the gifts you have in your life! It should help.

A Gratitude Story

It is easy to make a gratitude list, but let’s explore gratitude more fully. Let’s think about why we appreciate what we have. After all, it is the reflection that grows us. Answer one or more of these questions. Take your time.

  1. I am grateful for ______ (a certain person) because . . .
  2. I am grateful for my family because . . .
  3. I am grateful for the work I do because . . .
  4. I am grateful for the fun I have when . . .
  5. Something amazing that happened this week is . . .

Gratitude Meditation

We have 86,400 seconds in one day? Spend a few minutes sitting quietly in a space you love (a comfy chair, your garden) and simply think about all you have to be grateful for in this one day. You might want to listen to music as you contemplate. Here is a link to music that will help you feel gratitude as well as detox from stress:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmO1RlqorU

Gratitude Notes

The practice of writing thank you notes for gifts has been around for ages. But what about writing thank you notes for invisible gifts – like an unexpected kindness or time spent with a special person. Any notes of gratitude increase the joy experienced by the receiver as well as the giver! Write on!

Writing Prompt:  The Guest House

As we honor Breast Cancer Awareness month and as we continue to face-off with the pandemic, let’s write about how we can work to understand “unwanted guests” and to find ways to learn from them.

Begin by simply choosing one of these sentence stems and write about it for five minutes. If it takes you into a story, keep writing. If your writing stalls, try another one.

  1. One of the guests I have loved having in my life is _____ .
  2. One guest I will never forget was ­­­­­_____ .
  3. One unwanted guest in my life was ­­_____ .
  4. A most unwanted guest in my life was  (illness or loss) because _____.
  5. I did not want to face (name of an illness or a loss) but this is what I learned _____.
  6. My illness (or someone else’s illness) taught me ______
  7.  The pandemic has been hard, but I have learned _____

Give yourself some time and space from this writing. Then come back to it and reflect on what you have learned and experienced. What guests have helped you to grow and become more of the person you want to be?

Find Your Calm

Times are challenging right now. The pandemic is dragging on. We need to find personal ways of finding our calm—and remembering to embrace and use them. You can begin this writing in either of these two ways:

  1. Make a list of ways you find your calm. Perhaps walking, cooking, singing? Doodle or add details or specifics you love about each way of finding your calm. OR
  2. Create a cluster. Begin by writing the word “calm” in the center of a piece of paper. Draw a circle around it. Then free associate from the central circled word—calm. What ways calm you? Draw sticks out from your center and create new circles with the specific things that calm you (hiking, meditating, sewing?.) Then add details to how each specific calming way works for you.

Using your list or cluster, freewrite for ten or more minutes. What ways do you find calm? Write about how these moments make you feel. Explore how you can work these moments into your life during challenging times. Explore and live your possibilities Work to make this happen. You can do this!

Unexpected Kindness

Explore a kindness that was shared with you. Then explore a kindness you shared. What is the impact of kindness on our daily lives?

Consider choosing a day a week that you will focus on unexpected kindnesses.

  • What would you like to do for others—make cookies, share a dinner, leave a plant on a doorstep?
  • What could be your signature way of helping others?
  • Volunteering at a homeless shelter?
  • Teaching a class on painting or writing to seniors?
  • Singing in a community choir?

Explore the possibilities and have fun being thoughtful.

Small, Wet Miracles—Embracing Awe

When I arrived in Los Angeles for a memorial last week, I was sad about the loss of my mother-in-law. She had been a great friend, and we shared a passion for the ocean. Both of us had moved to the ocean shortly after graduating from college. I decided to honor her by visiting the ocean and by writing about the wonder that has always come to me in visiting the beach. Clearly, I chose this “writing about awe” to lift me up. And it did.

After months of a pandemic-centered life, I suspect we all need to write about what brings us awe. Here is how:

1.    Make a list of places or events that bring you awe—visiting a botanical garden, going to baseball game, running a marathon, writing a poem, cooking, etc.

2.    Choose one of these places or events and create a cluster around it. What images and memoires come to mind? Positive memories work best!

3.    Study your cluster. Now begin writing your story, looking for the stand-out memories you want to share. Explore how you felt and what evoked awe or joy in you as you experienced this event or place. Have fun with it!

4.    If you have a chance, share your story with others. It makes the experience even more wonderful.

The Rocky Path and Reframing

 When I arrived in Sedona, I was disappointed to see the droves of young people. As I  scribbled in my journal and hiked, I was able to reframe how I saw this experience. I came to appreciate the community and connection that could come of being in this incredible space with many other nature seekers. In the end I found this experience quite beautiful. Here is a simple way to work to reframe a difficult situation you might face.

 We have all faced a few challenges in the past few months. Make a little list of things that bother you. For me, it was the hoards of young people arriving in Sedona when I did. Here’s a simple way to work on reframing the way you look at something:

1.    Briefly write out what is bothering you. This can be a few words or if you want to explore this issue, write about it. What thoughts and feelings do you have?

2.    Then think about it. What are different ways of viewing this irritation or experience? (If you received a bad job review, are you going to see yourself as a loser? Or are you going to talk with someone you respect on how to change your performance? Or will you make positive changes in how you approach your work?)

3.    List or cluster all the different ways to cope or reframe this issue in your life. Take your time. How can you create a better story that feels like a fit for you?

4.    Then consciously make a choice on how you want to view or change your outlook/actions. Then write in detail about how you hope to approach or adjust to this irritation or problem. Explore this. Be open. Be honest. Know that you can.

Leave this writing and come back later and tweak your plan to be one that feels like it will make a positive difference in how you frame and hold this issue in your life.

The Light Gets In

Let’s brainstorm a few ways light or personal wisdom seems to find us–.

·       Taking a walk.

·       Reading a book by _____,

·       Working in the garden

·       Writing a song or a poem

·       Praying or meditating

Now make you own list of three to ten ways you seem to find the light. After you create your list, study it. Choose one path to light that you want to explore. Write about an experience that allowed you to find light or discover some newfound wisdom or insight. Take your time and enjoy this exploration. Come back and explore this writing later.

Embracing the Silence

In this time of pandemic, silence is golden. It can give you the space and quiet you need for healing from trauma, illness, or losses. Silence allows us to take care the self in ways that nourish us. Write about where you find silence. What do you love doing amid silence? What helps you restore your energy? What gives you balance?

After writing about this choose one quiet activity that lifts you up and write about this one special activity that calms you. You might choose from any of these activities—or find your own:

  • Long walks
  • Playing comforting music
  • Gardening
  • Painting
  • Doodling
  • Writing a poem
  • Sipping a tea or latte in a comfy spot
  • Doing a puzzle
  • Coloring
  • Watching feel-good or funny movies
  • Reading a good book
  • Sitting or chatting with a friend

Writing Love Notes

In the diary of Frida Kahlo, she wrote about her lover, Diego Rivera, “Nothing compares to your hand, nothing like the green-gold of your eyes. My body is filled with you for days and days. You are the mirror of the night. The violent flash of lightning. The dampness of the earth. The hollow of your armpits is my shelter.”

It seems fitting to make February a celebration of love. This year I have ordered blank valentine’s cards because I have determined I am going to write personal notes (not as steamy as Frida Kahlo’s) to those I care about—friends, relatives, mentors, and of course, my partner. Here are a few ideas for writing love notes in different ways:

  1. A Post-It note could be posted to your loved one on the mirror in their bathroom.  It could read something as simple as, “I appreciate you.”  or “I love having you in my life!” You could do this every day for a week or whenever you are inspired to share it! Your call.
  2. A love note could be an email that says something important. It could read,

Hi dear one, I just wanted you to know that I loved the way you talked to your mom last night. You are such a kind and patient person. Love, ____.

  1. A tribute blog (like I wrote honoring my parents) is a great way to share something that needs to be shared. (Writing this blog to honor my parents lifted me up. I hope—and believe it will—do the same for you!),
  1. A love letter works when you are sincere and share authentic details. It works best with:
    1. A personal greeting (To my dear friend,)
    2. Sharing why you are writing (I wanted to celebrate you as my valentine.)
    3. Count the ways—tell them how you care. (I love how you listen to me.)
    4. Share a story or experience that has made them meaningful in your life. (I will never forget the time that we picnicked at . . . )
    5. Give the letter a heartfelt closing. (I am so grateful you are in my life. Forever yours, your name.)

Write the notes and letters you feel you need to write. Let’s focus on doing kindnesses and sharing our love.

Embracing New Paths

The past year has seemed dark and difficult. As we prepare and plan for the new year we need to look back, explore what happened, and what can be learned. What possibilities lie in our new paths?  Freewrite on each of these topics for five minutes:

  • What challenges you have faced this past year?
  • What have you have learned?
  • Is there a new job, activity, or experience you would like to take in the coming year? How will you undertake this?
  • What possibilities lie ahead?

Later come back and reflect on this piece.  Is there an insight learned? Is there a new path or new direction you can embrace and pursue?  Take notes to guide you forward on your new path for 2021. Let’s make it a better year!

You Can! You Can!

Create a cluster. In the middle of a sheet of paper draw a circle and write “I can” in the circle. Then cluster out making attached and connected circles. Each one should hold an activity that you would like to learn or do but have not pursued—skating, jogging, yoga, drawing, gardening, cooking, dancing, learning the stars, storytelling, Zooming, etc.

When your cluster is done, write about the circles that genuinely hold interest for you. What are you going to do or learn? Why or why not?  Can you create plan to undertake something fun and new?  Can you say, I can!

Finding Wisdom in the Unexpected 

 As we face the isolation of this pandemic, it is important to rest and enjoy places and moments we might have overlooked before this juncture in our lives. Are you spending time in your garden with plants and trees? Are you enjoying your pet dog or cat? Are you singing or painting or playing the guitar again?  Spend ten or more minutes writing this story. Share the experience and answer these questions:

  • What happened?
  • What do you remember feeling or thinking about this experience?
  • Is there a moment when you were disappointed in you?
  • Is there a moment when you came to understand something new?
  • What did you learn from this experience? Or your dog? Or tree? Etc.

If one of these questions, leads to a deeper exploration, follow your words. Write on. When you finish, leave the writing. Come back to it later and ask yourself: what have I discovered in this writing?

Holding On 

 If you want to write about your own experiences, especially during these times, you may want to do it by trying a structured writing. Do this by answering simple questions that allow you to explore various experiences. As you write simple answers to these questions—or create your own  questions, you may find you are ready to do an in-depth writing on any one of these topics. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration or find some of your joy as you answer these questions—

  • What is it that surprises me the most about living in a pandemic?
  • Do I feel isolated or have I found ways to connect and stay in touch with others?
  • What concerns me about the changes we face?
  • What have I learned?
  • What brings me joy amid this new lifestyle?
  • Is there something I can do to help others?

If one of these questions, leads to a deeper exploration, follow your words. Write on. When you finish, leave the writing. Come back to it later and ask yourself: what have I discovered in this writing. For example, I realized in writing this blog how my yard and nature have become such a new and wonderful learning tool in my COVID life.

Letting the Light In

 At a time when we have not only challenging pandemic news, but have to face off with racial, cultural and political struggles, we need to talk about or write about some of our challenges. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration by writing for five minutes about one of these.

  • Protest and injustices
  • Images on the news
  • Isolation and how it is affecting you
  • Job losses or work changes
  • Limitations you face

It is even more important that we seek to find what lifts us up, brings us joy, or helps us find “a bit of light slipping through the cracks.” Write for at least an additional five minutes on what has made you smile this week, what has brought you joy, or what positive moments can you pause to acknowledge. Did your grandchild begin to crawl? Did you surprise yourself by making the best spaghetti sauce ever? Did you find your words and write a poem? Write about what moments have made you joyful. Let’s all work to find more of those moments when we can “let the light in.”

Later reflect on what you have written. What can I learn from this writing? What can I do to help bring light into my home, my community, my culture? Can I help at food bank? Can I provide books for those who don’t have them? Explore possibilities to bring light to others.

Reaching for Hope

 At a time when we have to juggle frightening news, ongoing health updates, homeschooling, and new uses for technology, it is important to be sure we acknowledge these challenges. If you are ready, and never write when it hurts too much, release some of your frustration by writing about just one of these for five minutes:

  • the news
  • ongoing health updates
  • homeschooling
  • technology

It is even more important that we seek to find what calms us and brings us hope. Spend at least five minutes looking inside and celebrating what helps to calm you. Do you play Merle Haggarty or practice online yoga? Do you like to hike trails and perhaps snap photos? Do you write poems or paint pictures about the earth or your pent-up craziness? What do you do that releases you? Calms you? Helps you ground yourself in hope? Write about that.

Later reflect on what you have written. What can I learn from this writing? What can I do to bring more of what calms me into my life? What is in me that I need to explore? What do I need to bring into my life more fully?

Holding to Hope

When I went to the store today and there were no eggs or bread, I realized that this pandemic keeps unfolding in unexpected ways. Initially I felt a bit spooked–and it is no wonder. When we experience a shock, our brains have to absorb it or take it in and find a new way of coping. One way to help is simply to use our writing to help us with the change needed in our thinking and behavior.

To calm my fears, I pulled out my journal and drew a line across the middle of the page. On the top half of the page, I listed all of my fears and worries. On the bottom half, I wrote what I could do or what action I could take to readapt to this time. Here is what I jotted down:

On the top I listed concerns me about the pandemic:

Will we be able to get food?

Will Edna (my mother-in-law in assisted living) be okay?

Do we need to be tested?

On the bottom half I listed what I needed to do:

Call the grocery about the best times to go.

Call Edna throughout the day to check on her. Deliver groceries to her.

Check CDC guidelines on testing and email your physician if concerned.

Holding to Hope. After I made this list, which gave me a sense of what I could and could not control, I ended with freewriting about hope. What gives me joy or makes me feel hopeful?  I wrote with abandon on this and it was pretty clear that I needed to call my friends and grandkids more, prepare my garden for spring, maybe take that online class, try to talk my granddaughter into creating a coronavirus journal tracking this historic time—oh and I have wanted to get a handle on a book I should be writing.

How about you? What brings you joy and hope? Put positive energy into this writing, and I think you will be pleased at the results!

Family Writing Prompt: Journaling Our History

At this time we are part of a living history event. It will be recorded in history books and talked about for generations. Our schools are closed; our sports events are canceled, and people are quarantined across the globe.

Let’s help our children to create a tangible, primary source of their own living history. Ask them to keep a journal over the coming five+ weeks. They can record what is happening day by day. What is different?  What has changed? What are their activities? Their feelings? Their fears? Their joys? What is challenging? What is wonderful amid our hardship? Let them interview their parents, grandparents, and friends. Let them research to see if there has ever been other events like this in our history.

Encourage them to bring their voice to this journal. Don’t fuss over spelling or grammar. Focus on our story. Let it be handwritten, typed, created with photographs or drawings, or if they want to make a video or podcast that is fine, too. When this challenging time is over, save or store this journal in a safe place. When the time is right, share it and give it to your children. They may choose to share it with their children in the future. Let this be a gift of our own historical story.

An Empty Page

An empty page can be intimidating. Lets find our words, by creating a short list of personal images or metaphors. What are you like? Are you a tiger lily in bloom?  An early morning sunrise? A salsa dancer? A bird in flight?  A wise yogi? A tree?  A road racer? A rainbow? A hot fudge sundae? A dragonfly? Etc. Open yourself up. Forget grammar and mechanics. Just work to explore whatever comparisons come into your head.

After you have a list of five to ten metaphors, freewrite for ten minutes or more:

  • Begin by choosing one metaphor you feel a strong connection to.
  • A positive metaphor works best.
  • In the given time, write your story for us. How do you know your life connects to this metaphor? Show us.
  • Try to construct a brief but complete story.
  • Later, come back to this work. Read it. Reflect on it. Rewrite it if you are inspired to do so.

Intentions

Creating intentions for a new year or anytime you need to reboot:

  • Give yourself a quiet space where you can think and write. Bring a latte or tea.
  • Do not rush. You will need time to think and reflect. I like soft music or silence. But you choose! .
  • Make a list or jot notes. Do you want to teach a class on painting at the community center or run a local marathon?
  • Get specific. After brainstorming these intentions, rewrite them. Now work to whittle these intentions into a simple and specific actions that you can carry out. Big lofty goals (I want to write a best seller) do not work. But clear goals (I plan to write a book on how to successfully run in a marathon) are manageable.

After crafting simple, clear—but  not overwhelming intentions, begin the design of a plan. That is the fun part—playing with the plan. Then begin to put concrete steps in your schedule to make it all happen.

Finding Joy In the Season

Free write about the upcoming season. First, discuss the stresses that can build in you during this time of year.

  • What are they? What causes them? How can you release them?
  • Now write about what gives you joy in the season.
  • What traditions do you have?  How do you celebrate?
  • Are there changes you hope to make to create a time of joy for you, your friends, and your loved ones?

Even if you have faced challenges or losses in the past year, write about the ways you can embrace and find joy.  Consider writing about all you have to be thankful for or write about how you can be in the moment and really experience this time. Work to be positive—the joy will come. Embrace it when it does!

Taking Flight or Finding Your Voice

How did you find your voice?  Did someone believe in you and encourage you?  Was it a friend? Your mom? A teacher? A grandparent? Or perhaps a child?  Did singing, dancing, writing, or any other art play a role in the evolution of your voice?  First reflect, and then write for ten or more minutes. These questions can guide your writing:

  • What happened on this journey?
  • What steadied you and helped you grow?
  • What did you learn?
  • How were you changed?

After you write, decide if you want to leave this work private or if you would like to share it. Could you read it or email it to someone who would enjoy discovering this story? Could you include it in bigger piece of writing or a blog? Or should you hold onto the piece until is does grow into a story you know how to share?

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of The Story You Need to Tell  is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Here’s to not only finding your voice, but to having the courage to share it authentically.

A Boost of Inspiration

To find my joy, I learned from many of the veterans and cancer patients the practice of listing the hopes I have. The list can start like this—

  • I hope to take a two-mile hike on South Mountain on Tuesday.
  • I hope to write a story about the girl I met at chemo last week.
  • I hope to create or find ten new riddles that Paul does not know.
  • I hope to take grandma to the movies this weekend.
  • I hope to attend at least one yoga class after work this week.
  • I hope to put a lid on negative self-talk.
  • I hope to make a list of my passions and do something with just one them.

I hope to bake dozens of chocolate chip cookies (and eat only eat five of them!) ?

After you make about ten statements, choose one you want to explore or make happen. Make some notes or freewrite on how you plan to undertake this hope. In five to ten minutes explore one or more of these “hopes.” Try to end this venture with a plan to take an action of some kind. If you are up for it, let me know what you are planning to do—and how it unfolds.

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of this work is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Not only find your inspiration, but find ways to inspire others!

Finding Love

Finding or learning to have both meaningful friendships and loving relationships can be both exhilarating and impossible. Make a simple list of times when you found or struggled to find love or deep friendship with someone else. Avoid writing about a broken relationship that still causes you intense pain.

Choose one item from your list and freewrite, create a poem, or write a dialogue to share this experience. Try to choose a memory that can take a positive twist or holds an insight for you or others. What do you remember? What happened? What did you feel? Looking back, what did you learn or how did this time change you? What do you know now that you did not know then?

Finding Community.
One of the healthiest aspects of our lives is our community, the people and groups of people who are important to us. The folks we connect to and the folks who connect to us. The folks who support us and help us when we need them. Make of list of your community or community groups. It could be dear friends, a club, a book club, a church group, a sports or gym group, a yoga class, a happy hour group, whatever group who helps you to be more fully you.

Then freewrite about this. What gives you the greatest sense of community in your life? Where do you love to be? Who helps you to have fun, to laugh, to think, and to be the person you need to be.  Explore your thoughts on community.

Reflect. Later come back and read what you have written and ask yourself—how can I help to enrich “community” in my life and in the lives of others? Is there a community group I want to support more? To learn from? To help?

Turning Points and Transitions.
If you are ready to explore your turning points or transitions–

  • List three turning points or transitions you have faced.
  • Under each experience list three details that made that experience memorable.
  • Choose one of these experiences and write about it for ten minutes.
  • Work to tell what you remember and to pull the vivid details, emotions, and thoughts of this experience into your writing.
  • Later come back and reflect on this writing. If you gained wisdom from this experience, share it. Let your words flow!

Renewal.
Spring is a time of renewal and change. Before we can begin anew, we need to clear out the debris in the our gardens — or in our lives! What do you need to clean out or release in order to make way for a time of change and renewal? Write for ten minutes — or more! (See Judy’s in-depth activity at http://judyreeveswriter.com/the-lively-muse-blog/)

Gratitude.
Research keeps showing us the power of gratitude. To start your day out with joy, spend ten minutes writing (or thinking) about what or who you are thankful for. Explore what happens when your mind embraces an attitude of being grateful. My favorite site for exploring gratitude in depth is  http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude. Enjoy!

Emotional Intelligence.
Often a word pulls thoughts and memories from us. Find a comfortable spot. Choose a word from the list below and begin to write. If you have chosen the wrong word, pick another.  If you get stuck, simply write “I am stuck” until your brain kicks in. Write freely for five or more minutes. Then reflect on your writing. What have you discovered or learned?
            Anger                         Fear
            Pain                            Loss 
            Hope                          Resilience
            Love                            Peace
            Friendship                Connection
And make a list of new words that you want to explore at a later time.

Positive State of Mind.
My dearest, oldest, best friend, Janis Frazee, recently sent me a copy of The Book of Joy by his Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. These world famous, wisdom-makers share the research of a well-known neuroscientist, Richard Davidson. Davidson holds that there are four brain circuits that allow us to have a “happy brain.” They are:

  • our ability to maintain a positive state
  • our ability to recover from negative states
  • our ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering
  • our ability to be generous

Choose one of these brain circuits and explore this one ability. How does it work in your life? Do you agree that it leads to happiness? Has it led to your happiness? What do you believe is important about this ability? Explain.

Writing can help us slow down and experience the moment. 
Find a quote or two lines from a song or poem you love. Then find a comfortable spot under a tree, in a comfy chair, or by a pool. Take your selected lines and read and reread them. What do you find? What images capture your mind? What meaning comes from these words? Write for five or more minutes. Then reflect on what you have discovered. Write more if you are inspired. Here are two lines from Ellen Bass’s poem, “The Thing Is.” You can use them if you like: 

          to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it.


Treasured Moments.
Think of a time or a moment in your life that you value and remember well. What happened? Write about it. Savor it.  It is a precious moment to hold.

After you write about this experience, think about sending your writing to someone who shared this moment with you. Whether you send it or not, you may want to make a collection of treasured moments. Keep them somewhere special. This may be a gift to give someone in your family or it may be a gift you give yourself to help you write your next story or book.  Happy writing.

Silver Linings.
What are you grateful for?  What are your personal “silver linings?” Spend a few minutes exploring what you have in your life to appreciate– a person, a pet, an event, a hobby, a job? Begin by jotting a simple list. Then free-write on what you are grateful for and why.

Afterwards, reflect on your writing. How did it feel?

Finding Your Positive Path.
If you are ready, write about a challenge you are facing. Choose one you feel ready to explore. Write about what happened.  Write quickly and freely. Share the details you recall. Share your feelings and your thoughts.

Now pause and reflect. How can you make this challenge easier to bear? Who could help? What would help?  Are there resources available for you to seek out?  A friend? A counselor? What possibilities could this challenge hold for you? Work to write and find a way to create a positive path. It can make all the difference.

Curiosity and Creativity.
One of the greatest journal keepers of all time was Leonardo Da Vinci. As I read Walter Isaacson’s new book, Leonardo Da Vinci, I am spellbound by the ideas, creative and curious, of this profound genius. His notebooks have inspired this prompt:

Leonardo studied anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, light – the list is endless.  His curiosity was insatiable. What makes you curious? If you could study any subject you have never had a chance to study, what would you learn about? What questions would you ask?  Why would you choose this topic and what would you hope to learn?

We all learn so differently. Leonardo learned by talking to others and exploring his thoughts in his journal. How about you? Do you learn best by reading? Writing? Doing? Listening to others talk about doing? Explore how you believe you do your best learning. Give examples and explain why you think this method works for you.


Our Words Can Be Our Gifts.
Years ago I gave my mom a poem. A few weeks before I wrote that poem I had seen Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture. My response –tears. The beauty of Mary was overpowering. Afterwards I realized that Michelangelo’s Mary reminded me of my own mom, and I began to draft and redraft a poem for my mom. Sentimental, yes, but this was perhaps the best gift I ever gave her. Or anyone.

At a time of gifts, I hope you will think about creating a poem or writing a story or giving a meaningful book to someone you love. If you want to find your own words, here are a few prompts to help you write.

  • Rummage through your memories of the significant people in your life. Who are the family members, teachers, friends, or mentors who changed you and continue to inspire you? Make a list. See who surfaces.
  • Explore one individual who matters to you. What gifts have they brought into your life? What have you learned from them? How did they change or influence you?
  • With these thoughts and images in mind, create a collage, a poem, a story, or a letter that you can wrap up, tie with a bow, and give to this person in this season of giving – or give when you are ready to share.

Open Up Your Creativity.
Creativity often surfaces from the pain of our experiences, limitations, rejections, and losses. Think back to your past. Then write for at least ten minutes on one of these topics:
• An experience. What experience opened you up and helped you discover or rediscover an ability you might not have explored or known you had? What new ability came from this experience? Dancing? Gardening? Running? Painting? Golfing? Writing? Cooking? Metalworking? Rock-climbing? Explore this.
• A limitation. When did you learn you had a limitation? How did you learn this? How did you feel? What came from this experience?
• A rejection. When have you experienced rejection? How did you feel? How did you handle this experience? What did you learn? Did it change you? How?
• Losses. Have you experienced a loss (a divorce, a death, a move, a retirement) that opened you up to a new aspect of your creativity? How did this happen? What did you learn from this experience?

  • Compassionate
  • Free

Songs, Sketches, and Emojis.
What songs do you love? What phrases capture you from these songs? List a few or choose one from the list below. Then for 5-10 minutes play with this phrase. Imagine it. Depict it or draw it, describe it, and/or write a story or poem about it.  Let go and play. Let your words or scribbles flow and see what happens.

  1. Near, far, wherever you are–I believe that the heart does go on.
  2. We can work it out.
  3. Take a sad song and make it better.
  4. I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
  5. I wanna hold your hand.
  6. That’s life. That’s what all the people say.
  7. Whenever you reach for me, I’ll do all that I can.
  8. Imagine that there are no countries.
  9. I wanna see you be brave.

Finding Your Hero Story.
Find “the hero” in you — or around you. Write about one of these prompts for ten minutes:

  • What is your hero story? When have you been brave? What happened and what did you learn?
  • When was someone you care about a “hero”?  How were they a hero? What happened and how did she overcome her obstacles?
  • Write about a challenge you are facing and how you would like to face or overcome the given obstacles?  What can you do to make this the best possible situation?
  • Take one of these words and simply write. Be free and let the writing take you where it needs to take you:
    • Brave
    • Courageous
    • Heroic
    • Kind

A Story Prompt

There are many ways we tell stories or catch the stories of others. Katie told her story through her art and her poems, private poems that she rarely shares.

Let’s stretch our stories in new dimensions. How do you tell your story best—through collage? Paintings? Scripts? Music? Woodcarvings? Teaching? Lyrics? Dances? Crafts? Perhaps like me you paint in words. Perhaps not. As creative beings we have a multitude of ways to capture and share our story.

Explore how you creatively share your story. You can write about this exploration and how it makes you feel, but if you prefer you can simply practice your creative art—draw, sculpt, sing, dance, create a collage, write a poem, etc. But consciously work to share your story or connect this creative pursuit to who you are.

Afterwards share your creative outcome. Either write about what you have learned about your story–or share it with a trusted confidant.

Taking Flight or Finding Your Voice

How did you find your voice?  Did someone believe in you and encourage you?  Was it a friend? Your mom? A teacher? A grandparent? Or perhaps a child?  Did singing, dancing, writing, or any other art play a role in the evolution of your voice?  First reflect, and then write for ten or more minutes. These questions can guide your writing:

  • What happened on this journey?
  • What steadied you and helped you grow?
  • What did you learn?
  • How were you changed?

After you write, decide if you want to leave this work private or if you would like to share it. Could you read it or email it to someone who would enjoy discovering this story? Could you include it in bigger piece of writing or a blog? Or should you hold onto the piece until is does grow into a story you know how to share?

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of The Story You Need to Tell  is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Here’s to not only finding your voice, but to having the courage to share it authentically.

A Boost of Inspiration

To find my joy, I learned from many of the veterans and cancer patients the practice of listing the hopes I have. The list can start like this—

  • I hope to take a two-mile hike on South Mountain on Tuesday.
  • I hope to write a story about the girl I met at chemo last week.
  • I hope to create or find ten new riddles that Paul does not know.
  • I hope to take grandma to the movies this weekend.
  • I hope to attend at least one yoga class after work this week.
  • I hope to put a lid on negative self-talk.
  • I hope to make a list of my passions and do something with just one them.

I hope to bake dozens of chocolate chip cookies (and eat only eat five of them!) ?

After you make about ten statements, choose one you want to explore or make happen. Make some notes or freewrite on how you plan to undertake this hope. In five to ten minutes explore one or more of these “hopes.” Try to end this venture with a plan to take an action of some kind. If you are up for it, let me know what you are planning to do—and how it unfolds.

Helping with the Gift of Story

This goal of this work is to help others find healing and growth through sharing and writing their stories. You can help by sharing the book with others and reviewing the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble or Target sites. Profits support cancer research and scholarships. Free books are shared with cancer patients and veterans on request.

Not only find your inspiration, but find ways to inspire others!

Finding Love

Finding or learning to have both meaningful friendships and loving relationships can be both exhilarating and impossible. Make a simple list of times when you found or struggled to find love or deep friendship with someone else. Avoid writing about a broken relationship that still causes you intense pain.

Choose one item from your list and freewrite, create a poem, or write a dialogue to share this experience. Try to choose a memory that can take a positive twist or holds an insight for you or others. What do you remember? What happened? What did you feel? Looking back, what did you learn or how did this time change you? What do you know now that you did not know then?

Finding Community.
One of the healthiest aspects of our lives is our community, the people and groups of people who are important to us. The folks we connect to and the folks who connect to us. The folks who support us and help us when we need them. Make of list of your community or community groups. It could be dear friends, a club, a book club, a church group, a sports or gym group, a yoga class, a happy hour group, whatever group who helps you to be more fully you.

Then freewrite about this. What gives you the greatest sense of community in your life? Where do you love to be? Who helps you to have fun, to laugh, to think, and to be the person you need to be.  Explore your thoughts on community.

Reflect. Later come back and read what you have written and ask yourself—how can I help to enrich “community” in my life and in the lives of others? Is there a community group I want to support more? To learn from? To help?

Turning Points and Transitions.
If you are ready to explore your turning points or transitions–

  • List three turning points or transitions you have faced.
  • Under each experience list three details that made that experience memorable.
  • Choose one of these experiences and write about it for ten minutes.
  • Work to tell what you remember and to pull the vivid details, emotions, and thoughts of this experience into your writing.
  • Later come back and reflect on this writing. If you gained wisdom from this experience, share it. Let your words flow!

Renewal.
Spring is a time of renewal and change. Before we can begin anew, we need to clear out the debris in the our gardens — or in our lives! What do you need to clean out or release in order to make way for a time of change and renewal? Write for ten minutes — or more! (See Judy’s in-depth activity at http://judyreeveswriter.com/the-lively-muse-blog/)

Gratitude.
Research keeps showing us the power of gratitude. To start your day out with joy, spend ten minutes writing (or thinking) about what or who you are thankful for. Explore what happens when your mind embraces an attitude of being grateful. My favorite site for exploring gratitude in depth is  http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude. Enjoy!

Emotional Intelligence.
Often a word pulls thoughts and memories from us. Find a comfortable spot. Choose a word from the list below and begin to write. If you have chosen the wrong word, pick another.  If you get stuck, simply write “I am stuck” until your brain kicks in. Write freely for five or more minutes. Then reflect on your writing. What have you discovered or learned?
            Anger                         Fear
            Pain                            Loss 
            Hope                          Resilience
            Love                            Peace
            Friendship                Connection
And make a list of new words that you want to explore at a later time.

Positive State of Mind.
My dearest, oldest, best friend, Janis Frazee, recently sent me a copy of The Book of Joy by his Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. These world famous, wisdom-makers share the research of a well-known neuroscientist, Richard Davidson. Davidson holds that there are four brain circuits that allow us to have a “happy brain.” They are:

  • our ability to maintain a positive state
  • our ability to recover from negative states
  • our ability to focus and avoid mind-wandering
  • our ability to be generous

Choose one of these brain circuits and explore this one ability. How does it work in your life? Do you agree that it leads to happiness? Has it led to your happiness? What do you believe is important about this ability? Explain.

Writing can help us slow down and experience the moment. 
Find a quote or two lines from a song or poem you love. Then find a comfortable spot under a tree, in a comfy chair, or by a pool. Take your selected lines and read and reread them. What do you find? What images capture your mind? What meaning comes from these words? Write for five or more minutes. Then reflect on what you have discovered. Write more if you are inspired. Here are two lines from Ellen Bass’s poem, “The Thing Is.” You can use them if you like: 

          to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it.


Treasured Moments.
Think of a time or a moment in your life that you value and remember well. What happened? Write about it. Savor it.  It is a precious moment to hold.

After you write about this experience, think about sending your writing to someone who shared this moment with you. Whether you send it or not, you may want to make a collection of treasured moments. Keep them somewhere special. This may be a gift to give someone in your family or it may be a gift you give yourself to help you write your next story or book.  Happy writing.

Silver Linings.
What are you grateful for?  What are your personal “silver linings?” Spend a few minutes exploring what you have in your life to appreciate– a person, a pet, an event, a hobby, a job? Begin by jotting a simple list. Then free-write on what you are grateful for and why.

Afterwards, reflect on your writing. How did it feel?

Finding Your Positive Path.
If you are ready, write about a challenge you are facing. Choose one you feel ready to explore. Write about what happened.  Write quickly and freely. Share the details you recall. Share your feelings and your thoughts.

Now pause and reflect. How can you make this challenge easier to bear? Who could help? What would help?  Are there resources available for you to seek out?  A friend? A counselor? What possibilities could this challenge hold for you? Work to write and find a way to create a positive path. It can make all the difference.

Curiosity and Creativity.
One of the greatest journal keepers of all time was Leonardo Da Vinci. As I read Walter Isaacson’s new book, Leonardo Da Vinci, I am spellbound by the ideas, creative and curious, of this profound genius. His notebooks have inspired this prompt:

Leonardo studied anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, light – the list is endless.  His curiosity was insatiable. What makes you curious? If you could study any subject you have never had a chance to study, what would you learn about? What questions would you ask?  Why would you choose this topic and what would you hope to learn?

We all learn so differently. Leonardo learned by talking to others and exploring his thoughts in his journal. How about you? Do you learn best by reading? Writing? Doing? Listening to others talk about doing? Explore how you believe you do your best learning. Give examples and explain why you think this method works for you.


Our Words Can Be Our Gifts.
Years ago I gave my mom a poem. A few weeks before I wrote that poem I had seen Michelangelo’s Pieta sculpture. My response –tears. The beauty of Mary was overpowering. Afterwards I realized that Michelangelo’s Mary reminded me of my own mom, and I began to draft and redraft a poem for my mom. Sentimental, yes, but this was perhaps the best gift I ever gave her. Or anyone.

At a time of gifts, I hope you will think about creating a poem or writing a story or giving a meaningful book to someone you love. If you want to find your own words, here are a few prompts to help you write.

  • Rummage through your memories of the significant people in your life. Who are the family members, teachers, friends, or mentors who changed you and continue to inspire you? Make a list. See who surfaces.
  • Explore one individual who matters to you. What gifts have they brought into your life? What have you learned from them? How did they change or influence you?
  • With these thoughts and images in mind, create a collage, a poem, a story, or a letter that you can wrap up, tie with a bow, and give to this person in this season of giving – or give when you are ready to share.

Open Up Your Creativity.
Creativity often surfaces from the pain of our experiences, limitations, rejections, and losses. Think back to your past. Then write for at least ten minutes on one of these topics:
• An experience. What experience opened you up and helped you discover or rediscover an ability you might not have explored or known you had? What new ability came from this experience? Dancing? Gardening? Running? Painting? Golfing? Writing? Cooking? Metalworking? Rock-climbing? Explore this.
• A limitation. When did you learn you had a limitation? How did you learn this? How did you feel? What came from this experience?
• A rejection. When have you experienced rejection? How did you feel? How did you handle this experience? What did you learn? Did it change you? How?
• Losses. Have you experienced a loss (a divorce, a death, a move, a retirement) that opened you up to a new aspect of your creativity? How did this happen? What did you learn from this experience?

  • Compassionate
  • Free

Songs, Sketches, and Emojis.
What songs do you love? What phrases capture you from these songs? List a few or choose one from the list below. Then for 5-10 minutes play with this phrase. Imagine it. Depict it or draw it, describe it, and/or write a story or poem about it.  Let go and play. Let your words or scribbles flow and see what happens.

  1. Near, far, wherever you are–I believe that the heart does go on.
  2. We can work it out.
  3. Take a sad song and make it better.
  4. I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
  5. I wanna hold your hand.
  6. That’s life. That’s what all the people say.
  7. Whenever you reach for me, I’ll do all that I can.
  8. Imagine that there are no countries.
  9. I wanna see you be brave.

Finding Your Hero Story.
Find “the hero” in you — or around you. Write about one of these prompts for ten minutes:

  • What is your hero story? When have you been brave? What happened and what did you learn?
  • When was someone you care about a “hero”?  How were they a hero? What happened and how did she overcome her obstacles?
  • Write about a challenge you are facing and how you would like to face or overcome the given obstacles?  What can you do to make this the best possible situation?
  • Take one of these words and simply write. Be free and let the writing take you where it needs to take you:
    • Brave
    • Courageous
    • Heroic
    • Kind