(Daily writing prompts are posted Monday through Friday at 7am on Facebook. This is the weekly roundup with a few excerpts from my personal journal. The goal is to write for at least 10 minutes without stopping, regardless of what ends up on the paper. Feel free to share writing in the comment section. Write on!)
Prompt 36: A celebration of someone or something old.
From my journal: We’ve been working on our composting this week. A concept as old as time. Everything on earth become compost at some point. Nature eventually takes over. It’s amazing how even when it’s cool outside the dirt under the composting mound reaches such a high temperature, cooking itself into rich, dark soil.
Prompt 37: Things you can leave behind to make space for new.
From my journal: I want to live in more of the “gray” areas of life and be ready to let in the new with ease. That means leaving behind many of the things I’ve already learned up until now. Maybe life is more about unlearning than learning, sweeping away all the stuff we’ve already filled our big heads with, trying not to become a hoarder.
Prompt 38: Pick one word from the list and write to wherever it takes you:
WORK-A-HOLIC
TRUTH
STREAM
RECESS
From my journal: Will I ever know the truth? I don’t think so, but I’m becoming more and more okay with ambiguity these days. This morning those two journalists were killed on live TV because of someone’s anger. Why do we let ourselves stew over the words and actions of others? And so often when the other person doesn’t even know they’ve hit a nerve?
Prompt 39: A prompt from the book How to Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith: Right where you are sitting. Write ten things about where you are sitting right now that you hadn’t noticed when you sat down. Use your senses. Do it quickly. Do not censor. Okay, begin.
From my journal: The crowd. A cough. The rustle of paper. A baby sighing. Adjusting of eyeglasses. Leaning in to whisper to a spouse. Brushing her bangs aside. A woman walks through the aisle smiling awkwardly avoiding making eye contact with anyone. A head tilts back to take a drink from a thermos. An arm over the back of the chair picks lint from the fabric. An adjustment of a ponytail. A heavy sigh. The itching of a nose, the rubbing of an eye.
Prompt 40: Pick one word from the list and write to wherever it takes you:
CRICKETS
KITE
HUNTER
PRESTIGE
From my journal: The word prestige makes me think of the movie and all the trickery that went into the show of magic. It was all based on illusion. Like when they discover that the crippled Chinese magician had spent his entire life convincing the world that he was actually crippled. Him being crippled was the illusion. His whole life was filled with secrecy and sacrifice to his craft. I only see great suffering in that, unless he had convinced himself in the process that he was someone else. We can easily become the narrative we live, and convince everyone else as well. Prestige is always based on perception. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
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