Tag: #2023_BlogPrompt

Today I am mining for words that might bring inspiration and a flow of ideas. I am mining anything that is written—signs, books, newspapers, the Internet. I am mining what I hear. What do you mine for—ideas, inspiration, antiques, clothes? Where do you do your most effective mining? If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

Today, I am capturing words. I am reading and listening and searching, and I am writing a list of words that appeal to me, that tug at my emotions, that spark a flicker of an idea deep in my soul. In essence, I am mining my surroundings for inspiration, for words that can carry me through the busy week.

Words are always woven into my life. I am particularly drawn to words that might be a bit ambiguous or carry different meanings and inspire ideas in others. I am mining words that inspire me, but these are not just my words. These are shared words, after all. Words for blog prompts. Words to help others restart their own writing journey. I will stay open and pay attention.

Lucky for me, words are everywhere. And I have a tiny notebook that comes with me wherever I go. The combination should lead to some successful Monday mining!

Today, day 7, is my reflection on week 1. Truly, it’s been a long time since I have written regularly. Sometimes, reconnecting with an activity feels like coming home. That’s the way I felt this week. I felt a bit lighter—like an ongoing conflict was being resolved. I felt more like myself, which brought a deep contentment. What does coming home feel like to you? How might you recapture that feeling? If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

I have written and posted every day this past week, which is unusual for me, and I can honestly say, it feels like coming home. My ideas have been flowing and staying around a bit to play and tease my attention. Instead of stuffing them back into my head, I have opened my heart, my mind, my creativity and captured them, worked with them. Even the day I was “stuck,” I played with other words until I found one that took off, and I chased it through the winter evening.

Writing and blogging again feels like coming home. It feels like walking into a warm house on a cold day and running into the embrace of someone I’ve known all my life but haven’t seen in months. Or years. And then we sit down with a hot cup of coffee or tea or cocoa and dive into conversation right where we left off so long ago. We talk about life, about triumphs, about struggles, and as we talk, the years melt away. It’s as if I never left and we have been talking to each other every day. Like this. Face to face. Over coffee.

As I started to sit and ponder and write and post, the ideas began to come back, one by one. It was like the months since my last post evaporated and here I am, writing again, generating ideas again, connecting with my Muse again.

So for now at least, I will fuel my writing with the feelings of home, of the familiar. I will sit at the kitchen table drinking hot coffee and conversing with the words on the page. I will munch on ideas like they are delicious homemade cookies. I will shine a light on my journal as I write. And I will bask in the warmth I’ve found in reconnecting with this part of me—a part I thought might just be lost.

Unfortunately, as I sit down to write, I am stuck. I am stuck on the fact that the words aren’t coming after a day of work. I am stuck in a streak of gloomy weather. What is making you feel stuck?  If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

Today, the words are not flowing as smoothly as they have the past few days. I know I should give myself a break to work things out, to find more words, to write something inspiring or inspired. But today, I am stuck.

When my children were young, they would always beg to go outside and play in the snow. They were little, and the snow was deep, but somehow, that made it more fun. At least in the anticipation. They would imagine the fun they could have traipsing through snow that was nearly as deep as they were tall! There were paths to forge and snowmen to be made—so much snow, so little time.

And so, I would patiently pull on snowpants and jackets, mittens and boots, hats and scarvs. I would zip and tuck and tie and buckle until I was content that all three littles would be warm enough even though there was no way to snow-proof them. We would walk out the door and into the winter wonderland.

Less than two minutes in, someone would plow through waist-deep snow out into the middle of the front lawn. And there, far away from Mom’s reach, a boot—that had to be wiggled and shoved onto a foot—would slip right off into the deep snow, leaving a tiny foot exposed to the elements. And Mom would have to trudge through the knee-high snow to rescue said child, dig through the icy cold for the missing boot, and carry boot and child back to the front steps where the two could be reunited.

Now, a mere three minutes into the outdoor romp, the snow was no longer fun, and the children, now cold and snow-coated, would be ready to go back in the house to warm up.

And that, Friends, is the winter stuck-ness I’m feeling.

Today’s prompt is Reclaiming. Use this word as your jumping off point or simply as a word within your post. Write about reclaiming something from your past, taking up an old hobby, or re-examining a memory. Is there something in your life you need or want to reclaim? Is there something that has reclaimed you?  If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

Reclaiming

I am working on reclaiming my life.

Reclaiming it in bits and pieces.

A moment of clarity one day acts as a building block for tomorrow.

Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Finding what has been lost over the years.

I’m working them back together like a puzzle. My young woman figure is likely gone forever, but other things—my time, my identity, my voice—these I am reclaiming. Bit by bit, piece by piece, one piece at a time.

Like boards of weathered wood from a long-forgotten barn, each fragment reclaimed builds my character and strengthens my resolve to move ahead. To make necessary changes. To become the best new-life-phase-self I can be.

Pieces of old brass, newly polished, add sparkle and shine to help focus my attention on the process.

Knobs and hinges are added, finishing touches allowing doors to open and close without squeaking or rubbing. Many will be thrown wide open, welcoming new opportunities.

Some doors will be quietly closed, gently pushed until the latch clicks so they don’t reopen unexpectedly and request that I revisit whatever it is they hold at bay.

Still others will be locked, and the worn skeleton keys—jangling together—will be tossed from a cliff and into a deep ravine far below, minimizing the chances that I, or anyone else, will have access to those doors again.

But the reclaimed bits… they will grow and strengthen, and soon I will have much of myself back, but I will be different. The rough edges have been worn smooth by life. The sharp bits have become sharper as they’ve navigated life’s craggy terrain.

I won’t go back to the life I once knew—the person I was early in this journey—nor would I want that. I come to my reclaiming with greater experience, broader failures, innumerable successes. And with a great deal of love and care (and perhaps a healthy diet and some exercise) I can most definitely move from here to where I want to be.

It may be hard work, but it won’t be impossible.

Today’s prompt is Connection. Use this word as your jumping off point or simply as a word within your post. Write about connections. You might choose the connection of physical things, humans, or animals. Or you might examine connections of intangible ideas. Connection—where does the word lead you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please add a pingback to this prompt.

It’s easy to get lost amid the everyday clamor and chaos that fills our lives. There is a constant need to do, to produce, to improve, to churn out whatever it is we do—words, students, products, profits, etc. When did we become a society so connected to data and measurement and profit that we forgot to connect with humanity? We’ve forgotten to build connections with other humans. Life should not be a constant battle to improve our numbers and our output. It should be about connection, relationships, and what we are doing to better ourselves, our lives, and the lives of those around us.

Four days into my blogging challenge and I am trying to maintain a connection between where I started and where I am going. My purpose is to write, to get back to writing regularly, perhaps surpassing my previous one-to-two times per week, to bring joy back to my creative process. My purpose is to break free of the writers’ block that has held me back for too long. And my purpose is to help others do the same.

And so, I am seeking to build the connection between myself and my Muse. I want to connect with my ideas, nature, words, readers, and other writers. I want to build a community of readers and writers and join others in their community. By building a community, we can forge some much needed connections—connections we have forgotten along the way.

Today’s prompt is Optimism. Use this word as your jumping off point or simply as a word within your post. I always like to approach my life with optimism—perhaps too much sometimes. What is your overall mindset? Are you a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty person? What does optimism mean for you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please link to your blog in the comments and provide a pingback to this prompt.

The year always starts out in a tumultuous way. Seriously. Every year, for whatever reason, I expect a smooth transition from one year to the next. And every year, without fail, I spend January reeling from the challenges that come, one after another from the moment the clock strikes midnight on January first. It’s never a smooth transition. I don’t know why I expect one.

But with ever-present optimism, I know that things will get better. The year will settle into a rhythm—smoother than the turbulent beginnings might indicate. Projects will get done. New routines will be established, and peace will be found like a treasure that’s been lost.

2023 holds much promise. But just like any other year, it will surprise, it will disappoint, it will challenge (in good ways and bad), and it will march ahead, day-by-day, one day after another. May the surprises you encounter be wonderful, the disappointments be few, and the peace be a treasure you carry with you through the challenges you face.

Today’s prompt is Letting go. Use this phrase as the subject or simply as words within your post. We can’t walk into a new year with new goals if we are holding on to old habits or patterns that have been holding us back. Is there something—a ritual, a memory, an item, a person—that you have been holding on to? Would it do you good to let it go? What are you letting go of today, or what will you continue to carry with you? If you choose to take up the challenge, please link to your blog in the comments and provide a pingback to this prompt.

This year, I’m letting go of the things that hold me back. To start with, the things I own (material possessions) have multiplied in my life over the past many years as I have focused on raising my children. The things I have acquired fill my home in a way that no longer suits me. How much of this “stuff” is truly important? How much brings me joy? What do I really need? I have begun the process of donating, giving away, and otherwise letting go of all of the things that clutter up my home with no purpose. It is, in fact, a process, one that I have decided to approach as if I am moving out and would have to pack up and lug all this stuff with me. That way, if I actually do move, packing will be.

This year, I am letting go of as much negative energy as possible, which is a challenge with the negativity that infuses our society. But I am determined. Whether it’s ideas, attitudes, or people in my life, I am letting negativity go. It will roll off me as if I have a negative-proof coating. The fact is, life is short, and I’d rather focus on the good, on the positive, on the areas where I can make a difference.

Most importantly, I am letting go of others’ expectations. Society has this way of imposing on us what we should be. Should be according to whom?? According to celebrity reality show involving people who have never actually navigated what most of us consider reality? No thank you. Many days, my own expectations are hard enough to reach. This year, my expectations will be enough.

By letting go of the negative, I will make 2023 a most salubrious year!