The Creative Notebook

It’s cold and snowy here in Indiana today.  Being trapped inside on snowy days always gives me time to think.  I’ve been padding around the house in my hoodie and Smartwool socks thinking of an old friend who used to head up a writing workshop when I got out the phonebook to see if I could find her.

Somehow, fate was with me and I got her on the first try.  She doesn’t teach big workshops any more.  She has mobility problems and tells me she’s aged a lot since I last saw her, but invited me to come to her home and write with her.  Of course, I accepted.  She does have some people from the old workshops who keep in contact, and she offers them prompts they can come write on with her or work with her via email.  Today, I’m going to give you her prompt as she gave it to me.

I want them to remember me…………….

Finish the sentence.  Try to write for at least five minutes.  Her prompts were always timed.  Ready, set, write!

Do you sit at work, daydreaming about your ideal job?  Do you dream of working in an exotic job with lots of oversea travel?  Maybe your dream is simple, like my brother, who’d love to be in business for himself as a mechanic instead of working for someone else.  But you are held back, like him, by start-up cash.  He needs big money for car lifts to get his dream moving.  I’d love to either be a full time writer/artist, or have a shop for fiber artists and mixed media artists where we can all gather, take classes, and buy supplies.  I’m held back by money, too.

 What’s your dream job?  Pull out your journal and write about it.  Journal writing about your dreams may help manifest it into reality.

I have a sixteen year old.  I watch her make her way through high school, and it causes me to think back to my days in the same school.  So that’s our prompt for today.  Think back to your teen years, your high school days.  Do you have fond memories?  Would you rather forget it?  Were you Mr/Ms Popularity or did you hide in the back of the class.  Does school bring back wafts of formaldahyde from biology or the fragrance of acne treatment cream as you got dressed each morning?  Take out your journal and write about it.  Sketch your school.  Make a collage of things that remind you of your teen years.

We’ve upgraded to a digital tv and are ready for the big conversion.  It’s so much lighter and the tv stands we used to have to have are optional now since we can hang this one on the wall.  My old tv was huge and heavy.  I remember as a kid when we converted from rabbit ears and three channels to cable.  It was a huge deal and not everyone could afford cable if it was even available in your neighborhood.

How has t.v. changed for you?  How has it impacted your life?  Sometimes we take it for granted since everyone seems to have a television in each room of their house.  Write about it.

We’re going on a trip.  Imagine your dream destination.  Close your eyes and get ready.  We have our tickets.  Our bags are packed and we’ve got passport in hand. 

I want you to spend ten minutes writing in your journal as if you are there.  Record the sights and sounds.  Even the smells of flowers, restaurants, your hotel room.  Let yourself wonder on a virtual vacation.  Even google some pictures if you want and add them to your journal. 

You know the saying about Las Vegas.  “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Pretend your past is full of Las Vegas vacations.  What’s in your past that you’ve left in Vegas?  Have you made peace with those memories?  Pick up your journal and write about it.  Free yourself of you “Vegas” skeletons.  Tear out the pages and destroy them if you need to.

Now that we have spend a couple months in our new house, obviously homes, and what makes a house a home are on my mind.  So bear with me if I seem a bit obsessed right now. 

I’m finding things here, now that we’ve lived with it for a while, that I’d like to change.  One of them is my bathroom.  It horrible dark.  The wallpaper is dark.  The fixtures are all black….tub, toilet, shower, sinks.  Carpet is a dark burgundy.  It’s very dimly lit.  I’ve been looking at bathroom lighting to try and light it up a little better and looking at cheap fixes to brighten the walls a bit. 

What would you change about your house if you could?  Write about it.

How do you see your future?  Are you a planner with retirement savings already started and term life insurance plans up and running?  Do you fly by the seat of your pants, living for now?  Do you already have your dream home blueprints drawn out complete with rocking chairs on the front porch?  Maybe you plan to travel the world like a nomad without any one home tying you down.  Write about it.