It’s happening soon and I just wanted to share this message from someone other than myself about what happens in the Be Your Own Mentor Writing Room. We meet every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. PT. Private message me and I’ll send you the link!
[Friday Five-Minute Writing Prompt] My comfort and joy…
My comfort and joy…
Take out a fresh sheet of paper. Natalie Goldberg uses a “fast-writing” pen. I suggest using your favorite writing instrument and an unlined piece of colored paper for fun. I use a fountain pen with purple ink. Some folks opt to use a computer. Please remember that typing puts you in another part of your brain. I believe you have greater access to messages from your soul with the pen to paper. However, if you are not physically able to write, then just open a new word document on your computer and go for it. The point is to keep your fingers moving for five minutes and not stop. I want you to experience how much writing can be accomplished in a short period.
If you get stuck, just repeat the writing prompt – My idea of comfort and joy... or any other phrase that is comfortable for you. Do not stop to edit, correct spelling, look up a better word, or rearrange a sentence. Do not question what comes up in the five minutes: this doesn’t make sense, where did that come from, or what a crazy notion. This is a timed writing exercise so be sure to set the timer on your watch, phone, microwave, computer, or kitchen stove. Whether you use an egg timer, a No. 2 pencil and a spiral notebook, your iPad, or even your iPhone, the theory is the same. Keep your hand and fingers moving and have fun taking dictation from your unconscious self. Make a list, hum a tune, write a poem, or create a short, short story. This is your time to explore and experiment.
Photo credit: jamienease.com
Longing for home at the holidays…
There’s no place like home for the holidays…that’s what the song says.
What does home mean to you? What does it look like?
It can be a
- place…specific geographic location (as in this picture of the family farm)
- feeling…when we are lost in reading/writing our favorite genre
- person… representing that sense of well-being
I believe home is whatever makes you feel always welcome, comfortable, nurtured, and cherished.
Thomas Wolfe said, “we can’t go home again.“
I agree with Mr. Wolfe that you can’t go “home” again. It is physically and emotionally impossible to return to the specific point in time we yearn to revisit. Picture a six-years-old and cuddled up on Grandma’s lap being smothered with kisses and attention, a 12-year-old who won that science award, when you had that first confirmation of your writing abilities and say your by-line “published” in the junior college literary magazine.
Dorothy figured out that “there’s no place like home.”
I am also in agreement with Dorothy. As much as she found Oz magical, Kansas was her real land of enchantment of family, friends and connection to her heart. Wherever we call home, that address possesses the ability to inspire ease and delicious comfort for us.
“I long,” Maya Angelou tells us, “as does every human being, to be at home within myself.”
Ah yes, I fully embrace Maya Angelou’s sentiments. As much as it is important to have an environment, which fosters an atmosphere of growth and understanding, we cannot ever hope to be at “home” in any physical surroundings, if we are not first at “home” within ourselves. The address could be a palace, grand estate or a tiny apartment, but if you are not comfortable in your own skin…are you really living a life unleashed?
How do you come to be at home within yourself?
The answer is not simple… it is a lifelong journey.
I believe the inside track in finding the path to be at home within yourself is to write. Writing allows you to reach down deep inside yourself. Writing is how to you bridge the gap between the surface story and the emotional drama below the façade.
What does home mean to you?
Please comment below, or hop over to my Facebook page and share with me what home means to you.
During this season of giving, stop all the hustle and bustle to give yourself some time…indulge in a little “me” time and curl up with your journal and a cup of tea.
Photo credit: Dreamstime.com
[Free Training] 10 Simple Ideas for a Joy filled holiday and all year through
Your day-to-day schedule is jam-packed…now add the shopping, wrapping, mailing, and holiday prep on top of it all. You may feel as if you are burning the candle at both ends!
Apart from considering cloning yourself, how do you manage it all? Consider creating a sort of Holiday Bucket list of things that you want to have happen, and things that you aspire to:
- Acknowledge the important people in your life with a hand-written note, a thoughtful gift, or better still, make plans to spend time together when the world stage allows for such gatherings.
- Delegate…get the team/family involved in as much as you can. Share the tasks and let others take ownership of whatever task or activity of the season.
- Design a plan to achieve goals that have eluded you, and discard the ones that no longer serve you.
- Spend time indulging in old movies with lots of heart…this time of year they are running holiday movies (I want to watch them all!). It is so much fun to tune in and find a classic where a popular actor/actress is playing a bit part with youthful exuberance.
- What was your favorite treat as a kid? Give yourself permission to savor sugar cookies made with real butter and lots of sugar on top.
- Prescribe water therapy for yourself. Sink into a sweet-smelling bubble bath. Try it by candlelight…pure bliss!
- Let your mind drift sitting in the sunshine with a cup of something delicious and nothing to do but feel the sun’s warmth on your face.
- Confiding in your journal is an excellent stress relief strategy.
- Skim through travel brochures and imagine living in another part of the world. Not just visiting for a temporary taste of life there, but spending months at a time to become part of the community and really develop a rhythm of life there. (The power of visualization may lead to actualization!)
- Create a collage (Vision/Dream Board) to represent what want your life to be like next year.
Photo credit: Dreamstime.com
[Friday Five-Minute Writing Prompt] My grown-up Christmas wish…
My grown-up Christmas wish…
Take out a fresh sheet of paper. Natalie Goldberg uses a “fast-writing” pen. I suggest using your favorite writing instrument and an unlined piece of colored paper for fun. I use a fountain pen with purple ink. Some folks opt to use a computer. Please remember that typing puts you in another part of your brain. I believe you have greater access to messages from your soul with the pen to paper. However, if you are not physically able to write, then just open a new word document on your computer and go for it. The point is to keep your fingers moving for five minutes and not stop. I want you to experience how much writing can be accomplished in a short period.
If you get stuck, just repeat the writing prompt – My grown-up Christmas wish... or any other phrase that is comfortable for you. Do not stop to edit, correct spelling, look up a better word, or rearrange a sentence. Do not question what comes up in the five minutes: this doesn’t make sense, where did that come from, or what a crazy notion. This is a timed writing exercise so be sure to set the timer on your watch, phone, microwave, computer, or kitchen stove. Whether you use an egg timer, a No. 2 pencil and a spiral notebook, your iPad, or even your iPhone, the theory is the same. Keep your hand and fingers moving and have fun taking dictation from your unconscious self. Make a list, hum a tune, write a poem, or create a short, short story. This is your time to explore and experiment.
Photo credit: jamienease.com
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