Ordinary joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year? (Author: Brené Brown)
When I saw this prompt last night in my email inbox, I scoffed. “How many more ‘moments’ could these reverb people possibly want me to remember?” I thought, “don’t they know I have the memory of a drunk flea? Anyway, I have ANSWERED this one already. Day 2: Moment. Day 14: Appreciate. Day 15: List everything you want to remember in 5 minutes. It’s all moments. The world is made UP of moments. And it’s not like I don’t appreciate them. This whole damn blog is about moments. Joy and otherwise.”
After sleeping on it, and being woken at 4 am by one of the children, and then unable to get back to sleep for what seemed like two hours but was really more like one hour, I still don’t feel like answering the prompt. And, because it is this sort of exercise where you can take what you like and leave the rest, I do not at all feel like a failure. Hooray!
However. I did receive a (number of) wonderful Christmas gift(s) this year (including THE ROOM, which is the worst movie ever made, truly, worse than Battlefield Earth, even. Worse than Italian Stallion, Sylvester Stallone’s soft-core porn film) and among them, a 2011 calendar book. My in-laws, who know me well and also read this here blog, sent it to me.
“…its design is based on the original WWII poster commissioned by the British Government’s Ministry of Information.”
I love it. I feel it. I feel it so deeply in my soul it is like soul food.
However, I have a daytimer calendar book; I’ve had it for years and I just bought a new year’s worth of pages for it, at great personal emotional expense, as I took the children with me to Staples (the office supply superstore) stupidly thinking they would be fascinated by helping me choose the correct size pages for my daytimer calendar book. Need I say it, they were not. They went directly to the SAFE (holy misnomer, Batman!) display at the back of the store and attempted to pull hundreds of pounds of – what are safes made of? – heavy metal on top of themselves while the teenage staff glowered impotently at me.
All that BEFORE they discovered the pretzel M&M display.
So. I am invested in my old daytimer. But I love the new calendar book, so I must use it. I MUST USE IT. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.
I am thinking what I will do is this: I will use the new calendar book as a writing prompt book. I have enjoyed writing every day for #reverb10. It is good exercise. Having read the amazing posts of Amanda Practical Magic for Beginners who has written every day for a year a year A YEAR!1! I know it is possible to write every day on a blog and have it not totally suck. That is an understatement. Practical Magic for Beginners is fantastic. Also, she is writing five other books (might be an over or understatement) concurrently. I am such a slacker!
So, for the next week (and on) I will think up a bunch of prompts and write them in my new calendar book, one a day for the year, and then every day I will write something. Here.
Two questions:
1. Does that sound incredibly annoying to you? Because I have heard that some people who have The RSS feeds and whatnot get annoyed if their feeds get clogged up with daily posts from people they subscribe to. I, m’self, browse the WWW in a very old-fashioned, haphazard sort of way, where I use twitter and my bookmarked sites to read around, so I might get caught up on someone’s 18 most recent posts over a few days but the knowledge that they are posting every day is lost on me because I forget to check for days at a time.
2. Do you have any prompt suggestions? Please, no moments. Thanks.
I would be happy if you wrote everyday. And I would be half inclined to participate with you. I am digging these prompts (although I too am tired of the moments.) as for prompts: I say tell me about your favorites: dish soap, shoes, brands of kid clothing, writers, etc.
not annoying to me.
I do the same thing….I browse the old fashioned way… I check in here and there as time allows… when I find someone new – I usually bookmark and then read the archives.
I got no prompts for you at this time…. maybe I will be back. no moments. got it.
If you write, I’ll read! I always enjoy your posts
No suggestions for prompts though.
I have this same problem: attachment to the one (Moleskin) and another hastily purchased (also Moleskin, but bought in haste before the school bell and without proper examination in the wrong format. unusable for my keeping-track of everything purposes). Ergo two weekly minders.
My similar solution: to use the spare daily in order to put words in there before I put them out here. even though I do not blog every day, I *intend* to use the spare as a place to write something every day that is not ephemeral. (a tweet about chocolate say). An effort to catch the stray thoughts lost in the din of daily life & dishwater or otherwise squandered elsewhere.
(p.s. I have this logo / mantra tacked next to my computer in the kitchen. grin!)
I think it would be fabulous and not annoying. And frankly, 365 prompts by Clara in and of itself sounds like awesome.
I don’t have brilliant suggestions for prompts, but I can throw out a few ideas to jam on.
Write a sonnet about an object or scene you can see from where you’re sitting.
Boxers or Briefs?
Write an opinion piece about one of this week’s headline news issues in pirate speak.
Write 300 words from the perspective of a sheep at a petting zoo.
Haiku, do you?
Prove that bananas are the fruit of Satan (or of the gods).
What is the weirdest combination of foods you’ve ever put together and did it work?
My socks rock because…
Clara, if i don’t have something new to read from you every day I somehow feel ripped off!!!!Keep it coming Clara, YOU ROCK!!
I would read you daily and feel lucky. My blog tells me when you have posted but only if I check it, so I won’t be annoyed.
Prompts?
- my best teacher and what I learned
- what I’ve made that will last after I’m gone (other than your kids)
- my favourite body part
- what my parent’s did that I swore I’d never do – and have I done it.
I love you. I would read you daily. Hourly. I’m with Beth. I would read and feel lucky.
I am a near-daily poster myself, and I enjoy your posts, so I say post away.
But no pressure, or anything.
i am an rss reader, and i have to say i always get a hit of excitement when i see you have posted something new, so i too am in the, “do it!” camp. i dare you.
if you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
Do it! Do it! I gobble blog posts up like candy, and yours are an especially delicious flavor–like lime (my highest candy compliment!).
Um, maybe I’ve been nibbling on the candy in my stocking too much? You think?
I got nothin for prompts though–that would require things like forethought and not flying by the seat of your pants like my blogging.
You’re in my RSS, and I wouldn’t be annoyed because I like reading what you write. U r a wrtr and whatnot.
I’d be half-inclined to carry out your prompts, too. Here, take one: how do you feel about your gender? Do you ever have MOMENTS when you think you’d rather identify as a dude, or where you wish you had been born with equal and opposite equipment? Alternately, are you a “gender, ze is fluid” person or a “gender, she/he/it has clear boundaries” person?
Every day, yes please!
Prompt ideas:
Find five things in your garage you have not used in the past year. When was the last time you used each item? Do you feel you can get rid of them? Why or why not?
Think of a movie you saw at an impressionable age. (The first movie you saw, perhaps.) Do you think it affected your life view in any way? If yes, how so? Positively? Negatively?
How did your body change after child birth? What surprised you? What didn’t?
these are some good prompts…. people.
I heard something interesting on CBC today, topics to talk about with your kids at the dinner table. The person on the radio said that she loves reading obituaries because they are so facinating. Seems like a good place to start for writing ideas and maybe new characters for your writing material.
I am your biggest fan! I look forward to reading your blog and catching up when I haven’t been able to for a while. Keep writing … every day if you can.
Prompt: What one decision (voluntary or involuntary) changed your life the most? In other words, what did you do or not do that led you on this path in life?