Please
note that this post is not sponsored in any way. I’m not affiliated with, recommending or
receiving payment from any person, company or organization mentioned. I simply wanted to share with you what I
consider to be an intriguing concept.
I’m interrupting my own regular programming here by taking a break
from the series of posts recounting last spring’s Big Switcheroo journey
to Florida and back. Why? Because I’ve had some thoughts tumbling
around in my head recently that are refusing to leave until they’ve been
articulated, and those thoughts are being pretty insistent about it. This post is going to start off slowly because
I need to provide you with the backstory.
Please hang in there; the post is about a concept that I truly believe
can enrich your life. Important
note: If the words “journaling” and “writing
prompts” widen your eyes, bring terror to your soul and make you want to give
your Nikes a good workout by running immediately in the other direction, just
take a deep breath and keep reading. You
can do this. Really.
I have to thank Kristen over at The Frugal Girl for inspiring this
post. (You can access her blog from the
list of My Favorite Blogs in the
column at the right.) Kristen recently
shared with her readers that she had started a personal blog having nothing to
do with frugality. Having come across a
list of writing prompts via a company called Rustico, Kristen decided to use
the prompts to jumpstart personal essays on this new blog to feed her creative
soul. (It’s called Kristen, Prompted and, if you’re interested, feel free to hop on
over and check it out - link HERE. Just
don’t get so enthralled that you forget to come back.)
Kristen is using a list called 365 Days of Writing Prompts
developed by the folks at Rustico, a company that creates stylish journaling
supplies of high quality, and she was kind enough to provide a link to that
list for her readers. (I’ve done the
same at the end of this post.) The responses to the prompts (in blue) are my own.
January 22nd – Things you always did with your Dad
On some Sunday mornings, while my Mom was preparing our Sunday
dinner, my Dad and I would take a sleeve of graham crackers to the small zoo in our
town to feed the goats and the llamas.
On other Sunday mornings, we’d go down to the big creek and skip stones. On the really good days, we did both.
Before we go any further, there is something you should know. At different times throughout my life, I’ve
been discouraged from using the word “hate” because “it’s such a strong word.” Well, sometimes a strong word is just what you
need and I HATE journaling. Yup, I enjoy
creative writing and I love blogging about our State and National Parks and the
RV lifestyle, but I HATE journaling. I’m
pretty sure it’s because I’m a very private person, and journaling was forced
upon me at various times during my years of formal education. I was too naïve to figure out that I could
just make stuff up as I went along, so those journaling assignments were always
excruciatingly painful. Although I know
enough to “never say never,” I’m pretty darn sure that you’ll NEVER see me with
a personal journal in my hand. (Note to
my kids: Don’t even bother to look for a
Secret Diary filled with juicy tales from your mother’s life. It doesn’t exist.)
March 8th – The most disappointed you’ve ever been
I’ve loved horses for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, the woman who lived in
the upstairs apartment of my parents’ home, promised to take my Mom and me to
Florida to visit her brother who had a small horse farm. When the plan fell through due to her brother’s
illness, I was devastated. Still am.
Back to Rustico’s writing prompts . . . When Kristen announced her
new blog, I headed over there to check it out.
It’s obvious that this new outlet will, indeed, allow her to post items
of a more personal nature than what she generally covers in The Frugal Girl,
and a reader can tell that the prompts are resulting in some careful thought and
soul searching. Kristen’s essays prompted
me (sorry, just had to say that) to access the entire list over at Rustico and what I found,
really, was a gold mine. I don’t know if
the list of 365 prompts was created by a single person or an entire team but,
let me tell you, this is an incredible list of thought-provoking topics quite conducive to introspection. The mix is excellent – some prompts are just
for fun; others are extremely serious.
Some will tease great memories from the past out of you; others will
challenge you to give concentrated thought to what’s going on in your life
today. Some prompts will bring to mind
special people; others may re-open old wounds.
Every single one of them will make you think, feel, laugh, cry, remember
or dream. And you don’t have to write a
d*mn thing.
May 26th – Three things you want in a relationship
Honesty,
respect and trust
Why, oh why, am I bringing up this list of writing prompts in a blog about
travel and the RV lifestyle? Here’s
why: As avid RVers, Alan and I spend a
lot of time together in our truck, towing our retirement home from one delightful
location to another. We’re definitely
road trippers, and both of us are comfortable with a long stretch of open road
and the gorgeous scenery that accompanies it.
What better time and place to share our thoughts, our memories and (at
the risk of scaring Alan into silence) our feelings? The many companionable miles we share in the
cab of the pickup lend themselves to a quiet environment that breeds good
discussion. But then so would an evening
spent around a campfire or the quiet time we spend over our first cup of coffee
in the morning, watching the world wake up.
In fact, you don’t even have to go camping to put this list to good use. Tackling one of these prompts while on a
daily walk could add new insight to a facet of your life. Choosing one to discuss while sharing an
after dinner drink with your “someone special” could jumpstart an enlightening
exchange of ideas. (That being said, it’s
probably best not to dwell on some of these prompts if you’ve enjoyed too many after dinner drinks.)
August 21st – If you won the lottery what would you
do?
Pay
someone else to finish these prompts
Here’s my point: These
prompts are really, really good. If you
want to get to know your spouse better, almost any one of them would “prompt”
an insightful sharing of personal information.
If you want to know yourself better, find a quiet corner and challenge
yourself to consider one of the many prompts that, if addressed honestly,
may help you understand yourself, your past, and maybe even your future.
October 7th – Do you have a favorite National or State Park? (No, I did NOT make this up.)
Every.
Single. One.
Here’s my plan: I’m going
to print out this list of 365 prompts and keep it in the Camping folder that
travels with us. I won’t tell Alan that
it’s a list of writing prompts, though.
If I do, I know he’ll never get in the truck. And I can’t say that I’d blame him. How about you? How would you respond to one or more of
the five prompts above?
Special
thanks to Kristen at The Frugal Girl,
for inspiring me to look beyond a concept I didn’t like and magically transform
it into one I do. To access the list of 365 Days of Writing Prompts, just hop
on over to the Rustico web site (link HERE).
If you happen to love journaling, you might enjoy the story of how the company
came to be (link HERE). Their products
appear to be lovely and well-made. Just
don’t buy any for me, thank you very much!
Mary, this post is fantastic! I love your blog and following along with you on the many trips you have taken. Now, the detour into how to motivate and stimulate the process of writing really struck home for me. Yes, I am an ardent journal writer - and yes, sometimes the journal entry looks like blah blah blah! . Yes, I am an on again off again blogger- http://woodstockflea.blogspot.com/ https://viewfrommykitchenwindow-janine.blogspot.com/ - and I think a form of writers blog does prohibit me from making more entries. I'm excited to have a few new ideas to explore and expand my writing world. Cheers! Janine
ReplyDeleteJanine, I'm glad this post struck a chord with you (I was hoping it wasn't just me) and, of course, I'm delighted to know that you're enjoying the blog! I didn't think of this prior to reading your comment but now, considering your interest in genealogy, I'm thinking that some of these prompts would make good interview questions when asking family members about their lives and histories.
DeleteI'm with you Mary and don't journal. However, I really like your idea of printing out the prompts and then talking about things during a long road trip. Hmm, might be something I do for our 2,000 mile drive this summer ��
ReplyDeleteMy copy is already printed and in our Camping folder. (Sshhh! Don't tell Alan!) I'm sure you and Al find all kinds of things to talk about when you're on the road, just like Alan and I do. But being left-brain oriented, my mind would never come up with such creative questions, and I'm really looking forward to tackling some of them.
DeleteBy the way, just yesterday I finally had a chance to listen to the interview you had included on your last post over at Live, Laugh, RV. You did a splendid job! I know that you're more comfortable behind a camera than in front of one, but it's not obvious at all - you looked like a natural. Good for you!
Hmmm. I don't pretend to speak for all of us of the male gender, but I'm pretty sure this concept might not find all that many zealouts among the majority of us linear-thinking simpletons whose basic interests can be counted on one hand and, for some, have fingers left over. But not all of us, of course, are here just to waste oxygen and inflate the CO2 levels. While I am not much into reminiscing (it tends to frustrate me that I cannot actually go back and re-live the really good times), I could be interested in subjects that would inspire my snarky and satirical bent. These are not admirable traits, I know, and I try my best to throttle them in my blog, to varying degrees of success. But for you, I get it, and I say, "Go for it." I will light a candle for Alan.
ReplyDeleteDo you know what I think? This comment is a carefully constructed smoke screen, couched in thirty-five cent words and designed to hide the fear in your heart - the fear that your lovely wife will learn the answers to such things as what is your most embarrassing moment, the best practical joke you've ever played and the most outrageous thing you've ever done. (Don't you even think of criticizing my run on sentence, Mike Mills!) I think I'll send the list directly to Sandy, and then, my friend, we'll see who needs the candle!
DeleteOh gosh! I never figured you for such a fiendish scheme. Did I tell you I have a rather low pain threshold? (Another common trait of my gender.) There are a couple of things that provide a little protection if I should have to delve into something a ghastly as answering these questions you espouse. 1) Having lived with me for nearly 44 years, Sandy has been witness to some pretty peculiar things I've done. 2) At my age, I tend to have a significant loss of memory of acts in the distant past that could be viewed as, um, unseemly. By the way, you didn't say anything about telling the truth, so that's another 'out' that just occurred to me. Not wanting to give you the bum's rush or anything, but isn't it about time for you to get back to blogging about nature or something?
DeleteYou are too funny, Mike! Thank you for always brightening my day in such a delightful way!
Delete