For the month of March, each day I am writing and posting a slice of my life, hosted by Two Writing Teachers.
Slice of Life #22: Day 11/31:
Ten Observations
When I originally began writing this post, I felt stuck. Heck, I even felt a little panicked. It's only Day 11 of this challenge and I already felt like I had nothing worth writing about.
As I have done in the past, I turned to one of my favorite writing resources, Writing Toward Home. For me, reading Georgia Heard's work always inspires me. She gently reminds me that writing is not about grand adventures or how worldly you are. Instead, often the most powerful writing can often begin with what you notice, what you experience, and what you know.
Georgia Heard shares, "...our unmediated observations of the world become the foundation for writing" (69). In her short chapter called "Ten Observations a Day" she invites writers to record ten observations each day without commentary.
Keeping Georgia's advice in mind, Thursday afternoon I took a walk around my neighborhood. Below are ten things I observed:
An elderly couple walking hand in hand
A white cat watching birds from a windowsill
Patches of frozen ice on the edges of the sidewalk
The sun disappearing over the horizon
A disposable blue mask hanging on a chain link fence
A Cooper's Hawk flying overhead
Amazon packages waiting on a neighbor's front step
Geese resting on the frozen baseball field
A Black-Capped Chickadee perched on a barren branch
A teenager skateboarding with mittens on
In reflection, I realized that I could turn any of these observations into a slice.
Thank you, Georgia Heard.
This year, I have tried to write from every day experiences and slices. I do know that panic feeling and appreciate Heard's words.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, the same feeling I had this morning, and I, too, turned to a UNH "guru" who has inspired me. I am using this Georgia Heard inspiration. She is a soul worth heeding. (And I should no doubt add that book of hers to my library.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this simple, yet profound idea with us all. Georgia Heard was the guest speaker recently at a TCRWP event, and we all listened with rapt attention as she encouraged us to find doors that lead us to craft poetry. The way you organized this blog helped provided context, an exemplar, and a call to action. I appreciated your organization and how you included a text feature from Heard's book.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that even when you feel completely empty, using some mentor texts can get the energy back and a beautiful text appears.
ReplyDeleteYou have so much to write about and say, Trina, and I hope Georgia Heard’s wisdom continues to inspire you. This noticing is so important in every aspect of life. When I retired I thought I’d not find enough to write about. The opposite has been true. This month I keep adding to the list I started a week before the challenge and think I’ll have a long list of untapped topics come March 31. I literally try to see everything as a possible writing topic. Some weird things that are really normal have happened this month. You have lots of weird normal things going on too, I’m sure.
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