Blog: September Writing Prompt - CENTER (September 26, 2022)

 

September is blurry. I won't bother with the dizziness of my schedule, but it's out of hand. I missed out on key things just because I couldn't juggle it all. This image hits home for that reason. It was chosen for my son when I compiled all the "Breathe" images in this series.

I missed my son's 30th birthday . . . twice. Is that possible? Yes. The previous year, I bought a greatly reduced ticket to a writer's conference this year. I did not realize that it overlapped his birthday. We pushed the celebration back a couple of days. My mom and step-dad made plans to travel. I made plans to travel. After a whirlwind month in Guatemala, I had left no margin in my schedule. It was just "laundry and GO!"

But I couldn't keep up.

I left town late every time. I tried to drive through the night to get to my son. I slept in bits here and there in my car. Then I hit a wall. I couldn't do it anymore. I got a hotel at 4 a.m. and slept. When I woke, I was ill. That was it for me. Not everyone was comfortable being around me with COVID symptoms (I did take a test, and it was negative).

I changed course and went to the next destination a day early: a camper on a lake.

It is at this place where I contemplated margins and focus (before flying off to the rescheduled celebration, a one-day conference, a nursing home visit, and postponed a trip to North Dakota). I thought about manuscripts and margins. They are absolutely necessary! One-inch margins, double-spaced, with Times New Roman 12 pt font. Always. What's more, each chapter starts one-third of the way down the physical manuscript page. What does my "life manuscript" look like? My draft might have all the formal formatting, but inbetween I've scribbled everything I can fit in!

But my challenge was (and still is) that I have too much to fit into my pages. I need to center. And so with this, I give you (and me) a very late writing prompt for September.

Stop. Breathe. Center.
This is an untimed exercise. If it's difficult to sit and focus without boundaries, go ahead and set a timer for 20 minutes. I am listening to https://youtu.be/lZA4HE7NP0o, so feel free to listen too.

1. Stop everything else. Set your environment (I like instrumental music), and do not write yet.
2. Breathe. Just breathe. That's it. :-)
3. Center. Let your mind get quiet and focus within.
4. Close your eyes and block out external stimuli.
5. If you have music, let your heart feel and respond to it.
6. If you do not have music, contemplate the image with this post.
7. Only write if and when you sense an importance to something you want to say.

Level Two Reflection
If words did not come during the main exercise, write and reflect afterward. What happened during your time? What does it mean to you?

Food for Thought and Action Step

I encourage you to embrace beauty where you find it. Even if the beauty is just giving yourself these handful of minutes to center yourself. I'm quite sure you will see more moments like these by making something like this a practice. What if only five minutes of your morning was like this? What if you did this in bed before ever rising to the day? I think I will try micro versions of this in the morning or evening and see what happens. :-)

Get your paper, pen, or computer and get ready to:

CENTER

Ready . . . set . . . write!

PS. Want a matching notebook for each month and theme (or just your favorites)? click here