swishing the toilets,
cleaning the house, I ready
the mind to write
[haiku by Shin Yu Pai, from Ensō]
How do you ready yourself to write? Some people need a certain pen, or to sit at a certain desk, or a certain place on their couch. I like to sit with my dog, Bug, and write–pictured below. Some people write on the bus as they ride to school or work, or at school or work (I used to write my poems in class, in my notebooks–don’t tell my professors, ha). It is good to have a sense of ritual–to figure out the rhythms of your days, to try and identify what they are. Every other week, on Thursday evenings, I drive one of my children to an appointment, and I sit in the car for an hour and wait for them–that is a guaranteed quiet hour. I usually take a book with me. Try to figure out when your quiet hours are, and write or read during them. Feed yourself, your mind. Your body is not the only part of yourself that is hungry. I talk more about Bug and squeezing in writing time here.
Your writing prompt this week is to locate a regular time to write–take a look at your planner, and identify a quiet time, an odd half hour that you usually spend scrolling on your phone (haha, I do that, too). Now set down your phone, and write about the things you had to do before you allowed yourself the time and space to write. Write down some images of things you noticed throughout the day. Anything you noticed outside? Sounds you can hear as you write? Colors? Light? Scents? Enjoy the grounding time of your own writing. I especially encourage you to write longhand, with paper and a pen or pencil.
The Line Break 