Write On Wednesdays Exercise 19 - Sunshine in a cup. Write the words of Emily Dickinson: "Bring me sunshine in a cup" at the top of your page. Set a timer for 5 minutes. Write the first words that come into your head after the prompt. Don't take you pen off the page (or fingers off the keyboard). Stop only when the buzzer rings! Do this exercise over and over if you wish. Write beyond 5 minutes if you like, you can link it up as an extra post.
My interpretation of this is that the sunshine is Rock Chick happiness. It comes to her one small cupful at a time.
.................................................
The rich, fruity smell of loam filled the air. Soil crumbled between her fingertips like pastry in the making.
Eyes closed, breathing deeply, she sat back on her heels.
She felt ...
Cautiously she explored the feeling, half afraid that if it were disturbed it might vanish and she wouldn't be able to recapture it.
It was a good feeling she decided.
The sun was warm on her back. She pulled her top away from her neck. A sheen of perspiration lay along her collarbone.
Opening her eyes she looked around. A degree of order had been restored.
She had spent so long in a state of tumoil. What if's ... If only's ... please god's ...
For a while, she had lost sight of reality.
To continue in that vein could make it her reality forever and that wasn't the future she saw for herself.
All that had been so good would be forgotten, buried beneath a blanket of regret.
Everything that could be good in the future would be lost, stifled by sorrow.
It was time to start the healing process.
24 comments:
"Everything that could be good in the future would be lost, stifled by sorrow."
Guess that's what I'm trying to avoid! Good job on the piece.
That was beautiful. I loved the gardening vibe, and her determination to turn her life around. Good job!
Claire
crumbling like pastry was very evocative. Your writing gets better and better.
Thank you Claire :) gardening is a great way to empty your mind and put things into perspective.
Funnily enough I was going to say something similar to Adam.
It's partly about conscious choice. Some people are able to do this much more easily than others and very much more quickly. BUT we are all capable of it. All you need is the determination.
Thank you Pam (I'm still giggling at your post:)
I love how all your pieces have this self-discovery feature to them. Good job.
Love some the comparisons you use in your descriptions.
Wonderful writing. You have inpired me to try this exercise. It'll be fun for sure :-)
I cannot wait to see what you write next. I enjoy reading it as your style is so natural and flowing!
Cheers
Meg
Thanks TV. I hadn't consciously noticed that but I guess it's true. Rock Chick is evolving and changing all the time.
Thank you Meg :) Look forward to reading yours soon.
I liked this...it had a real, gritty (no pun intended) but soft element about it. I often fallback to writing about hope or resilience so it really drew me in...now to do mine...
Thank you Sarah.
I think that sums up Rock Chick really. She has inner strength but lacks hard edges which means that although she may bruise badly, she does heal in time.
I'll be checking back into WoW later so get writing girl ;)
Great piece, especially love the lines at the end, about healing. Many people use gardening to heal, and your interpretation of the prompt was great too :)
What if's ... If only's ... please god's ...For a while, she had lost sight of reality.
Truer words have never been written! Great job, it felt heartfelt and real. Real enough that it felt familiar to me. Perhaps I should take up gardening :)
Cautiously she explored the feeling, half afraid that if it were disturbed it might vanish and she wouldn't be able to recapture it.
Love this line
Sunshine from the earth, great story about healing.
This is cool - I love your interpretation...
Gardening for me is such an emotional thing. So full of 'what ifs'. I prepare the earth, buy a plant, plant it, water it and then slowly watch it die under my loving clueless ways.... I suppose life is like this too sometimes!!
LOVE this line - "Soil crumbled between her fingertips like pastry in the making."
Digging into the dirt with bare hands is so therapeutic. This is such a gentle, thoughtful piece, Sarah xx
Putting your physical world back into order sometimes helps put your internal world in order as well. I love how you wrote about that!
This is great! I LOVE this line 'Soil crumbled between her fingertips like pastry in the making.' As someone who (sorry) doesn't really appreciate gardening, this line really made me relate to the scene and I actually felt like I was enjoying it too. Almost made we want to give gardening a go...almost ;)
Great post! Your descriptions are wonderful and you have done a lot with five minutes!
I think that the line about soil crumbling between her fingers like pastry in the making is one of the best you have written. I loved it. It was like poetry.
Clever way to interpret the prompt, Sarah. Rock Chick is evolving and I wish lots of cupfuls of sunshine for her!
I agree with Gill, the crumbling pastry line is wonderful. I really enjoyed this piece, well done.
You make me want to go out and do some gardening... I HATE gardening! LOL! Nothing like putting your hands into soil to ground you though and you describe it so beautiful here. I loved the layer of perspiration of her collarbone!
I love your description here Sarah. So much of your writing is beautiful with lines that really stir the soul, well done!
Thanks Melissa, I find gardening very therapeutic.
So much of what I write is real Eloise. When people can identify with it, it make is all worthwhile :)
Thank you HoP, I suppose that feeling of contentment has been missing for RC for so long that she's a little afraid to acknowledge it.
Thanks Kirsty :)
So true B, I always carry on watering plant long after I should really give up.
I pour everything I have into them but sometimes that's just not enough.
Maybe they need to want to live as much as I want it for them.
Thank you Jayne, it is a calmer, more reflective period in RC life.
Thanks Fasm - Sometimes concentrating on the things you can control puts things into perspective a little,
Thanks Sherrie - gardening, cooking, decorating, a long walk ... Anything that gives positive results and burns off energy pretty much has the same affect.
Thank you Kerry. I often have an idea or even just a line in my head that fits with the prompt making it so much easier.
Thank You Gill, one little cupful at a time and hopefully many more to come :)
Thank you AS :)
Thank you Sif, I love gardening. Even the stuff that's really hard work is worth it for the end result. A bit like life sometimes.
Thank you Lene, comments like yours making it all worth it :)
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