Write Your Beginnings

Recall the first attempt of some kind.  It could involve learning techniques for a sport, a new language, a job, or developing a new friendship.

Write about the feelings, motivations and thoughts about launching into a new endeavor.

What experiences from the past did you bring to the present situation?

Did you feel a thrill or a dread at first?

How did you overcome obstacles?

What advice would you give to someone beginning ?

Foibles into Fable

A water bearer in India had two large pots. Each hung on the end of a pole he carried across his neck.  One pot had a crack and lost water. The other pot always delivered a full portion of water at the end of his walk from the stream to the master's house.

The cracked pot arrived only half full.  For two years the bearer delivered only one and a half pots full of water to his master's house.  The perfect pot was proud but the poor cracked pot felt ashamed of its imperfection and miserable it could only accomplish half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of its bitter failure, the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer.  "I am ashamed and want to apologize to you."

"What are you ashamed of?" asked the water bearer.

"I have been able to deliver only half my load because the crack in my side causes water to escape. You do all this work and don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.

The bearer smiled as he said, "As we return to the master's house I want you to notice the flowers along the path."

The old cracked pot looked and noticed the wild flowers in rainbow colors on a side of the path.

The water bearer said, "Did you notice the flowers are only on your side not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known your flaw.  I took advantage of it and planted seeds."

He continued, "Every day while we walked back from the stream, you've watered the seeds.  For two years I have been able to place them on the master's table.  Without you he would not have this treasure to grace his house."

SMILE!  Cracks and flaws make our lives together so rewarding and different.  

Light shines through our cracks. Blessed are the flexible for they do not bend out of shape.

Creative Write:  Write about your foibles in a fable.

Wander into a Write

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”  

 – John Muir



Henry David Thoreau's 1862 essay, "Walking," promotes his philosophy, "all good things are wild and free." He remarks about the connections of human beings and nature and criticizes individuals for their lack of a relationship with nature. During Thoreau's experiences of walking into the forest near his home, he compares nature's divinity and the spirit of walking with Christianity and mythology. 

Thoreau urges readers to marvel at the mythological wonders of sunset.

Charles Baudelaire

writes about the perfect stroller (the flâneur) in character, Monsieur Constantin Guys. 

In his essay, "The Painter of Modern Life" (1863),

he reveals Guys as a gentleman motivated by curiosity, joy and delight in new experiences. Guys observes the crowd in urban spaces as a "passionate spectator."  

He saunters and inspiration leads him to become an artist, a man of the world and, "spiritual citizen of the universe."  




“The external world is reborn upon his paper,” Baudelaire writes, “natural and more than natural . . . strange and endowed with an impulsive life like the soul of its creator.”

Creative Write:  Ramble, wander and wonder. Make notes about what crosses your path. Focus on interactions and individuals you meet in urban and natural settings.  Become a "passionate spectator."