Writing Assignment. 1.14

One of my intentions for the year is to actually write more. Or continue writing. Hopefully one day I may finish a project, Lord willing and maybe even become a published novelist, or essayist, or something –ist. And hopefully it is a good thing.

So to get myself started I found a few lists of writing prompts and practices to be able to continue and practice my own writing. Maybe even learn some more about myself in the process? Ruhroh.

This list has been sitting in my notebook for the last 14 days. Yes, since the beginning of the year. I have wanted to start, I have had the intention of starting, and have not. The first prompt scares me. And they only get a little bit harder as we go. It takes time and thought to come up with the answers. I don’t even care if they are good answers. Maybe I try too hard. Ok, I am heading in a tangent, I’ll bring it back.

So here is the prompt:

Five ways to win my heart.

That actually forces me to take a deeper look at myself. What really gets me? What am I attracted to?

I have actually had that writing assignment before. I had to list qualities, both surface and depth, of what attracts me to someone. In this particular case it was to the opposite gender, what I would look for in a significant other. But some of them, at least the depth, can be said for what I look for in a close friend too.

The other day someone let me in on something that warmed his or her heart. Feeling honored and privileged to be let in on this, even though it may have been a well-known fact about them that everyone on the planet knew, lucky to have it shared with me.

 “I’m a sucker for…”

That just melts my heart. 

Dialectic, sure. 

Maybe it really just comes down to word choice.

There is this movie, “Midnight in Paris”, that talks about that. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali (!) emphatically talk about how important, in their own styles and choices. Words you use say more about you than what you are describing sometimes.

I may or may not swoon a touch if someone were to call me a wordsmith. 

They know me, even a little more than I know myself.

One of my favorite songs is Lorde’s Ribs

. “We laugh until our ribs get tired.” How often do we think of laughing until our ribs get tired? Easily we jump to laughing until our bellies ache. Some of the best ab workouts I have had have come from laughing. But to laugh until our ribs get tired are from the deep, full belly laughs . Boisterous, you know the ones, full of happiness and pure joy. The ones you can’t hold back from, and the people around turn to look and laugh to themselves only wishing they could someday be that happy. That in love with life.

I guess that would be second thing, since I just spent a paragraph describing laughter. A life spent laughing is a life spent living. Which is super cliché, I know. But man, it is still pretty awesome when you get to laugh everyday.

A taste for adventure, whether that is trying new food, or new places in the city you live, or climbing a mountain, maybe even climbing a mountain in the nighttime. Trying new things, seeking out new experiences and opportunities. And learning from those things too. Routine is always a great thing, but sometimes shaking that routine around, to a slightly different rhythm can keep  life on your toes. But really that constant search for knowledge, learning and education. Reading new books, or reading the same ones, but getting new thoughts from them. So lovely.

The willingness to be silly. I don’t exactly stand in front of a crowd and dance in front of everyone, stone-cold sober just to win a prize I can’t even accept, but for bragging rights. Oh wait… maybe I did that once. And I won. Plus, getting my own awesome theme song is pretty darn rockabilly. But if you can bust out sweet dance moves in the kitchen while cooking dinner, you’ve got my attention. I’ve done some pretty silly things in my life. And really, it shows great confidence to be able to walk into a room, with paint, mud, chalk on your face, hair askew and messy, and be content. Or to snort when you laugh, because you just can’t hold back anymore. Making fun of yourself for making a mistake. Not self-deprecating, but a “ohmuhgarsh here we go, look what I did!” Willing to laugh.

camp gets crazy. 

And I guess if I had to put a finger on it, it would be confidence enough in yourself to stand alone in something. Or have the confidence to not fall to peer pressure or stand by your ambitions, values, ethics, morals. And play it positively too. You don’t have to rationalize, justify, or place blame on someone or something else. I respect people for their opinions, especially if you are able to respect mine too. We may not agree, but we can work together. Like, I don’t drink. People don’t always understand that, but I just don’t want to. Maybe one day, I will go back to sharing a glass of wine, but for right now, I just want to enjoy your company. No peer pressure, no snarky remarks, nothing like that, just talk, hang out and enjoy the time.

I don’t know about this list, but hey, kinda fun.

What about you readers? Anything you like that I missed?