Hope Writers Writing Challenge
I joined a writing challenge with Hope Writers on Instagram this week and it was exactly what I needed. The prompts motivated me to not only write everyday, but to also share what I was writing. It made me get to a point where it wasn’t about a polished, finished piece as it was about sharing and being in community. And that was the key to the experience for me. I found new writers through it, and I also got to see our Ink writers get inspired as well. I found myself so expectant to see what the writers around me were going to come up with and share. It was so much fun and such a freeing experience.
So anyway, here are the results of my prompts this week. All I have to say is that writing is an adventure, but like anything else… it’s so much better with friends around you that you can share it with. So here are a few accounts for you to enjoy as well if you’re interested.
Steve B
Beth A. Beckham
L.A. (Poetic Bella)
Ify Etuokwu
Lashunta
Heather Broughman
Debbie Rios
Laura Johnson
VOICE 5/10/2021
The value of a strong inner voice ✨ to hold every thought steady with integrity, to carry every opinion with love and understanding, to silence judgment and negativity and fill those gaps with assurance and creativity. I want my inner voice to be enduring, to hold my disposition with a highlight of confidence and joy. To value mischief and deep laughter that comes from the belly.
I want my inner voice to speak louder in the silence of a kind glance, encouraging gesture and patient stillness. I’d rather wait than step over someone. I’d rather listen than prove something. I’d rather stay calm and collect my thoughts than open my mouth and ruin a good moment. I’d rather work on my inner voice and let that tame and shape my tendency. It’s all right and wrong at some point and all we really need by the end of the day is a dash of color and melatonin in the sunset.
It’s good to pause the words from within for a time and grab a paintbrush instead.
REFRESH 5/11/2021
But maybe refreshment is getting a little bit lost, losing a little bit of control and becoming that much more weightless.
Don’t settle for anything less than a lifestyle of prayer and meditation, of trusting the release of responsibility in order to embrace it better later. Don’t hound your mind with all the misses, expectations and things you couldn’t control. They don’t define you. They don’t speak to who you are or aren’t. They’re just details.
But snow in Springtime, that’s a true wonder. Grace that releases pressure and weight, that’s beauty indescribable. Kind words. Reconciliation. Care for one another. Traveling. Discovering. Fully experiencing what it feels like to breathe deeply, that’s being present and alive.
Get a little lost. Make a grilled cheese sandwich. Tap your fingers to your own song. Find what refreshes you and do that as often as possible. Close your eyes and become weightless.
STORY 5/12/2021
Found this book in a little bookstore in Seattle. It was my favorite story growing up. I had actually been looking for it for years, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Who know I’d find it on a venture in a new city?! It was laying on the shelf just like this.
I couldn’t believe my eyes at first, but it’s in these small ways that I feel like God speaks and let’s me know that He cares about every detail in my life. It made this moment feel like I was meant to be there.
I have so many other stories from my time in Seattle, but I’ll leave you with this one tonight. I hope to share more in the future.
REMEMBER 5/14/2021
Remember who you are, not who others say you are or even who you feel like you are at times. Take time to process and then separate that out from your identity. Fix your posture.
Don’t settle for anyone less.
You trying to be someone else - is less.
You connecting your identity to anything you do - is less.
You trying to put yourself in a box - is less. Sift the sand.
Don’t cut yourself short when you’re just getting started. Pick up a paintbrush.
Remember who you are and don’t question it. Know who you are and stick with it, take walks with it, explore and discover new territories in it. Create a new word for it.
Remember you’re pretty cool, because who you are matters and others don’t have what you have. They don’t have the same perspective, art, words, experience, culture, thoughts, depth, song or story as you. Close your eyes, see and believe it.
MIDDLE 5/15/2021
Being right in the middle is a gift of space and time. Life and mischief. It might feel a little unseen, less important, but entirely defining moments come when you’re right there in the middle.
QUESTION 5/15/2021
I love questions! I believe questions are necessary. Part of me wonders if it’s because I think differently in ways so I’m constantly needing clarity. My mind tends to have so many options, I don’t always know which one to follow or how to move forward, but questions dig me out. Questions get me moving.
They’re the answer to perspective and life. A good question in itself links us to good insight. It reveals what does or doesn’t matter. It opens the door for clarity only to realize there is always room for more direction, because life and thought, tone and meaning, fact and perception all have so many options.
Questions are a gateway to adventure and later, a good night’s rest. They’re like quicksand to solid ground. To me, by asking a question that is the answer.
