Have you heard of the Mindful Writing Challenge for January 2013? I read about it on Writing into Radiance and loved the concept. It’s about being mindful of the physical world. To foster that appreciation, write one “small stone”–a very short prose or poetry piece–which responds to beauty one encounters that day. Actually, it’s not just beauty–that’s my leap. And my mistake. Don’t look only for beauty.
Their short version is very simple:
1. Notice something properly every day during January.
2. Write it down.
The idea is to write one a day for the month of January. It’s your choice how to share or collect your pieces–singly or in a group.
OK, I admit it: I was still confused after I digested this idea. What did small stones look like? Loose pebbles? A gravel pit?
From reading up on the notion still more, it seems that Haiku is fine, but so are a couple of descriptive lines which evoke the experience for readers.
I tried one on January 1:
Against the sky’s palm,
black sprigged ropes crisscrossed
until a boom ignited a thousand birds
scattering abroad, alone
OK, so it’s not a poem. It’s not very good. But it begins to capture the experience for me. By focusing I can be “in the moment” with the birds. If I wanted to begin a poem from this image, I’d have to figure out how to convey that empty-handed feeling after the birds are gone. Then I risk going into the “one in the hand” cliché and that’s the end of the poem.
On January 2, I tried another:
The mountain splits the sunlight in half, and the oleander tree, its leaves glittering as though wet under bright rays, sidles up to the bare January tree which waits in shadow, dry and brittle. The sun slips a degree, illuminating the green leaves which reflect onto the bare trunk of the tree next to it. Now both trees shine.
I wasn’t sure what kind of tree that was, winter-naked as if it were Michigan here in Arizona. It just looked like January. I guess I can omit the word January.
The next day I felt frustrated and wanted to spend more time on my moment and less on figuring out what a small stone looks like.
Light tricks skewer the ground. I’m not sure where to step along the wash, barricaded by shadow and scrub. Stumbling on a half-buried boulder, I try to right myself, but there’s nothing to clutch and I fall. As I haul myself up, I’m haunted by the weight of what isn’t there.
Lots of shadows and light and black in my early January stones. I haven’t quite got the hang of it yet, but I started having fun walking the wash for this last one, so I will keep trying until I get my gravel pit.
I like all of them! I am intrigued enough to give this one a try myself! Thanks!! 🙂
Thanks, Janice. I’m trying. I hope by the end of the month I know what I’m doing! Good luck with this!
Thanks, Janice! Good luck and let me know how it goes! Luanne
I might try this! Yours are great!
Julie, I hope you do. I can’t wait to see some!
Luanne
I’m so glad you are going to join the January challenge. What I like about these is the free form quality and the fact that there is no right way to do them. The purpose is to just be in the moment with something in your world. Love all the ones you posted.
Teresa, thank you so much for the information and inspiration! I need to let go a bit for this to be most effective.
Really love this idea! May take a shot or two at this challenge myself.
I’d love to see what you come up with!!
Luanne
I think that’s what this challenge teaches you. To write what you feel/see in the moment…doesn’t really matter how it comes out.
Jo, good point! I love your blog and am glad I found it today!
Luanne
This is my first “Small stones” challenge. I read about them throughout the past couple of years, but couldn’t quite grasp “what to do” … and still felt I did not have a clue but I jumped in this year anyway — wrong or right — and each day feel a bit better about it … it doesn’t really matter, as long as I am “fully present in one moment” of the day — and make note of it with meaning for me. I enjoyed reading yours.
Becca, yes, I so agree–full present in that one moment!!! That is something that eluded me for years! Thank you for reading.
Great idea and examples! These stones maybe are seeds, wjk
Wilma, that’s it! They are seeds, too.
I’m a bit late to the party, but keen to give this a go – thanks for sharing, Luce!
Ooh, good. Let me know how you do!
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So lovely. What a great and ever-ready place to find inspiration — the natural world. I think your poems are great. Love that photo of the birds on the lines.
Ashley, thank you so much for your kind words and for reading!
Luanne
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