Past exercises
8/23/10:
Describe a moment of
leaving home. Can you capture both the physical sensations as
well as the emotional nuances of this moment? What did home mean
to you?
8/16/10:
Describe a small
moment of attention from your day today. What does that moment reveal
about your nature? About the nature of the Sacred?
8/9/10:
What is the most
significant phone call you've ever received? Describe your
circumstances just before getting the call, write the story of the
call, and describe yourself immediately afterward. What shifted
inside of you as a result?
8/2/10:
Minneapolis air is
heavy now, anticipating yet another summer storm. Consider a
moment of heavy anticipation in your life prior to some huge
release--of news, of truth-telling, at the end of a life...
Describe that moment. See if you can capture all the layers
of emotion and the movement in your spirit.
7/26/10:
What significant event from
your past have you forgotten? Write what you know about this
event and how you know it, then reflect on why you suspect it's been
erased from your memory. What is the impact of forgetting on your
spiritual life?
7/19/10:
Describe a memorable
thunderstorm or other extreme weather. What was it like for you
to encounter nature's ferocity? Be sure to articulate your inner
world as well.
7/12/10:
Consider a childhood
memory of summer that epitomizes the season for you. Write that
memory, paying particular attention to the senses. Be sure to
include your inner world as a child--thoughts, feelings--as well as the
external world.
6/28/10:
For the past
few days I've been reflecting on a question that came to me in a dream:
What do I most need to do the greatest good in my world?
I've found it to be a rich question, and so I pose it to you. As
inspiration for writing memoir, I suggest thinking of a time when you
received what you needed and were able to do more good than previously.
Write that story.
6/21/10:
What landscape
most resonates with your being? Describe a moment in this
landscape, focusing most of your time on portraying the world around
you--the shape of the land, any architecture, any vegetation, the
quality of the light, etc--as well as your response. What can you
discover about yourself by contemplating this landscape?
6/14/10:
Continuing with the
theme of "Way" opening, consider a time when you wanted something--a
relationship, a job, a thing--and did not get it. Write the story
of this longing. How do you understand it now?
6/7/10:
The Quakers like to
say, "Proceed as the Way opens." Have you ever experienced "Way"
opening--God's or the world's welcome into a new manner of being?
Write this story, paying particular attention to the sensory
details.
5/31/10:
On this
Memorial Day, I invite you to consider the life of someone (you knew or
knew of) who has died during military service. Write a memory of how
this person's life intersected with yours.
5/24/10:
Recall a
fantasy or day dream from your first twenty years. Describe it in
a scene, including both the place and circumstances of your dreaming as
well as the content of the dream, in as much detail as you can
remember. Then consider Emily Bronte's thoughts on dreams:
"I’ve dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me
ever after, and changed my ideas: they’ve gone through and
through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind."
How has this fantasy or day dream altered the color of your mind?
5/17/10:
Recall a
secret you kept as a child, if only for a little bit. Write the
story of how that secret came to be, exploring what it revealed about
your inner and outer lives.
5/10/10:
Doubt is an
essential ingredient of faith. When has an experience of doubt
contributed significantly to your spiritual journey? Write this
story, paying particular attention to how the freedom to question,
explore, and doubt contributed to or diminished your faith.
5/3/10:
What is the
biggest question or doubt in your spiritual life right now? Can
you locate its origin? If so, write that scene. Then trace
the history of this question or doubt, describing moments when it arose
and any turning points in your relationship to it.
4/26/10:
Consider some
interior space where your spirit has felt at home. Describe the
place--the architecture, the furniture, the light, the decor, the
history, etc.--within a scene, a particular moment of you inhabiting
that place. Can you use the exterior space to help you explore
what it means to your spirit to be "at home"?
4/19/10:
Now that it's
spring, I'm spending a lot of time pushing Gwyn on the swing. The
motion calms her. When have you been comforted by a rocking
motion? Describe that moment. What happened in your body?
Your spirit? What other memories do you associate with this
motion?
4/12/10:
What bird most speaks to you? Describe any
significant encounters with this bird. What do you know about it?
In what ways does the life and behavior of this bird speak to
your inner life?
4/5/10:
Remember a moment of sheer and unmitigated joy.
Describe it. See if you can identify all the elements that
contributed to that joy--physical, spiritual, emotional, relational...
How is it today to remember this moment?
3/29/10:
Describe your experience of being a student at some
specific point in your life. Who was the teacher? What did
you learn? Explore your attitude toward learning. In what ways
did being a student intersect with your larger journey as a seeker?
3/22/10:
I'm still thinking about worship, perhaps because I both
long for it and find the reality amazingly frustrating. Describe
a moment of "worship" that in fact was the opposite. What
happened in your spirit?
3/15/10:
Have you ever experienced worship--in nature, in a church or
temple or synagogue, in solitude? Choose your most memorable
worship experience and describe it in detail. See if you can show the experience of worship.
What is it, exactly? What happens?
3/8/10:
On my walk this morning I heard woodpeckers hammering away and
cardinals singing--such welcome sounds after a winter of nothing but
house finches! The birds are returning. What else is
returning with the spring thaw? Spend some time listening to the
stirrings in your heart. Identify some quality, activity, or
feeling that has been absent from your life. Write the story of
its departure and its return.
3/1/10:
Find a photograph--preferably one on display in your home,
which you look at daily. Describe it in detail. Then write
around the photograph: What moment does it capture? What is
your felt response? What does it mean that this image greets you
in your day-to-day life? What is the spirit of the image, and how
does the image interact with your spirit?
2/22/10:
Describe a time from your past when your conscious
decisions changed your entire reality. Perhaps you chose to get
sober, or you chose to forgive someone, or you chose to practice yoga.
Write the scene of that moment of choosing, and allow your
writing to take you where it will. Then reflect: What does
this experience reveal to you about the power of your will? What
does it reveal about divine will?
2/15/10:
Surely romantic love has something to teach us about divine love.
Write a moment of tender connection or sexual tension or bitter
conflict with a sweetheart. Where do you see holiness shining
through that interaction?
2/8/10:
I've just participated in the annual winter ritual of ordering
seeds. Few things give me more pleasure in the depths of February
than starting seeds indoors, getting dirt under my nails, and imagining
the spring planting. Thus the inspiration for this exercise:
Recall a time when you participated in the planting or tending of
a plant's life. As best as possible, locate a specific moment and
particular plant. If nothing comes to mind, then consider one
year's garden or some biology assignment or a berry bush you picked.
Write the scene. Can you show the dynamic between human and
plant matter?
2/1/10:
The winter is getting awfully long here in Minnesota--a real test
of endurance. I suspect endurance is a spiritual quality,
although not one often discussed. Describe a moment of endurance.
How did it feel in your body? How did it challenge you
spiritually? What were the consequences of enduring?
1/25/10:
Write a memory of saying or singing grace before a
meal. Can you capture the sounds, smells, feelings, thoughts, and
social dimensions of that moment?
1/18/10:
In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and in keeping with our
exploration of grace, consider a person who has graced your life in
some small or large way. Choose one small moment of interacting
with this person--a moment that is emblematic of their embodiment of
grace--and describe it in detail.
1/11/10:
Describe a moment when you were aware of being touched by grace,
whatever that means to you. Then describe a moment when you were unaware, but afterward could
recognize the grace. If you wish, reflect on the relationship
between grace and our awareness.
1/4/10:
Grace is an elusive concept--I'd like to understand it
better, and so I'll offer the next few weeks' writing exercises as an
attempt. Consider one moment when you felt physically graceful.
Begin by describing the physical sensation, but then be sure to include
what was happening in your spirit. If you wish, afterward reflect
on what grace is.
12/28/09:
As we look toward the new year, consider the political,
environmental, or cultural news of 2009. Write one story of how
your private life was influenced by the public sphere this year.
12/21/09:
In honor of the solstice, consider some experience when
darkness was also sacred. Write that memory.
12/14/09:
We're finally blanketed with snow here in Minnesota, probably for
winter's duration. What is your fondest winter memory? Write that
story, and then explore what about the cold, snow, or dark invited that
fondness.
12/7/09:
Consider an intense and memorable experience of waiting.
Write at least a paragraph describing one moment during this waiting
period. What was happening physically? emotionally? in your
thoughts? surrounding you? Then reflect: What did this time
of waiting reveal to about the sacred? Finally, if you choose,
rewrite your moment also showing
this sacred revelation.
11/30/09:
Consider one of the ways you were grateful on
Thanksgiving. Journal about it: What experiences of lack or
absence have helped form your gratitude? Does your gratitude
spring from changes that occurred in you? What were they and how
did they come about? What exactly is your experience of
gratitude? Where does it spring from? Where is it directed?
11/23/09:
Describe an aesthetic moment when beauty (in nature, art,
another's body, etc.) moved you deeply. See if you can give your
reader your sensory experience of this moment by describing it
thoroughly.
11/16/09:
Virginia Woolf wrote an essay in which she asked why
more great literature doesn't address the topic of illness. With
flu season going around (and with my partner recovering from major
surgery), I invite you to remember a time when you were laid
up. What was the context? Describe your physical sensations,
and what impact they had on your spirit. Don't worry about
creating great literature, but do explore how the illness affected you.
11/9/09:
When have you experienced grace? Begin by writing
this memory. Then reflect on grace. What is it? Where
does it come from? How does it work in the world?
11/2/09:
In honor of All Souls' Day and All Saints' Day, consider a
loved one who has died. In what ways does this person is this
person still alive within you--your personality, your life choices,
your memories? Write a portrait of this loved one through the
lens of your own life.
10/26/09 Part 2: Now
consider all the people, creatures, systems, environments, etc.,
which supported you through your trial. Try rewriting your
memory, this time including a broader story. With hindsight, how
do your see your trial affecting the larger world?
10/19/09
Part 1: When have you walked through fire? Write an
experience of extreme trial. Who were you before this moment?
Who were you afterward?
10/12/09
Part 2:
Now rewrite this moment of transformation, this time
layering the internal world--emotions, thoughts, sensations--beside the
external. What about this experience can only be explored or
revealed by plumbing the interior?
10/5/09 Part
1:
Identify a small but significant moment of transformation
in your life. The first time you write it, attend only to
external details--your body, the setting, movements, the weather, other
people, etc. See if you can convey the experience of
transformation through this physical world. Pay attention to how
external details can sometime reveal the internal life without directly
addressing it.
9/28/09:
What is one belief you hold with passion? Write the
history of this belief--its origin, when and how it was tested, and
your relationship to it today.
9/21/09:
Like the mythical heroes of yore, all of us are
embarked on some sort of quest. What's yours? Write an
episode in your odyssey. (Thanks to Julie Neraas.)
9/14/09:
Make a timeline showing the moments in your life
when your spirituality underwent major revision. Choose one
moment that was clearly related to an event and write that story.
What changed?
9/7/09:
Perhaps because I used to teach seventh grade, I always grow
wistful and a bit anxious on Labor Day. What are some of your
most formative memories from school? Choose one that illustrates
the squelching or blossoming of your spirit, and write it using as much
sensory detail as possible.
8/31/09: Describe some
small daily ritual to which you remain absolutely faithful:
making your morning coffee, feeding and petting the cat, praying,
etc. What does your devotion to this ritual reveal about you?
About your beliefs? About your spirit's needs?
8/24/09:
What is your deepest desire today? What insights
from your memory can you apply to today?
8/17/09:
Write a memory of a time when you desired something and
that desire was or wasn't fulfilled. Then reflect on desire.
What role does it play in the life of your spirit? How do
you understand its outcome?
8/10/09:
Paradox lurks at the heart of any belief system worth its
salt. Consider some paradox central to your faith. For
instance, you might believe in the existence of God without any
tangible or scientific evidence. Or, like James Baldwin, you
might invest in the relentless pursuit of justice while simultaneously
accepting the world as it is. How do you hold these contradictions?
What stories can you tell about them?
8/3/09:
Consider an early encounter with fire
in your life.
Write that memory. Then reflect on the beauty, danger, and
sacred nature of the fire.
7/27/09:
Consider some organization of which
you are a part--a
church, a business, a nonprofit. Write a specific memory of
participating in this organization. Use that memory to explore
both your own spiritual life as well as the spiritual life of the
organization. How do they intersect? In what ways are you
both changed by the interaction? For good or ill? Where
does the Spirit reside in this interaction?
7/20/09:
When have you participated in helping something--a plant, a
child, an organization--to grow? Write that story. How did
the experience of growth influence your spiritual life?
7/13/09:
When have you encountered pure evil in the world? Write
that story. How did this encounter shape your beliefs?
7/6/09:
Consider an experience of weakness (physical, emotional,
relational) in your life. How do you understand the connection
between this weakness and spiritual strength? Write this story.
6/29/09:
Hooray for the season of fresh
strawberries and peas right
out of the garden! Describe the taste of your favorite June food
and any memories associated with it. You might also reflect on
the ways fresh food feeds your spirit.
6/22/09:
In honor of Father's Day, remember a
moment
when your father's
actions or words shaped your spiritual life, for good or ill. Write
that moment in detail, paying attention both to the outer, physical
details as well as the inner, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual
details.
6/15/09:
Recall an encounter with organized religion that enriched your
spirit. Write that scene. Then recall an encounter with
organized religion that damaged your spirit. Write that scene.
Then reflect: How do you hold both of these experiences
simultaneously?
6/8/09:
What's your earliest memory? Write it as a scene, with as
many sensory details as you can. Then reflect: Why do you
suppose is this the first thing you remember? What does it reveal
about your essential nature? What does it reveal about your
family of origin, or your place of origin? What might this memory
have to say to you today?
6/1/09:
Write out your most fervent prayer. Then write three
memories of when you have prayed this prayer. Can you describe
the emotions and the sensations of praying?
5/25/09:
In honor of Memorial Day, write a letter to a loved one who has
died. In what way did this person shape your spirit?
5/18/09:
Describe the eyes of someone you love. What memories or
reflections emerge?
5/11/09:
In honor of Mothers' Day, remember a moment when your mother's
actions or words shaped your spiritual life, for good or ill. Write
that moment in detail, paying attention both to the outer, physical
details as well as the inner, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual
details.
5/4/09:
When has a smell transported you from the present into the past?
Describe both scenes in great detail. What insights might
that memory have for today?
4/27/09:
Consider a night dream that's had a significant impact on you.
Begin by writing the dream as vividly as possible so as to invite
a reader into your experience. Skip a line and write a memory
that relates to this dream. Then skip another line and reflect on
both the dream and the memory.
4/20/09:
This week I'm inviting you to return to a previous bit of writing
that you feel has potential. Begin by rereading it. Circle
anything that surprises you--insights, language, images, emotions.
Choose one that has some energy for you and, in a journal or separate
file, expand that moment. Add more details. Add
reflections. Perhaps this moment will reveal other memories or
emotions. Use it as a gateway into more material.
4/13/09:
Another exercise inspired by Gwyn, who is now four months old:
Describe a moment when you cried. Be sure to include both
the external, physical sensations as well as the internal, emotional
story. What is the relationship between your spirit and your
tears?
4/6/09:
I'm a bit early with this week's exercise because I'm heading out
of town for a long weekend. Trips are exciting,
frightening, a lot of work, and opportunities for growth.
Write the story of a journey that changed you. Begin by
describing who you were before the journey. Be sure to touch on the
moments that wrought change. End by describing who you'd become
by the time you'd arrived home.
3/30/09:
Sometimes ordinary daily activities are more prayerful than
prayer or more meditative than meditation. For example, my mind
is most peaceful in the shower. Describe an ordinary daily
activity that is your form of contemplation. Can you show how
this happens?
3/23/09:
When have you communicated with the inanimate world and it has
communicated back to you? Write a moment of connection (or
prayer?).
3/16/09:
Write a character portrait of a good friend. Then write a
significant memory you've shared with this person. Finally,
reflect on how this friend--and friendship in general--feeds your
soul. Afterwards, can you combine these three elements into a
single piece?
3/9/09:
More than any other attribute of our lives, money reveals where
we truly place our hearts. Identify some area where your
use of money contradicts your professed values. Then identify a
memory related to this use of money. Write that memory, paying
particular attention to what was happening in your spirit in that
moment.
3/2/09:
As winter lumbers on here in Minnesota, I'm missing the color
green something terrible. Write a rhapsody for a color, including
as many brief memories of that particular color as you can.
2/23/09:
Write a story that's told about
you. If you remember the incident, write your own version of the
story. Then reflect: Why do others tell this story the way they
do? What is their truth? What is your truth?
2/16/09:
Most memoir explores the basic question, "Who am I?" Last week, I
read a memoir that also asked the question, "Whose am I?"
The author
answered this by exploring her relationship to family and to the
landscape of her childhood. I find this a profoundly spiritual
question. Write a significant memory from your childhood--a turning
point, a formative moment. Explore how this memory helps you
answer the question, "Whose am I?"
2/9/09:
Write about a significant moment in your life that you've
forgotten, or at least forgotten pieces of. Write the memories in
great detail. Then speculate about the blank parts. What
happened? Why did you forget? What roles do memory and
forgetting play in your sense of identity?
2/2/09:
Over the weekend, the Twin Cities had
a mid-winter
thaw--water running in the alleys, happy birds, and air warm enough to
enjoy without a hat. Of course this morning it's freezing again.
What in your spirit is enjoying a mid-winter thaw? What meaning do you
make of it being temporary?
1/28/09:
Make a chronological list of the major historical events that
have occurred in your lifetime. Then make a corresponding list
that identifies where you were in your personal or spiritual journey
during each of these events. Choose one event that has some
energy or interest for you and write a scene: Where were you?
How were you impacted by this event? See if you can weave
your inner story with this larger outer story.
1/19/09:
The winter is so bleak! Rather than fighting it, let's
allow the season to invite us into reflecting on our own bleak spells.
Describe a time when your spirit was gray. Try writing a
metaphor for that time--what was it like? Now that you have some
distance from that time, how do you understand it in the larger context
of your journey?
1/12/09:
What do you have faith in? Write a moment when you leaned
on faith to get through a rough time. Can you illustrate clearly
how exactly faith helped? What was the nature of your faith at
that time?
1/5/09:
With a month old baby in the house, I’m seeing a lot
of midnights and 3 a.m.’s. Which inspires this
exercise: Write a significant event or realization that occurred
in the middle of the night. Be sure to describe how the
night—the darkness, the sounds, the sleepers—affected you,
as well as your internal change.
12/29/08: Rather
than writing a new year’s resolution, write the story of a time
in your life when you resolved to make a terrific change and did.
What
exactly happened? Perhaps reflect on what components are
necessary to
bring about real change.
12/22/08: In honor of the
winter solstice, consider
the role of balance in your spiritual life. Write a memory when
opposites--darkness and light, hope and despair, acceptance and
rejection--resided together in your heart. See if you can connect the
inner experience of balance with the external scene of your memory.
12/15/08: I'm a bit late
with today's exercise due to a newborn in the house. Thus this
morning's exercise: Consider an emotion you've experienced and identify
the moment when you've felt that emotion most intensely. Describe. Be
sure to explore what other emotions are resident at the time as well.
(Need I say mine is joy, five days ago?)
12/8/08: Wonder is an
essential element of faith. Describe a recent moment of wonder, and
reflect on how that moment connects you with your source.
12/1/08: Up here in
Minnesota, the sun barely makes it over the tree-tops during the day
now that it's December. Darkness encroaches, the nearer we approach the
solstice. When have you experienced the vice of darkness on your heart?
What did that feel like? Write that story, remembering to ground
yourself in the present moment.
11/24/08: Since the economy
is on everyone's mind anyhow, we might as well write about it. What's
the relationship between your private economy and your spiritual life?
When finances are tight, what do you lean on? How might you further
integrate your faith into your budget? Begin by journaling. See if you
can include both a memory and a vision into your reflections.
11/17/08: Write
a rhapsody about your favorite color. Be sure to include specific
examples taken from memory. At some point, consider how your response
to this color reveals your relationship with whatever you name as
sacred.
11/10/08: Winter finally set
in here in Minneapolis--I've been enjoying time reading and knitting
beside the fire. I invite you to reflect on the element of fire. What
memories do you associate with fire? Candlelight? Campfires? Forest
fires? Choose one with energy and write it down, paying particular
attention to how the element of fire speaks to your spiritual life.
11/3/08: With election day
on Tuesday, this week is a good opportunity to write about being an
American. Consider a moment when your citizenship became relevent and
significant to you--perhaps when serving your country, perhaps after
9/11, perhaps when you were abroad. Write that memory. Then reflect:
How did your nationality in that moment affect your inner life?
10/27/08: This week we
celebrate Halloween and All Soul's Day, Dia de los Muertos.
Consider a loved one you've lost and write a moment of your lives
intersecting. In what ways does this person still shape your life or
personhood?
10/20/08: Fall is a good
time to reflect on letting go. Begin by describing the current change
of season. Then link that observation to a memory of releasing
something or someone important to you. Return to your present
observations and reflections to give your exercise closure.
10/13/08: A rainy morning
here in South Minneapolis. Write a rainy memory, and reflect on the
connection in that moment between the weather and your spirit.
10/06/08: Describe the
physical place you're inhabiting right now--the temperature, the light,
the sounds, etc. How does this external space mirror your interior
landscape? How does it contrast?
9/29/08: Doubt is a necessary part of faith.
Describe an experience of severe doubt, and how doubt affected the
orientation of your heart.
9/22/08: The tomato plants
in our garden are heavy with green fruit. I keep hoping for one more
hot day--and then just one more--so all that goodness doesn't go to
waste. I'm not a big fan of fried green tomatoes. Makes me think about
the many interests in my life that have never come to fruition. Choose
one of your own green tomatoes and write about it. When have you had to
let go of something that almost ripened, but not quite?
9/15/08: Geese have arrived
in Minneapolis, their way-station on the longer journey south. They'll
be here for another month or two until the cold and snow become
unbearable. When have you arrived at a resting point in your journey?
What happened during that time? How did stopping affect your movement
before and after?
9/8/08: Perhaps my all-time
favorite question for generating memoir is this: What event from my
past is relevant to my biggest dilemma today? This week I invite you to
answer this question, only with a spiritual bent. Identify the
spiritual question or dilemma most pressing in your life today. Then
ask yourself what memory informs this question or dilemma. Don't censor
or sort; write whatever comes to you first.
9/1/08: In most places
across the country, tomorrow is the first day of school. This week,
let's honor teachers by remembering one who touched our lives in some
significant way. Write a memory of encountering this person. Can you
show how the encounter shifted or shaped you?
8/25/08: What sound do you
associate with home? A late-summer cricket is singing in my lilac
bushes right now--a sound that wraps the house with familiarity.
Describe your sound, any memories it conjures, and explore how it
grounds your spirit in a particular place.
8/18/08: Choose a small but
significant memory from your childhood. Write it three times, first in
present tense from your childhood point of view; second in a close past
tense, recreating your childhood experience from an adult point of
view; and third from a distant past tense, allowing your narrator self
to reflect and interject about the childhood experience. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of using different tenses?
8/11/08:
Recall your freest, wildest moment of dancing. Take time to describe
that memory in detail--your muscle movements, the sensation of air on
your limbs, another person's touch, your breathing. Through your
description, can you illustrate what was happening in your spirit at
that moment?
8/4/08:
Thanks to Susan in Rochester, MN, for this exercise: When has your
imagination played a vital role in your spiritual growth? See if you
can write this experience as a story, located in a specific time and
place. Describe your imaginative work in as much detail as possible.
What changed?
7/28/08: Community
life--in a religious institution, in a neighborhood, in a workplace--is
so hard! And yet our communities nurture our souls in extraordinary
ways. This week I invite you to explore this paradox. Write about an
occasion when you were simultaneously hurt and fed by community.
7/21/08: Write a summer
memory from your childhood. Be sure to describe your physical being and
your young relationship to the physical world.
7/14/08: I'm curious about
how an active imagination feeds or impedes the spiritual life. Recall a
dream, fantasy, or imaginative riff you've experienced in your life.
Describe the scene, paying attention to both the exterior and interior
worlds. Then reflect: Did this dip into the imagination impact your
being? In what way? When and how do you see the results?
7/7/08: Well, the
strawberries are just about done berrying and the tart cherries almost
ready for picking...what an abundant season! Find a fruit or vegetable
currently in season and take a bite. Pay close attention to all your
sensations--feeling, smelling, tasting--and describe the experience as
best you can. Then keep writing, wherever the writing takes you.
6/30/08: As we head into the
week of July 4th, I'm thinking about the relationship between faith and
patriotism. How does your spiritual life inform your feelings toward
your country? Recall a specific instant--a moment serving your country,
marching in a parade, pledging allegiance describe what happened in
your spirit.
6/23/08: Choose a part of
your body--a hand, your eyes, a scar on your left elbow; begin by
describing it in detail. What stories are attached to this part of your
body? In what way does this bit of flesh reveal your spirit?
6/16/08: To (belatedly)
honor Father's Day, consider one attribute you share with your father.
Observe this attribute in yourself in writing, and link this to a
memory of your father.
6/9/08: After a weekend of
heavy rains, the air feels washed and new--a baptism of sorts. When
have you felt cleansed and renewed? What caused you to feel this way?
Write that story.
6/2/08: Yesterday I helped a
committee at church remove all the pews from our sanctuary and rip
paneling off the communion rail--a terrifying, destructive act in our
community's sacred space. Consider an experience of tearing down,
ripping up, smashing, or destroying something of value. Write the
physical details. What role does destruction play in your spiritual
journey, or in your community's spiritual journey?
5/26/08: Silence is a
central experience of many spiritual practices. Take a moment of quiet,
paying close attention to the nuances of this particular silence. Then
describe the "silence" in detail. What happens to your body? What do
you hear? What internal events occur--thoughts, feelings?
5/19/08: This weekend I had
a chance to walk for miles across an open prairie in southwest
Minnesota. I was struck by how profoundly our connection (or
disconnection) to the land affects our spiritual lives. Describe a
moment of profound relationship to land, be it a planter hanging from
an apartment window, a neighborhood park, or a grandparent's farm. How
has the land linked you to the divine?
5/12/08: In honor of
Mother's Day, consider one way your mother helped shape you. Can you
write a specific scene showing how this happened?
5/5/08: Because we are
human, we are full of contradictions. Choose a value you hold dearly
that you regularly fail to act upon. Perhaps you value love of neighbor
but never speak to the person next door. Perhaps you value
unconditional love but have high expectations of your children. Begin
by describing yourself in action, in a scene. Then use reflective
writing to explore your inherent contradictions.
4/28/08: Strong emotions can
open up secret passages into the past. The next time you're overtaken
by a powerful feeling, ask yourself when else you have felt this way.
Can you remember the first time? Write that story. Can you remember
your most potent experience of this emotion? Write that story. It's
also fruitful to journal about what spurred the feeling recently. How
might these memories inform your understanding of this emotion today?
4/21/08: Raking leaves off
of the garden yesterday, I uncovered a breathing brown lump--a toad.
Poor thing wasn't yet ready to end his hibernation. It makes me wonder:
when have I been uncovered before I was ready? And what were the
consequences? How do we know when it's time to wake up? I invite you to
write on an unasked-for awakening.
4/14/08: To
write well, we must pay close attention to the world. But writing helps
us pay attention. Consider an ordinary task you've already performed
today--brushing your teeth, heating water for tea, feeding the cat.
Describe it with attention to the layers of meaning within the task.
What does it say about your values? About your relationship to the
bigger world? About hope or love or endurance?
4/7/08: Articulate one
belief you hold dear--a belief about how the world works, a belief
about divinity, or a belief about yourself. Then identify some moment
in your life when this belief played an active role. For instance, when
did this belief take shape for you? When was it tested? When did you
lean on this belief? Write that scene.
3/31/08: Write
out in dialogue a significant conversation in your life. Then go back
and rewrite it, adding body language. Revisit it a third time, adding
the inner story--what was your emotional journey through this
conversation? Note how the bare bones of a dialogue can evolve into a
story.
3/23/08: Attend
to the first signs of spring. As we thaw out, what makes your heart
quicken--robin-song? a hint of green? the angle of the sun? Take time
to describe one slight change in the season and its impact on your
being.
3/17/08: Remember a favorite
food from your childhood. Describe it--and the circumstances of eating
it--in as much detail as possible. In what ways did this food nourish
you?
3/10/08: Describe
an encounter with a creature in the wild. What happened in that brief
(or prolonged) moment? What changed in you because of it?
3/1/08: Consider
an object from your childhood that you felt was holy. It might be
ordinary, like a teddy bear or picture on a wall, or it might be
connected to your religion of origin. Begin by describing the object.
Allow yourself to digress: What else do you remember? How did you
interact with this object? What did it mean to you?
Writing Exercise 1:
Write a metaphor describing your spiritual journey. Perhaps it is like
peeling the layers of an onion, or walking the labyrinth, or wearing
out a pair of shoes. Linger with your metaphor, allowing it to teach
you about your spiritual journey. Later, return to your metaphor for
the spiritual journey. Using this same metaphor, apply it to your
experience of writing. What does this metaphor have to teach you about
the writing journey?
Writing Exercise 2:
Consider a simple memory that haunts you. Make two lists: What you know
and what you don’t know about this memory. What interests you
most from each list? Write a short paragraph reflecting on these two
items.
Writing Exercise 3:
Create a list of names for the sacred, particularly those taught by
your tradition. Then create a list of images of the sacred taken from
your life. Note how the personal images create an emotional reaction
alongside a visual picture, while the abstractions remain vague, heady
concepts.
Writing Exercise 4:
Childhood epiphanies are a great place to start because the intervening
years give us perspective. Recall an epiphanal moment from your
childhood. Perhaps you realized something was beautiful, or you came
into a sudden consciousness (I remember the first time I realized that
I was thinking!), or you learned some terrible truth (about death,
about Santa Claus, about your family). Perhaps you had a religious
awakening. Write that story.
Writing Exercise 5:
Choose a small part of your home (a corner, a window, a wall) and
describe it in detail. What fills this space? How? What are your
emotional responses to it? After creating a clear picture and
reflecting on your relationship to the space, ask yourself, “How
does this external space reflect my internal space?”