Choose a word for a place: Nordstroms, The Gap, Nebraska, South Africa, cellar, orchard, closet, Gramma's garden, beloved's shoulder, father's hands, train tracks, shooting star, hospital, Pottery Barn, museum, the core of your heart, somewhere else? 5 minutes. Choose another. Do them all?
There's poetry and a story everywhere, even in someone's kitchen, even in yours: What's in the refrigerator, what's on the shelves? What isn't? Take a look with an eye towards telling a story. What do you see? Who is this person? (Honesty with compassion, that's the ticket!)
For Your Journal: How are you present and attending to the poem or song that is your life?
What's on your desk? Look over the space where you write/create. What have you collected over years or recently. What's the story?
To Journal Discuss: Your life in 5-year chunks. A favorite song, poem or movie from each chunk. What do they tell you about you?
Second Act, New Beginning -- Tell about a time when you really turned the page. What was ending, what was beginning? How did you make the transition?
Choose a portrait...yours, one of someone else, even someone you don't know taken from a magazine. What was happening? What were their concerns, worries, hopes? What's the story?
For your journal/discussion/artist's retreat today: "Quality as a Way of Life." Just that. Quality...as a Way...of Life. What does it mean? What would it look like? What are 10 aspects of your present life on one end of a continuum; what are some basic "do-able" steps towards a corresponding goal, vision, or ideal on the other? How might taking one or two steps in the direction of your vision yield deeper Quality, fulfillment, or beauty today?
