One of my favorites, by Rene Magritte. What's one of yours?
Time is flying. With a new year well underway, and a year of birthdays begun, it’s good to pause and consider how the timbres and tones that color our memories are affected by the people in our lives at the time. It could be that I have just experienced one of, if not the happiest and most memorable birthday in my life so far. That’s saying a lot, because there have been some “doozies,” as my college roomie, Maria, used to say.
Some of the sweeter celebrations still bring happy tears to my eyes because of things that have happened since then to the people I’ve loved. Going back to childhood, there were so many birthday parties of school chums and neighborhood friends, my siblings and parents, other relatives, and mine. It seemed we were always participants at one celebration or another.
I haven’t provided journaling prompts here in a while. For anyone who wants to give it a try, here you go. Choose one, two, or all five. Write for five minutes, then write for five more, and maybe five more…. (No need to comment here, but feel free if you discover something about this process that might be helpful to others. Thank you.)
1. Tell about your most precious birthday so far. Use all five of your senses.
2. Write about a birthday where you wish you could have a “do over.” How might you do it differently today or next time?
3. Recall three birthday parties you attended in your school days or just last year. Tell about each one. What was similar? What was different? Be descriptive.
4. Tell about a family, neighborhood, school, or work character and how they stood out at one celebration. See if you can build to a climax or crescendo. Go ahead and exaggerate. Use all the hyperbole you want.
5. Plan your dream birthday. Walk on the wild side and land on the moon if you like. Or take a quiet walk in the mountains and sit down with Jesus, the Buddha, or someone you miss. What do you want to tell them? What do they have to tell you? Listen….
