Liturgy of the Mundane Week 3 Writing Prompts
Habits. Habits are what fill your time. They allow your mind to repurpose the little yellow slide that fell off the playhouse as a garden trellis while you empty the dishwasher. I don’t have to think about brushing my teeth or driving to swim team. It’s a habit.
I have been trying to figure out how to live deeply and purely in the world, and one of the things I have come to suspect is that the things I do habitually could help out around here. It just might be true that to live meaningfully and not have dog hair piled knee deep in the corners, the tasks that make up my day can’t just do one thing. If you want to be exercise, you can’t just help me lose weight, you must also be able to clear my head. Sometimes that means walking the neighborhood works, sometimes not. What I am trying to say is this: the motions that fill my day need to be valuable in more than one way. If you are a task, you can also be a meditation. If you are a habit, you can help me live well. Brushing my teeth? Automatic. Looking in the mirror and remembering that I am beloved of God? Not so automatic. Toothbrushing, you know what to do! What if established habits can drive the life your are hoping for? Not ponies and rainbows. Deep reflective living.
That’s why I find so much hope in writing practice. When we sit down and write about the mundane things in our lives, it makes them work harder. This morning when I slipped on my fuzzy boots that are stained with last year’s snow and fraying badly, I couldn’t help but think about what my shoes say about me. I’m cheap. Also, I live to stand with my foot fully on the ground. I love being cozy. I am offended by being constricted. What taught me to see something habitual, like shoe-wearing, as meaningful? Writing practice. Putting on shoes means more when I harness it to wonder about who I am, and more meaning feels like a lovely idea.
So, sweet writers, let’s write again this week. Just a few minutes, fast and loose. Catching all the beautiful, dreadful, revealing things that rise.
Monday: What I no longer see…
Tuesday: What I no longer hear…
Wednesday: What I no longer smell…
Thursday: What I am not noticing…
Friday: Someone I am not noticing…
Writing Practice Rules:
Grab a pen and paper or dictation device or computer
Write/record the prompt at the top of your page
Set a timer (you can adjust the time to suit your needs…I keep the practices short so they don’t seem overwhelming)
Take a few moments to visualize what the prompt is bringing up
Write or speak or type!! Try not to edit or criticize. Just write.
Write the details of what is coming up. I call this catching what rises.
If you get stuck, make loops with your pen or nonsense syllables with your voice or tap the keyboard
Write the details of what you are seeing until the timer goes off