When we gather intentionally to write, we never know what threads may appear on the page and where they might lead us. A memory, a story, subconscious thoughts; a pocket of words that opens something deep within. We simmer with stories, with unspoken and unexpressed things that are filled with possibilities for our creative lives.
Here’s the result of a 3-minute exercise inspired by a prompt around ‘quality of light’:
It was night, moonlight, full beam. One of those crisp cold nights when the stars fill the sky - not a cloud, but galaxies, milky ways. We stood on a small hillock - she’d called us out to listen to the owls, hidden in forest trees, echoing. Her face was cream - milky moon-kissed - blue and gentle - silent as the night - still as the trees. Soft - as she was in heart, she was lifted, and careful, to listen to the world speaking with her.
It doesn’t necessarily make sense, but I felt a thread here, of energy, emotion; a clear memory spilling forth. What could this be? A poem perhaps?
We stood on a small hillock
moonlight
on full beam.
She’d called us out to listen
to the owls
hidden in forest trees, echoing.
Her face, milky moon-kissed,
blue and gentle,
she was silent as the night,
still as the trees.
She lifted me,
and was careful
to listen to the world
speaking with her.
(Jane Alexandra Cormack)
Or a snippet to add to a short story, a paragraph to bring into a novel or essay perhaps?
The practice is to just write, noticing what ‘drops in,’ inspired by that spark. Some threads of what we write call us back to look again, wanting to go somewhere, tapping on our shoulders. It’s a felt sense, a subtle pull that lets us know there is something to discover there. And that something, often leads us to discover something about ourselves through the process of listening and allowing the unfolding to happen.
I wrote the short paragraph above during our HYDRATE online workshop last month, having only a few minutes while hosting the group, to scribble some sparks based on the prompt. It’s still in development, and I don’t yet know where/if it will go anywhere, (aside from here!), but it doesn’t matter. The point is; this tiny piece became a portal. It created a visual that connected me to a memory of a beautiful moment that touched me - in the few minutes I took to write it, something opened and therefore, grew in me.
Such are the power of words that reflect our inner worlds. And the gentle power of gathering in a group to infuse moisture into our imaginations.
The same could be said for the threads in our lives that have a certain ‘aliveness,’ calling us to follow them into unknown new directions.
What threads of story are alive in you right now? Perhaps they are waiting to show you something, like a guidepost - pointing you in a direction that holds a gift?
If you’d like to explore and discover together, consider joining us for the next HYDRATE online workshop this coming Tuesday, 19th of December at 7pm.
It’s a space for women to gather, connect, and discover sparks of aliveness within themselves that emerge through their words like beams of light…
…which may just lead somewhere unexpected and surprising.
with love
Jane x
Learn more and register for HYDRATE - Inspiration to Rehydrate Your Writing Life. (This one is donation-based).