Author: carolyncordon

Thirteen, lucky for some, silly superstition for others. But many of us have some kind of superstition, a little something perhaps, or a life time of huge limitations … Black cats have suffered at times from people’s fear of what they may cause to happen, and superstition may teach us to be careful around ladders, which isn’t a bad thing, is it?

Letting superstitions rule your life though, is not a good thing. The truth is that coincidences can become confused with cause and result, and actual truth gets thrown away, in place of superstitions – mistaken beliefs. 

If you have any thoughts about superstitions, why not write about them poetically, because on this thirteenth day of February, SUPERSTITION is the word of the day. And if you see a four leaf clover in the lawn today, you’ve obviously been on the grass! 

I have some horseshoes around the place outside, one hanging on a fence, but I don’t hold to the idea these discarded rusted items will bring any particular ‘good luck’. And if someone around me sneezes, I may well say ‘Bless you’, even though I don’t believe I’m preventing the devil from stealing that person’s soul.

I’m a realist, in the main, and can be cynical, but try not to be in a bad way. I like to think on it as being careful about the truth of things. So, superstitions are things we might inherit, simply because of the society we live in, or they may come to us through trying to make sense of our life experience.

They idea of ‘Superstition’ certainly has attracted the attention of songwriters and musicians over the years. From Stevie Wonder back in the seventies, to more modern times, superstition is a common theme in the songs we hear.

Finding the reason why things happen is such a human thing to do. Do Owls have any thoughts about full moons, or do they just get on with their normal night time things, but with more light? Who knows, not I, that’s for sure. 

It’s time to drag out your superstitions, dust them off, and get writing!

The theme today is Trees. I have quite a few poems written in my poetic life, that are about, or at least mention, trees. And of course anyone who cares about our planet, probably has more than a bit to say/write about trees.

Can you see this plucky pine tree? A seed must have blown over from one of the much bigger pine trees, over to the west of where this potted fern is growing, on our front veranda, and up has come a pine tree! How awesome is Nature? Very awesome, I say! I just love trees, the lungs of the world, feeding spots for some creatures, and shade for all!

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Creative writers can approach subjects in a variety of ways, telling truth through allegory, telling lies that have the feel of the truest of truth ever. Being a poet means you can cut to the chase, leave out anything and everything not needed.

And you can say things from the sides of what they are, or underneath, or from up above them, looking down, and if you can write it in a way that brings more to what you’re saying, than just what the words are, bring a sense of importance, specialness, understanding, then hey, that’s poetry.

And if you show the lives of people who you don’t know, but feel you may have seen them once, and wanted to meet them, because you could see something special in them, a deeper understanding on why stuff happens, the way it does, then that’s poetry too.

Birds that show solidarity, and meaning to life, and can bring poetry. A mountain that tests a person in ways you never thought possible, poetry again. Or the funniest of sad stories or most tragic joke, poetry. 

I can honestly say I’ve barely ever met a tree I didn’t like, they are open, sheltering, forgiving, and some of them, meany of them in fact, bring food to life, for us, and many other creatures, to enjoy.

In the pic above are two cracked open almonds. Someone/something gained good things from our almond trees this recent almond season, but it wasn’t the humans living here, it was the cockatoos … Oh well, there’d have to be some poems in that little drama – I like to eat almonds, but I love having native birds around my place. Sharing is caring, they say, whoever ‘they’ are … Lots of ideas and emotions in this one!

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Go beyond, don’t settle for near enough, try for the best you’ve ever done, and if you don’t get there, write about the humanity of your attempt, and the attempts of your humanity.

Now I lay me down to sleep … Sleep and sleeping have many references in culture, from that sleep time prayer, to aphorisms and phrases, ‘asleep at the wheel’, and others, from the Bible to movies, to songs and more. Finding ways to sleep and sleep well take up much attention for many.

Whether you find it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or to get up, after having a good sleep, we all have ideas, stories and thoughts about sleep. And of course ideas lead to creativity, and what is happening this Fabulous February month is creative writing, in response to prompts!

So for this eleventh day of February, the eleventh day of the Fabulous February Writing Prompt A Day month, don’t fall asleep, because there’s writing to do! Personally, I don’t have troubles sleeping these days,  but I can definitely remember other, more trying times, when waking up in the middle of the night, to worry, or think about, what I had to do the next day.

So wake up and get writing about being asleep, or anything prompted from the idea! Writing prompts can take a writer to all kinds of interesting places, let your mind take you where it will, and enjoy!

What is mine, what is yours? Do we want mines, or do we not want mines? We mine our minds for worthy ideas, we mine our family – for hugs and tears … When we’re young, the idea of ownership comes soon, very soon, but it can take a lifetime to understand the nuances of what is ‘mine’.

For the baby, their continuing life depends on their demands being met, are crucial, and as far as they’re concerned, their cries saying ‘that’s mine’ are paramount. They need to be fed, whenever they are hungry, and so their demands are met, almost every time. 

Their understanding grows, they may have siblings come along after, or they had some from the start, and they learn that others have demands on thier parents too. Then baby is an adult, and the whole world makes demands, and they struggle to learn about, and hold onto the concept of ‘mine’. 

And of course, there are currently protesters protesting about mines, and mining, and there are a great many things to be said and written about such things. And of course we may have some things in our homes and hearts, that we can look at and happily say, ‘Yes, that’s mine, and I love it.’

Then there’s the concept of our children, and our partner too. We look at them, and can say, ‘They are mine too, and I love them.’ But such love can be shaped, wrenched away, lost, via a variety of ructions in life, and the idea of what is ‘Mine’ and what is ‘Theirs’ is decided, not by love, but by the courts. 

Can anyone ever actually say about such people, ‘They are mine’? Because surely we are all our own people, no matter the love there. Love doesn’t imply ownership. Or does it? 

These things are all ideas that can be explored in writing, because the writing prompt for today is that tricky and nuanced word – MINE. 

Do with it what you will! Regards to all, following along on this “Fabulous February”, month of writing prompts. May your writing bring you joy and understanding.

Today’s prompt is another phrase, rather than a word. There has been feedback, indicating phrases are good, no problems with that. I was happy to know that, and welcome comments and ideas, for sure, because I want this month to measure up to the name – Fab Feb, Fabulous February!

I know I’m doing fabulously well, in having a new writing prompt to consider every single day, my creativity has kicked up, and I’m focussed on giving myself daily writing time, or at least trying to do that. Sometimes life intrudes, but the writing can happen in tiny spaces around the edges of other things.

So what is the writing prompt for today? It is this – “When the time is right …”
When the time is right, what? The strawberries will be ripe? Peace will reign over us all? You will get a new job, child, new car, a dog, cat, budgie, spouse, life! You can probably come up with lots of your own possibilities, so think about it, and get writing!

My best response to this writing prompt is – When the time is right, I will have a great poetry manuscript ready to submit to a publisher! Fabulous February is adding new ones to the poems that were already in that poetry work in progress, with interesting new ways of looking at things. I’m loving this interesting Fab Feb!

That’s what using random writing prompts does, it encourages the brain to move away from the obvious, and with creative writing, anything beyond, above, underneath and on the edges of the obvious, is so much better than the ordinary and predictable pieces of writing.

If you’re enjoying this month, and these prompts too, why not leave a message, I’d love to hear from you!