Entry Prompts for the Blocked Writers (1-100)

Sometimes I just look at the blank page on my screen and think … about anything and everything I want to say but somehow it doesn’t get from my head to the page.  So much rattling around in there I can’t even manage to get one single thought together.

So I decided to spend some time surfing around the internet for ideas and habits I can use to organize my thoughts. I found – to my pleasant surprise – that I am not alone and other blog writers need prompting or topic suggestions to get the juices flowing.

The result was a list of 800+ journal prompts that can be used by anyone to get the writers block unblocked. I will post about 100 a day until I can get them all out to you. I know there will be repeats, similar entries but overall they are thought provoking and should help get you over the hump.

Enjoy!

1-100

1-     What scares you

2-     Do you have a plan? Do you need a plan? Have you had a plan fall to pieces?

3-     What is your thought on soul mates

4-     Are you a worrier? Is there a particular worry you cant shake? How do you cope?

5-     Dear past “me”

6-     Dear future “me”

7-     10 places you have enjoyed visiting

8-     10 things you have done that you thought you could/would never do

9-     10 people you most admire and why

10- 10 favorite movies

11-  10 favorite books

12- 10 favorite blogs

13- 10 favorite songs

14- 5 short term goals

15-  5 long term goals

16- Nobody knows that I…

17-  Dear ____ - it weighs on me that I never told you….

18- The biggest lie I ever told was…

19- Anything you feel guilty about? Anything you need to be forgiven for?

20-  What is the worst thing you have ever done?

21- What is your secret desire?

22- What is the most outrageous thing you have ever done?

23- The most terrifying moment of my life was…

24- The most fun I have ever had…

25- The most surprised I have ever been…

26- The most disappointed I have ever been…

27- What are you looking forward to the most…

28-  Choose two old photographs to write about

29- Three things you cant live without

30-  Three celebrity crushes

31- Three favorite book character

32- Three favorite things to wear

33- Three things you want in a relationship

34- If you had to evacuate your home, what three things would you take with you?

35- Three pet peeves

36- Three things you would do if you weren’t so scared

37- Three favorite TV shows

38-   My saddest memory is…

39- Some things that make me happy are…

40-  How do you deal with anger?

41- How easy is it for you to forgive?

42- What is the dominant emotion in your life right now?

43- My favorite Sunday ritual

44- Favorite Holiday traditions

45- Things I always did with my mom…

46- If you could have dinner with any living person who?

47- If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be?

48-  If you could change one thing about your present life what would it be?

49- If you could live anywhere you wanted where?

50- If you could go back in time and change one thing from your past what is it?

51- What was your favorite childhood toy

52-  Did you ever get lost

53- Who was your best friend in elementary school

54- Did you ever run away from home

55- As a child  what did you want to be when you grew up

56- What was your favorite subject in school

57- Who was your favorite teacher

58- What is your very first memory

59- What was your favorite cartoon?

60-  What book did you read over and over as a child

61- What is your most vivid memory of the kitchen in your childhood

62- As a child, who was your favorite relative

63- Who made you feel good this week? Why?

64- What was the biggest mistake you made this week?

65- What did you do this week that moved you closer to reaching your goals?

66- Is there anything you did this week that you wish you had done differently?

67- What did you most enjoy doing this week?

68-  How did you procrastinate on important tasks this week?

69- What did you learn this week?

70- What is the funniest thing that happened to you this week?

71-  Write to someone you need to forgive

72- Write to someone who believed in you even when you didn’t believe in you

73- Write a letter to be read by each of your loved ones after you pass away

74- Write a fan letter

75- Write about your first dance

76- Write about your first crush

77- Write about your first week in college

78- Write about your first job

79-  Write about the first place you rented to live

80-  When did you feel truly independent for the first time

81-  What would you do if you knew you would not fail

82-   What would you do if you knew money was no object

83-   What would you ask for if a genie granted you three wishes

84-   What is your wildest dream

85- What would you do if you could live a day without consequences

86-   What grand adventure would you like to go on

87- Of you could become an expert on any subject what would it be

88-  What is your perfect day like

89-  What is your number one goal this year?

90-  What are you most grateful for?

91-  Are you content?

92- What is your best memory of last year?

93- What was the last major accomplishment you had?

94- What possession could you not live without?

95- Can people change?

96- What is the last “good” thing you ate?

97- What is your current favorite snack?     

98-  What made you smile today?

99- What’s your favorite accessory?

100- What is making you mad?

Monday Musings... Even Though it is Tuesday

I have many blog entries I have started an never finished. I have decided that even though none of it makes sense I am going to post them here all at one time because individually there isn’t enough for a full post.

1. From March 9th 

Grief is a funny thing. I remember when my mother first passed away wondering if I would ever look back on her memory and smile. Prayed for the day that I could laugh at memories and not burst into tears at the mere thought of her. Little by little, those rays of joy slowly worked their way into my consciousness. It took at least a year before the tears began to subside and laughter began to emerge. There is so much truth in that saying that time heals all wounds. The scar will be there. Like a mark on my life but I can now look at it and smile – most of the time. 

Much like an amputee that can still feel the limb that has long been removed, I can feel my mother’s presence all the time and it isn’t nearly as painful as it was two years ago. I get signs every so often that she is with me. I recognize them and smile… those close to me that knew her well often ask if she has been around and there is always something to tell that makes us all laugh. She didn’t make her presence known on her birthday but, as she was always late anyway, she gave me a sign the day after. Here is what happened…

My son does not like riding the bus to after school care. It is over an hour as he is the last stop and he just doesn’t like to ride the bus that long. He has nothing to do for that hour and he is bored. He has been nagging me about wanting to be in carpool and not have to ride the bus. Yesterday he took matters into his own hands. Before we left home he hand wrote his own note:

“Please send Sammy to Carpool today” 

Handed it to me and told me to sign it. Like they would believe it.

2. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Maybe that is why I am having difficulty writing lately. I have nothing nice to say… about anything. I feel guilty boring everyone with my rants and bitching about this and that. So I don’t write at all. Not a good plan. 

It is very easy to sit here in front of my computer and just piss, moan, bitch and complain about anything and everything. It takes too much effort to write something upbeat, encouraging and optimistic. And I don’t have a whole lot of energy to spare anyway.

But here is the kicker… my marriage, home life, children, friends and work are all fine.  Suffice it to say I am a little cranky about things here and there but overall I have nothing to complain about. So why is the glass half empty? 

Are my Chakras out of wack? Do I need to do some kind of cleanse to rid myself of the obvious toxins I am holding inside? Do I have a vitamin deficiency?  Do I need medication ? Jury is still out…

3. The Lord helps those who help themselves. 

How many times have I heard this? I will tell you how many… so many that I thought it was actually a quoted scripture. Yes… we learn something new every day and today I realized, even though I had many years of religious education, this is not an actual verse out of the Bible. Damn – I am a moron 

4. I am a stickler for reading the book before seeing the movie. I bought  The Martian because I love a space movie… OMG I couldn’t put that book down. I should have made NASA my career. DANG. I would have been a great NASA genius. 

5. Just for the record… tastes and smells change through life. I bought a bottle of (what I thought was) my all time favorite perfume… sprayed it on for the first time today and it has made me physically sick on my stomach… damn… that is an expensive dresser ornament. 

6. It dawned on me as I was watching Steel Magnolias last night that my best friend and I could easily play the parts of Ouiser and Clairee. When I texted her this was her response…. “ I know. You Bitch” … there you have it… confirmation.

7. People that ride bicycles and don’t know the rules of the road. They used to teach that in school… like the 3rd or 4th grade… apparently they don’t anymore because these people I encounter on bicycles are just riding anywhere they want. I drive a suburban and it makes me nuts to see someone heading towards me on a bicycle. And it never fails that I will say something ugly every time someone is on the wrong side of the road. 

8. When I was 30 I thought I knew what love was. 

Then I had a child.

When I was 40 I thought I knew what love was.

Then I had another child.

When I was 46 I realized I had no idea what the idea of love was… because to love you need to lose. I had never lost someone I loved deeply. And how can you know the depth of your ability to love unless you know the depth of sorrow when that person is gone. 

When I lost my mother it was a devastating blow I never saw coming.  But it taught me one thing above all else. I know my personal love gauge now and I am more in touch with how I feel about someone now because I have something to measure it against. 

Now that I have established this mental love meter I look at the world a little differently. I look at the people I love in my life differently. 

I treasure them more. And I tell them.

Incredibly Sad

Whoopi said it all when she said  "this is what it sounds like when doves cry".
I haven't written in a while but this moved me to such sadness.
We will be finding unheard prince music in that studio/home of his for decades. That was his genius...channeled into his music.

Until that day .... when we see you in the purple rain....

Hot Mess vs. Hot Garbage

There is a difference you know.

Being a hot mess is totally different than being hot garbage. At least a hot mess can be improved upon whereas hot garbage is just that… dressed up garbage.

For example: The Kardashians are hot garbage. No doubt about it. And 75% of the time it has nothing to do with how they look. It is the whole package. The trailer park drama and the BS factor make them dumpster worthy. No amount of makeup, lip fillers, waist training or money will change the fact that they are attention starved fame gamers. It has made them rich, drove them all crazy and God love her, the sanest one of the bunch who was once a man has decided he would rather be a woman.  Hot Garbage… can’t fix it.

 Now, a hot mess, I think maybe the best example of a hot mess I can think of is possibly Paris Hilton. Now you know that girl was raised better than she has acted in the past. She has had the best of everything but consistently acted spoiled and entitled. Because she is a hot mess she has outgrown her wild childishness and now acts like she has some sense. A hot mess can always be rehabilitated…. Hot garbage can only be hauled to the dump.

So, the moral to the story is: if you must be one … be the hot mess… you can always just say you were young and dumb. You can look back on your time as a hot mess and laugh, joke and smile. If you choose to be hot garbage you can look back and do the same but more than likely you will be sitting on top of the trash pile at the local landfill while doing so.