All in a Day

a writing prompt + July Writing Hour

Welcome to Writing in Company. A special welcome to new members from my new town/church community just finding me here, and wondering: what is this?

This is a writing community where you are welcome whatever your experience (or not) with writing. It’s my own writing outlet where I play with words and ideas and hope you’ll do the same. It’s a grand experiment in following a new call to ministry, inviting you to write about what matters—grief, gratitude, grace, and more. Each week I share some words and a writing prompt, meant to be jumping-off points to write about what matters to you. Use the prompts however you like—to journal, to draft thoughts for your own writing project, as meditation or prayer ideas, or for another creative endeavor. You can always look back through the archive for more ideas. Grab your pen and paper, and let your words loose on the page.

It’s been one of those days: alternately up and down, enjoyable and crummy, beautiful and terrible-horrible-no-good-very bad.¹ You know—a day.

• I threw my back out bending down to plug in the vacuum.

• I had unkind thoughts about myself, a politician, and the dog.

• I sent what I thought was a funny text that I immediately regretted.

• I frittered away time I should have been working, learning ways to style my entryway table.

But also…

• I sent a gracious email to a stranger.

• I finished something I had started.

• I took deep breaths and appreciated the trees outside my window.

• I talked to people I love, and tried to listen, too.

Maybe that counts as a good day.

Or maybe the day doesn’t need to be counted, assessed, quantified, or tallied. It just needs to be met again, with thanks for another opportunity.

a writing prompt

Here’s a good one from the poet Rosemary Wahtola Trommer, whose daily poems always add some worthwhile words to my day.²

Find a word, a phrase, an image, or an idea in the poem that speaks to you, and start there. Or talk back to the poem. Just put some words on paper without censoring yourself or editing, and see what comes. Then call it a day.

Ambition
—by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

I am so far from the woman
I want to be, so far
from humility and simplicity.
I dream of clearing
not only the shelves,
not only the closets,
but also the cluttered inner rooms
that crowd out the divine.
Every day I search for ways
to best meet the day—
with poems, beautiful meals,
with songs, with praise—
so many ways to be radiant,
but I suspect all the day wants
is for me to meet it
and all that comes into my path
with kindness, with spaciousness.
In my effort to be good, to be whole,
I make it so difficult, this life.
The day doesn’t seem to hold
my exuberance against me.
It shows up as always,
generous as a new tomorrow,
quiet as dawn.

July Writing Hour - Saturday, July 27 | 4-5 pm Eastern

My next live writing hour on Zoom for paid subscribers is this Saturday. If you want to write in company with others, you are welcome to join in. You can upgrade your subscription for a month ($7) just to try it. A separate email to paid subscribers will go out with the link, or you can find it on my Substack tab called Writing Hours. Let’s write together.

like | comment | share

Join in the conversation with others in the comments. Tell me what you think about the prompt, or where your writing takes you.

Know someone who might enjoy this prompt or others? Please share!

Clicking the heart to like this post helps keep my writing prompts visible and my own writer’s heart grateful.

Photo by Clayton Manche on Unsplash

1. Thinking fondly of Nancy S, one of my childhood friends, who recited from memory Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at more than one elementary school talent show. I did interpretive dance to Helen Reddy’s version of Delta Dawn. We were both amazing, though she was probably a little more age-appropriate…

2. You can subscribe to Trommer’s email list here: https://ahundredfallingveils.com

Note: I am a Bookshop.org affiliate. If you purchase through my links to support independent bookstores (yay you!), I may earn a small commission.