An Invitation
a writing prompt for you + November Writing Hour
Welcome to Writing in Company. This is a community for you, whatever your experience with writing. It’s an invitation to write about what matters—grief, gratitude, grace, and more. In an off-kilter world, using our words can help us stay centered and move toward healing and wholeness. Writing in company with others saved me once. Let’s keep writing now, alone and together, and trust our words to help us see and say what matters.
None of the thoughts I’ve typed and then erased seem right for an intro this week. They’ve been variations on gratitude, Ukraine, peace, sisters, family, time, waiting, words, and back to gratitude. Plus I keep getting distracted by videos of Claire Saffitz cooking pie. Really, all I have to share is a poem from Mary Oliver, who is good at wrapping together the gratitude, peace, time, waiting, and words bit anyway. Enjoy.
(And know that I am grateful for each one of you reading, writing, and commenting. May there be pie aplenty for you this week.)
a writing prompt
Invitation
—by Mary Oliver
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude—
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
November Writing Hour - SUNDAY Nov. 30 | 4-5 pm Eastern
My next live writing hour on Zoom for paid subscribers is this Sunday! This will be an experiment in terms of date. I know it’s a holiday weekend, and that Sunday is a work day for some of you—it is for me, too. Come if you can. 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.
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Each week I share some ideas and a writing prompt, meant to be jumping-off points. Use the prompts however you like—to journal, to draft a writing project, as prayer ideas, or for another creative endeavor. If this one doesn’t resonate, look back through the archive for more. Clicking the heart to like this post helps keep my writing prompts visible and my own writer’s heart grateful.
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Julie,
Thank you for this beautiful Mary Oliver poem and reminder that any act or word of gratitude “could mean something, could mean everything.” and THAT can transform our souls and perspective.
A friend shared an article about ‘Setting two tables for Thanksgiving’ by Sharon Randall, this morning. It touched my sorrow and tears as well as the good memories of my ‘lost’ loved ones. This year I will set two tables: One (more like two or three) in my sister’s dining room for my loved ones that will be with us and One in my heart for those who live with us in spirit only, the living and departed. We are all remembered today, and hopefully, on every other day as well.
Blessings and gratitude to and for all.
JoAnne
Loved reading Mary Oliver's poem and how the flow was interrupted by the last brick (in shape only) final stanza. An awakening! Good luck with the Sunday group!