In a Doorway
a writing prompt for you
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. Each week I share some words and a writing prompt, meant to be jumping-off points. 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.
As I write this, a new door is being installed at our house. Actually, it’s the church’s house—the one my husband serves. No, actually it’s our dog’s house, and the new door is all for her. After weeks of waiting, the brand new pet storm door which we ordered for our sweet old rescue dog, has arrived. And it’s not just any old pet door—we paid extra for the pet view option so she can see through the bottom of the door because she is a touch anxious and who knows what scary things might be on the other side of the door.
The new door is being installed downstairs in the finished walk-out basement. The plan is: We can open the actual wooden door when someone is home, then she will be free to come and go through the storm door on her own into our small fenced area. We’ll see. I predict issues while I am upstairs in my office, and she is downstairs on her own. She’s a dear, but change is hard the older we get—for dogs and people, both.
It’s a nice door. Weathertight and clean. Suddenly, we have a whole new view of the backyard, and also into our home.
It reminds me of a prompt from Pat Schneider that I’ve used in workshops before. Pat was a poet, writer, teacher, and founder of Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA), the group with whom I trained as a writing facilitator. Her work is how I know the power of writing, especially as a way to carry grief, and as a spiritual practice. I’ve shared her prompt about a doorway below in many group settings. Even if you’ve used it before to inspire your writing, it’s worth considering again. Like a new door, this prompt opens up new vistas and views every time you come to it.
a writing prompt
Here’s how Pat suggests the prompt in her fabulous book Writing Alone and With Others:
“…travel back in your own life to some time before this time, and find yourself in—a doorway.”
What is the quality of light in front of you? What is the quality of light behind you?
Is anyone near you, or are you alone? How tall are you in relation to the door handle?
“Stay there as long as you want. If something begins to happen, let it happen. When you are ready, very quietly pick up your pen and paper, and write whatever comes to you to write.”
a writing/learning opportunity for you
One of the benefits of being a facilitator with AWA are their professional development offerings. This year I will be traveling during the retreat, but I registered anyway because the featured speaker is Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. She writes beautifully about grief, life, and love; and her daily poems have often found their way into my newsletters and workshops. Rosemerry’s online keynote and masterclass are open to the public for a small fee. Here’s the description of the masterclass that will interest those of you writing around suffering, sorrow, or grief.
Sorrom: How Writing Helps Us Show Up in Difficult Times
Saturday Oct. 5th, 1-3:30pm Eastern / 10am-12:30pm Pacific
Sorrom: n. a paradoxical praise for beauty, love, strength and connection that can only emerge as we wrestle with devastation, grief and the worries and pains of daily living; a positive side-effect of surrender and trust in life and death
from sorrow + om (from Hindu religions and Buddhism), originally indicating assent or agreement, pronounced “sahr-om”
Sometimes, in our most desperate moments, we find an impossible invitation—the invitation to praise. How can this be? How, in our most desperate moments, can we celebrate some aspect of life? And how, is it possible (?), can we celebrate the desperation itself? In this two-and-a-half hour playshop, join poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer as we talk about the paradoxes we live into through creative practice. We’ll read poems that do the impossible—find praise in the midst of suffering—and converse about them, leap into our own writing, talk about process, and have time for optional sharing.
I look forward to the recording of the teaching parts of the class. The sharing portions will not be recorded. There is also a keynote address from Rosemerry about leading writing workshops, and a special deal to attend her two online events and join AWA. Here’s the link with more information: Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer at AWA.
Now, scroll back up and try the doorway prompt. It’s a good one.
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Thank you for this. I found an interesting realization about identical sets of doors - entering one as a single woman and leaving through another with my husband on our wedding day at Hawthorne Lane UMC. A lovely walk down memory lane and remembering the people I saw over so many years through those dark wooden doors. Very much appreciated that today.
Here's hoping the new door and visibility is a real success with the dog, and thanks so much for the doors prompt. I can already see my first door encounter in my mind as I type this.