Live the Magic
Days 4-7: One Month of Magic
Hi Magical Friends. Unfortunately while traveling for my MFA I have gotten quite sick. I thought I could recover, but now I’m on a family vacation and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I’m going to pause posting prompts from July 4 to July 7 in an attempt to get better.
However, this does not mean you need to stop writing. You all are writing such amazing things and doing such a beautiful job of celebrating each other. I don’t want you to lose momentum. Please keep writing and feel free to use this post to post multiple poems.
For these three days, I want you to continue writing but also live the magic.
Prompt: For the next three days, live and observe in a way that lets the magic in. Maybe you spend ten minutes watching a bee drink from a flower, or the sun paint the sky before it sinks below the sightline. Maybe you see the way two people, later in life, hold hands while walking down the street. Maybe you make someone’s day magical by making them laugh or simply listening.
Try to find a magical moment each day where you stand in awe at the presence of humanity, of nature, of the way things work out exactly how they are supposed to. Find one piece of magic every day to write about and post here. Happy writing.
One Month of Magic guidelines:
For the month of July, post a daily prompt to inspire magical thinking.
Read and respond to the prompt by writing for seven, seventeen, or seventy-seven minutes—whatever you like—exploring what it stirs inside you. That’s it. It’s easy and breezy and designed to make you consider things deeper to search for sparkle.
After you write, post your response in the comments section of that day's post (only available to paid subscribers). Offer feedback to at least two people. Celebrate and clarify what is magical about one another’s work. How it deepened your own awareness and awe.
Posts will NOT be emailed—don’t want to spam people—but they will be posted on chat. So, if you want a daily magical ping, turn the chat feature and notifications on. You can find how in your settings.
Praise of Wasting Time and Not Writing
Because other things need to happen.
I look out the window on the housing complex and notice
The cardinals have upset the bird feeder again.
Oily black sunflower seeds darken a pot of topsoil
And something is moving in the compost bin.
A brown animal with soft fur. I remember now that movie
The Rats of Nimh, and decide to name this creature
Mrs. Brisbee. Now I need to talk to the cat,
To tell her to ignore her instincts, and then throw her
A ball of string, so I can open the door and slip out
To transplant the flowers. In the pot something I thought
Was a weed turns out to be a sunflower, taking root in the hard soil,
And I will need to transplant her too.
Tell her she is a beautiful sunflower and strong
Enough to survive this callous heat wave we are having,
While I sing her a song of water. No,
Now is not the time to write, but to keep things moving.
These are the unintended consequences of my small,
Impetuous actions, and the lives
I will accidentally fall in love
With and continue to feed.
(I originally wrote this as a "you" poem, i.e. "sometimes you stop writing and you notice..." I'm not sure if that was working better."
This morning I woke up to an art market / all-day festival happening right outside my doorstep 😍 The Adventures of Living in a New Place and not knowing what’s coming!! I bought a piece of art that is gorgeously feminine (I buy art so rarely but—why not?) and have been enjoying the festival’s music all day while trying not to do too many of the things I had planned 😉
Yesterday during my usual grocery run I bought myself flowers because they ached to be held and were only 2.99€. The sky, which had held itself back all day, started a downpour just as I reached the store. After shopping, I waited in the foyer and lamented with another lady about the impossibility of such timing.