First Snow

 

 

Last night saw the first snow of the winter. Tiny, soft flakes started to fall in the early evening, and by bedtime the earth was covered. The view from my window reminded me of Narnia, and of Lucy stepping through the wardrobe for the first time: 

"A moment later she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air." 

(Click here to read C. S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.")

Mary Oliver captures the wonder of such a scene in her poem 'First Snow'. 

"The silence
is immense,
and the heavens still hold
a million candles, nowhere
the familiar things:
stars, the moon,
the darkness we expect
and nightly turn from. Trees
glitter like castles
of ribbons, the broad fields
smolder with light, a passing
creekbed lies
heaped with shining hills;"

Click here to read the full poem. Other poets have been inspired by 'first snow'. Click here to read more.

I have a very early memory of standing at the window in the house where I was born, probably about six years old, and being memorised watching big, fat flakes of snow falling and covering our back yard. Perhaps that was my 'first snow.'

Here, it stopped snowing during the night and this morning there is a slow thaw. My village doesn't look quite so magical, or enticing now the roads are clearing and I'm watching the dustbin men emptying our wheelie bins. The snow was pretty while it lasted.

Click here for a calming snow meditation.

Writing prompts:

• Write about a memory of snow that you have from childhood.
• Imagine you are Lucy stepping into the magical, snow-covered world of Narnia for the first time. Write about what you experience using all your senses.
• Write about something wonderful that you have enjoyed for only a brief time before it disappeared and you lost it.
  

B-Sides

 https://unsplash.com/@leecampbell

B-Sides

B-Sides were tracks on 45s
That never hit the air
Purchased with the A-side track
Which was heard everywhere

B-Sides were usually placed face down
So you could play the hit
With the needle in the grooves
On the side that's opposite

B-Sides were played privately
Once you'd worn out side A
A tune not quite as catchy
But you played it anyway

Sometimes B-Sides were better
Than the song you bought it for
Where you found yourself playing
The obscure tune side more

B-Sides were soon forgotten
On the charts they'd never rank
Besides it would've been worse
If the B-Side had been blank

© Jul 29, Richard Beck   

Once in a while I take a trip down memory lane by digging out my favourite vinyl 45-rpm singles, sticking them on the turntable and playing them very loudly.  (I make no apology for being somewhat old fashioned in way I listen to music.) Most of them are from the 60s and 70s, so memories of childhood and teenage years come flooding back.

I've usually forgotten just how many gems I have in my rather eclectic mix, so was pleased recently to discover Nina and Frederick's 'Listen to the Ocean' alongside the Stylistics' 'I Can't Give You Anything But My Love', Fleetwood Mac's 'Oh Well' and Earth, Wind and Fire's 'That's the Way of the World'.

Favourite among them, however, was Chicago's 'Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?' . This is actually the B-side of their hit 'I'm a Man' from 1969. As with some other 45-rpm singles, this B-side I  consider better than the A. 

B-sides were often thought to be songs of lower quality, receiving less attention than the more popular A-side and therefore often overlooked. Click here to discover some B-sides that became big hits.

Writing Prompts:

• Do you have an A and a B side? Write about your A-side - the one that you find acceptable and seems to be a hit with other people.
• Now write about your B-side - the part of you that perhaps you regard as being 'of lower quality', or an aspect of your character that you feel is less popular with others, or is sometimes overlooked. 
• Do you have a favourite B-side from a 45-rpm single? Write about it and any memories it evokes.
  

Glad to be Alive?

https://unsplash.com/@claybanks

 "I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable…but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

Agatha Christie

I can identify with Ms Christie's sentiments - can you? At those times when I feel thoroughly miserable there is usually something, or someone, to shake me out of it. Being out in nature helps, or sometimes it's just a kind word from a relative or friend. Often, it's a piece of music played very loudly. Today, when it was dull, damp and grey outside, it was catching sight of my beautiful Christmas cactus ( Schlumbergera russelliana) in full flower in the corner of my loft. The plant seemed to be shouting, "I'm just glad to be alive!"

Writing prompts:

• Write about a time when you have been "wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable." How did it feel in your body and in your mind? Write about those feelings for six minutes. 
• Do you agree that just to be alive is 'a grand thing'? Make a list of all those things that make you feel this way. 
• What or who shakes you out of your misery? Write about it in any way you choose.
  

Put on a Trinket

  Autumn

    By Emily Elizabeth Dickinson

    The morns are meeker than they were,
    The nuts are getting brown;
    The berry's cheek is plumper,
    The rose is out of town.

    The maple wears a gayer scarf,
    The field a scarlet gown.
    Lest I should be old-fashioned,
    I'll put a trinket on.

Autumn is a time of change. Emily Dickinson knew this and, not to be outdone by nature, decided to put on a trinket. Good for her!

Writing prompts:

• When was the last time you put on a trinket? Perhaps you found a sparkly brooch you hadn't worn for years, or some brightly coloured earrings? Write about your 'trinket'.
• As summer has changed to autumn and the leaves have begun to fall, what are you letting go of that you do not need any more? Talk about it in your writing.
• The pictures above were taken on my walk yesterday. Write about an autumn walk you have taken recently.
  

Flawed and Beautiful

 

 

 https://unsplash.com/@kadh

OR YOU COULD JUST LIVE

You are going to wish your body was more

you are going to wish your body was less

you are going to wish your body would change

you are going to wish your body would not.

 

You are going to wish your body was many things

between now

and the day you leave this mortal coil.

And one day

as is always the way

you will look back

and see

that your body was always as it should be

doing its best

to be you

for you.

And you are then going to wish that just once

you had told your body

I accept you, as you are, right now.

And that maybe had you done this

you would have spared yourself a lifetime

of wishing for something you didn’t really ever need.

That what it was you should have been wishing for in fact

was the courage to accept

the strength to embrace

the wisdom to really see

what you have.

You’re going to wish for many things

when it comes to your body.

Or you could just wish for health.

And live your life

flawed and beautiful.

 

by Donna Ashworth from her book 'I Wish I Knew'

ISBN 978-78530-379-1

In her book of poems 'to soothe your soul and strengthen you spirit'  Donna Ashworth  advises; 'Feed yourself well, physically, mentally and spiritually, and then enjoy your life with the vessel you inhabit.'

Click here to read about body image in adulthood.  

Click here to read about body image in younger people. 

Writing Prompts:

• Write about what, in the past, you have wished for your body. Set a timer for six minutes and write without stopping.
• Describe how you feel about your body right now, in this present moment? 
• Do you agree with the possibility posed in the last three lines of the poem? Are you 'flawed and beautiful'? Write about it. 
• Make three lists of how you feed yourself physically, mentally and spiritually? What else you could do to 'feed yourself'? Add these to your lists.
  

 

The Hunter's Moon

 

From the book When The Moon Is Full, A Lunar Year. By Penny Pollack, Illustrated by Mary Azarian

Look to the skies this evening (October 17th) and, if the clouds clear, you will see the Hunter's  Moon, the brightest of all the supermoons this year. Click here to find out more. It is sometimes called Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon. Click here to learn more about the different names for this moon.

Writing prompts:

• If you can, go outside this evening and observe the Hunter's Moon, then return to the warmth, sit down and write for six minutes about whatever comes into your head.
• What 'dangers' fill your night? Set a timer for six minutes and write about them.
• What's your view on hunting? Click here to read what the RSPCA has to say then write for a few minutes.
  

Global Wave of Light

 

https://unsplash.com/@paul_nic

 

"When you are sorrowful look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

The Prophet – Khalil Gibran

 

Today is Global Wave of Light 2024 - an annual observance that honours and remembers babies who have died during pregnancy, childbirth, or infancy. 

 

It is 41 years since I had a miscarriage - April 9th, 1983 - but the memory of that awful event is still with me. So profound was the effect of losing my first baby, that I afterwards spent ten years as a telephone contact for the Miscarriage Association, listening to other women's stories of baby loss, and trying to offer a sympathetic ear. I also set up a support group for parents at the Bradford Royal Infirmary.

 

At the time, miscarriage was still a taboo subject. Indeed, it wasn't until my own miscarriage that my mum revealed she too had experienced two, but had never felt able to talk about them with anyone.

I regard myself lucky to have lost only one baby. Many women experience multiple miscarriages. On the day I eventually had my first child, by Caesarean section, the women who went to surgery just before me had had 12. 

Last Wednesday (October 9th) the Government announced that everyone who has experienced pregnancy loss—regardless of when it occurred—can now apply for a certificate that formally acknowledges their loss. I'm thinking of applying for one. 

Click here to access help after miscarriage. Click here for help after stillbirth. Click here for help after the death of a baby.

Writing prompts:

• Have you experienced the loss of a baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or infancy? Set a timer for six minutes and write about it. Write quickly, without stopping or editing.
• All of us will experience grief at some point in our lives. If you can, write about someone you have grieved for. Set a timer for six minutes.
• When was the last time someone lent you a sympathetic ear? Write down what happened and how it helped you.