After you listen to/read this week’s poem by Gloria Hefferman, notice which line most speaks to you. You could also choose a single word from the poem, or begin writing from an image/memory that the poem sparks.
Let your body be the decider (as opposed to your mind).
Suggested Prompt:
My mother…
Thank you for being one of my people. I appreciate you so much. If you are new to this page, welcome!
Take the best care of yourself.
Julia xo
You Just Never know by Gloria Heffernan
Music Credit: “City of Stars” : Justin Hurwitz & Emma Stone, from the movie “La La Land”
You Just Never Know by Gloria Heffernan
My mother never practiced yoga. She never studied comparative religions or sought to find herself in the silence of rustic mountain retreats. Her mudra was a cigarette poised between the fingers of her right hand and a coffee cup cradled in her left. Her mantra was simple. With a slow exhalation, she would bring it forth from the silence– “You just never know…” I invoke her wisdom when a driver cuts me off in traffic and I want to feel compassion instead of rage— You just never know where he’s going or why he’s racing to get there. I seek her grace when I feel inclined to roll my eyes at a woman in the supermarket holding up the line while she fumbles with a bundle of coupons— You just never know if her children had enough to eat last night. I think of her when I look at myself in the mirror stretching my limbs in a sun salutation, her voice urging me to create space for compassion.
After you read the below writing practice guidelines, grab your notebook and your favorite free-flowing, yummy pen, set a timer for 10 minutes (or whatever time feels best) and, beginning with the word/line that most resonates from this week’s poem & write write write!
NOTE: The intention is not to stick with whatever prompt you begin writing with, prompts are simply meant to spark your writing…once you begin, follow your pen wherever it wants/needs to go. Get those first words down (before the editor has a chance to sweep in and edit them out).
Writing Practice Guidelines
(As created, with some of my own tweaks, by one of my greatest teachers Natalie Goldberg)
First, give yourself permission to write the worst junk in the world (this is the most important one!). Writing practice is very much not about trying to be "good," it is about opening the door and allowing space for your insides to speak (without any pressure, agenda, or expectations). It is simply saying what is true, what is true, what is true.
Keep your hand moving. No stopping to edit (no crossing out, no re-reading, no attention to spelling/grammar). The reason for this fast writing is to outrun the editor who really wants to be in control. Give yourself full permission to lose control!
Go for the jugular. If there is energy there, dive straight into it.
If you get stuck (or find you are circling some important truth), write the words: WHAT I REALLY WANT TO SAY IS… or THE TRUTH IS…this can’t help but drop you more deeply into your writing.
Mostly importantly —Enjoy! Play. Have fun. Make a merry mess.
* Please feel free to share some of the "recalls" from your own writing. Recalls are simply phrases/lines that feel especially poignant/resonant/goosebumpy/true to you.
Happy Mother's Day, Julia, and to all who celebrate, and to all for whom the day might land with a degree of poignancy or other unsunny emotions. So much is brought to mind by this fine poem. The coffee! The cigarette! And yes, my friend Heather often gives the same forbearance to speeding drivers for the exact same reason. --- It's three months tomorrow since Mom's passing. I put her through so much in my 20s and 30s (Let one detail suffice: I spent Mother's Day 2003 in the Suffolk County Jail.) But we were close, and we knew each other all too well (!!), and during good times, we were capable of outrageous humor. And Mom asked me such loving questions during her last 48 hours: "Are you getting to meetings? How's the book selling?" --- Thank you, Julia, for sharing this poem, and Gloria for having written it. (Heffer-NAN, though, not Heffer-MAN.)