the trials of writing from a prompt book...

So, today's prompt is "rising early to begin a journey." Probably if I thought about it long enough, I could come up with a legitimate topic, but all I can think of at the moment is rising at 6:00 a.m. for the training, which seems like a topic that will quickly derail into a rant.

Yesterday's prompt is even worse: "This is the voice of my body". Um, really? You're asking me to write about this? We could start off with the fact that I really don't need a thirty-minute lecture to be convinced that my body "requires" far more sleep than is normal and that I should be worried about it. Or, how about my body's reaction to the accusation that by June I lost so much weight that you can tell from my senior picture which was taken in January? Yes, I told you I was sick. Or, what about the fact that a certain health care provider decided not to disclose lab results after four weeks but then had the audacity to send me a survey to assess my satisfaction with the quality of service rendered AND a bill for the service? All I got (so far) out of a phone call to aforementioned health care provider was that the person responsible for this information is not answering the phone; did I want to leave a phone number??? I'm thinking about canceling all future appointments with said provider... but this is turning into a real rant and since rants are censored...

... we move on to the next topic.

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Topic for yesterday's yesterday, also known as the day before yesterday: "Write about something that came out of a box."



There's a fantastic picture hidden somewhere in my graduation scrapbook of my great joy when opening a gift from one of my friends. I make it a rule not to open presents in front of people unless they ask me to. I never know what my reaction will be, and it's fun to open them without people interrupting with their own commentary. Anyhow, someone gave me a gift and asked me to open it because she wanted to make sure I liked it. Of course, that's why I typically don't open gifts in front of people, but she asked so I cooperated.

My joy was priceless, and I'm glad it was in public so she knew right away and so someone could capture it on camera. The gift came in a slender rectangular box and contained the most beautiful bracelet ever. I had just started wearing some jewelry, and I loved it! It was perfect to go with the graduation dress my mom made me, so I got to wear it right away!

write about something to hold on to...

I'm trying an experiment. I'm going to practice writing based on prompts. I need practice writing, and maybe you'll get to learn a little bit more about me and my personality.



Write about something to hold on to...

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart." It's so true. In all my college years, I've met a lot of people in my classes and other activities. So many people are there in all different moments of my life. Yet, when I look back, some people seem to fill up all my memories. And there's others that I'm left wondering what their name was.

The people who are the most special to you are the people who, for whatever reason, decide to take the time to become an integral part of your life. Sometimes, this means that you color coloring pages together or go on adventures together around the city. Other times, it simply means that they are willing to take time to sit down with you over homework or encourage you when you get frustrated for the nth time!

For me, the persons who mean the most to me are those who take the time to stop and listen to what I have to say. I know that we all go through sufferings and trials. For me, I need someone to talk to, someone who cares enough about what's going on in my life to hear me out.

In a recent publication, I wrote a brief acknowledgements page. In that page, I included a sentence that read something like this, "More than they realize, Ben and Samantha helped me through my most difficult year of college, the year in which this project happened to begin." Thinking back to the logic and feeling behind this sentence, I realized that what Ben and Samantha did the most was care about me by listening to me and sympathizing no matter how pathetic I was. Even more, they knew when to listen, when to encourage me to take a break and accept the situation for what it was, and when to push me to take the next step especially when I didn't want to.

It's this kind of friendship that I want to hold on to no matter which way the wind blows. While the outward situation may change, our companionships can keep us sane and happy.