That Place You Love: Real People. Real Stories.
Round-Up on Waste; Next-Up Language; How I choose the week's theme.
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I was recently asked, “How do you pick the theme for the week? Is it based on what you want to write?”
The truth: I have an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of themes we’ve already written about and potential themes to write about in the future.
I’m not locked into the order of themes on the spreadsheet.
If something feels at odds with current news cycles or if a holiday falls on the same day I’ll move them around. Often, I have a gut feeling and go with it.
I announce the new theme on Friday with the Round-Up of the past week’s theme, and I write the prompt on Monday when I post it.
I don’t give myself extra time to perfect my writing.
I described it to a friend in one of my writer’s groups as, “Clearing out the cobwebs” and “Calisthenics for writing.”
Composing short pieces in a short amount of time makes me focus more intensely on the theme and trust my editorial instincts.
There’s just no time for self-doubt, so I can mine the truth more quickly.
9 Contributors shared thoughts & stories on WASTE this week.
Scroll down for the Round-Up and a new post from a new Contributor in FAITH!
If you’re reading this for the first time…
And want to know more about the ZINE’s mission, go to ABOUT or FORUM on the Substack platform or read the introductory post I WAS AN EASY LIAR.
9 Contributors took part in week 12 of TPYL!
Our theme was WASTE through the lens of truth. I wrote about the restaurant industry and an encounter with food intolerance in the middle of a food crisis.
(in order of appearance)
Carol M shared the strict plate-cleaning rules she endured growing up and how a run-in with bitter chocolate sauce forced her to start listening to her body.
Carole D looked at the Puritanical “horror” of material waste, concluding that what the world might see as waste can also be a wonder.
Julia ran the gamut of worry as a form of waste and wondered if women, including herself, are wasting their lives worrying.
Autumn, as the former queen of haste and waste, found the economy of slower thought, movement, words, and behavior amplifies mindful engagement.
Lisa H looked at the role invisible labor plays in our ability to soothe our relationship with consumption and offered the alternative: if we appreciate what we discard, we wouldn’t cause such harm.
Intact Animal discussed the strategy of conserving energy and how the body produces its own form of chemical waste when under extreme conditions. (Spoiler alert: Willpower saves the day.)
With the benefit of hindsight, Catrin chose to reframe “wasted opportunities” as choices that contributed to bringing her to where she is now: belonging.
Wynn Tu cursed paper, while eschewing our dependency on technology for record-keeping, and hoped free space won’t get filled with more of the same.
Pascale invoked the mythic Major Tom while driving to work every morning, feeling like she’s on the wrong planet, and wondering if it's a waste of time before docking in the next galaxy.
New Contributor Candace posted in FAITH and tested its definition in relation to Belief and Trust, finding trust in the power of daffodils rising towards the sun.
READ & HEART these writers & SHARE your own story in the comments.
Next Up: Language
On Monday, I’ll write about LANGUAGE through the lens of truth and see what I come up with as a prompt. Is it how we say it? If we say it? The many ways we can express a thought or feeling? Accurately? Or the multiplicity of meaning, a definition, or assumption?
Consider where LANGUAGE takes you and share on Monday!
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More to come on Monday….
Have a great weekend.
Sincerely, for real.
Michelle