One Word Can Set You in Motion

Getting started can be the problem. This can be when gearing up to clean a closet or paint a room or sweep out the garage. It's especially true with writing. In our minds, we craft monumental things we want to express. But making time to sit down to write from our thoughts can be an act of avoidance. Just like with a chore we push aside, we make excuses.

I often say gearing up to write doesn't have to be difficult because it only takes putting two words together. Beautiful day. I'm sad. Life's hard. Let's eat. After two words have been scribbled before us, we feel relief. We've made a start. The two words invoke us to add more to our note page and soon we've included why we're joyful or sad and why life is hard and what we want to eat. We've primed the pump, we're ready to continue. Two words.

However, lately I've realized there is an easier way to dive into a time of expressive writing and it comes with realizing the power in just one word---one single word. From one word, a word that acts as a theme for the rest of our prose, we can create pages of sentences.

Go on a field trip to collect this one word. Perhaps when you open your eyes and ears as you attend to your daily routine, you’ll hear a word that inspires you or ignites your mind. Maybe it's a word that has come up in your recent conversations. Sit with the word. One word. Write the word at the top of your notebook page. And then, let your mind flow. For example, if your word is rebuild you would ask yourself what that word means to you. Rebuild. Let the meanings flow---Starting over, getting my thoughts organized, gaining confidence after my loss, finding a new purpose, letting go of some of my past in order to focus on my future, etc. From there look over your words or phrases that come underneath your main word rebuild. Where do these additional words take your thoughts? Keep thinking and writing. Don't worry about grammar or punctuation, the goal is to get words on the paper. Soon you'll wonder why you had trouble starting this exercise because you will have pages and pages written by you!

From the compilation of your pages you can find other themes to tackle. You never know where starting to write will lead you.

Writing is good and cheap therapy! Bask in it.