Spark Your Memory: Week 4

Stuck?

Epiphanies come in all shapes and sizes, from the little goofy ones to the bigger messy ones.

Most people find that they have a story for one of these:

• The moment they learned their parents were fallible
• The moment they learned they were on their own
• The moment they knew they had found "the one"
• The moment they realized this was not "the one"
• The moment they knew they had to stop something (drinking, smoking, computer games, living at Mom's house, etc.)
• The moment they had to start something (exercising, working, going back to school, etc.)
• The moment they knew they were wrong, lost, confused, in trouble, etc.
• The moment they knew they were right, on the right track, sure, moving up in life, etc.

I have also found these videos to be very inspirational in helping me recognize/remember aha moments:

The wrong ones:


The fun/together ones:


And, for some of you, now about a month in to our class when it is apparent that, while rewarding and exciting, writing can also be hard and discouraging, you can find ways to break through your block and get motivated again.

Here are some that work for me:

• I sometimes think about a really, truly joyful moment and write about it.  It doesn't have to be a moment you've never written about.  I have written about the same moments over and over.  They come out different every time.  When I'm done, I feel refreshed and can return to what I was thinking of.
• Sometimes I do in words what artists occasionally do with their surroundings.  I pick a still life--what I'm looking at right now, this instant--and begin to describe it.  I usually stumble onto something I want to write about.  Once I've accomplished that, I'm often able to go back to what I was working on.
• I lower my expectations.  Sometimes, it just isn't going to happen in the time you've allotted.  It just isn't.  Recognize that and cap it.  Pick an amount of time you're going to devote to it, let it go, and come back later.  Do that until it starts to flow again.  Do something else in between.  Eventually, it will start to flow again.