Write for You: A Perfect Day

by Nancy Casey

In a perfect world, on a perfect day, what is the first thing that would happen to you? And the last thing–how would a perfect day end? What would lie in between?

As you organize your writing materials, daydream about the things that would make a day feel perfect for you. Remember that a “perfect” day will have as many minutes as it takes to fit all of the perfect things into it.

• Imagine the events of a perfect day. The things that you would do or see, and things that would happen either intentionally or by accident.
• Imagine your body on a perfect day. Strength and grace? Aches and pains? Clothing and appearance? Food and drink?
• Imagine perfect interactions and conversations, the people you would see and what you would say to each other.
• Imagine the places you would go and what you would do or witness there.
• Imagine the perfect things you could touch.
• Imagine what you would accomplish on a perfect day. What would you start? What would you finish?
• Imagine your thoughts, your memories and self-talk. What would you deliberately think about and what would pop up in the wanderings of your daydreams?
• Imagine the weather, the news, and other things you have no control over. What would they be like on a perfect day?
• A perfect day would finish with a perfect night’s sleep. What would that be like? Will there be dreams?

Write down the details of your perfect day in a way that feels perfect for you. Here are some different ways you could do that:

• Write down everything you think of, in the order that you think of it, any old way at all.
• Tell the story of a perfect day from beginning to end.
• Write the letters of the alphabet down the left-hand side of the page. As you think up the details of a perfect day write them down next to the letter they begin with.
• Draw a clock on the page, and write down the perfect details according to what time they happen.

When you run out of perfect details, doodle on the page a little bit. Maybe you will think up some more.

When you have finished, you will have made a record of the many different ways a drop of “perfect” can land in your life. When you notice the drops, you notice the ripples.

Give your work a title. Make sure the date is on it somewhere, too. Add any additional decoration or color that the page needs. Here is an example of what a person could write.

You can share what you have written by posting it as a comment below. You can type your comment, or take a picture of your page and post that.

Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. She has taught writing classes at the Recovery Center and will return again in the spring of 2018. You can find more of her work here. If you would like her help with a writing project—resumes, letters, stories novels—email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.