by Nancy Casey
Today you will write down some random thoughts about kindness. How will you make sure they are random? By doodling!
Gather up some different colors of pens if you have them, and any other drawing-type materials you enjoy.
Draw a line near the top of the page to mark the space where the title will go. Then draw the letter ‘K’ in the center of the page and put a circle around it. K is for kindness.
Draw 3 lines from the K in the center out to the edge of the page so that your page will be divided into 3 sections that are more or less the same size.
Pick a section and begin doodling. You can doodle up squiggles and shapes or you can sketch whatever is in front of you. You can make a single blob and just color it in. What you draw can be “about” something—or not. Fool around and enjoy what comes out of your pen.
Drawing relaxes your mind in a way that allows your thoughts to roll around at random. When one of those random thoughts happens to be about kindness, notice that.
“Kindness” as a topic can cover a lot of things. So you will probably start to notice lots of thoughts about it. Kind actions, kind thoughts. Kindness offered, kindness received. All the different ways kindness feels. Kindness you remember. Kindness you wish for. Ways to be kind.
As you continue to draw and doodle, decide which random thought about kindness you will write down. You don’t have to write a lot. You might decide to go back and forth between the writing and drawing.
Try to have the writing part and the drawing part take up approximately the same amount of room.
When you have filled one section, fill another one the same way. Then fill the third section.
After that, look over all that you have done. Squeeze in new things if you want. As you go back through your work, a title is likely to pop into your mind. Write it down at the top. Put the date on the page somewhere as well.
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 in your work. Or post a picture of it.
Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. She offers (free!) writing help to anyone in recovery. This can be for any kind of writing project—resumes, letters, stories, novels, homework, etc. She will be teaching writing classes at the Recovery Center in the spring. Email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 