by Nancy Casey
We are entering a new season. The sun is in the sky for more than fifteen and a half hours every day. There are fewer clouds and rainstorms to block its rays. This is a good time to pause and write a page about how sunshine affects the world we know.
Set up your page first. Draw a line at the top where you’ll put the title when you have finished. Set aside some space for drawing or doodling. (When you go back and look at your pages, you’ll be surprised by how much you like the ones that have some kind of illustration on them.)
The sun changes everything that it shines upon, so you won’t have trouble finding things to write about. Begin by writing the phrase,
When the sun shines on…
Continue by writing the name of something that the sun might shine upon.
If it is daytime and you are outdoors or near a window, you can see dozens of things responding to sunshine.
You also have many memories of sunshine, on your body and in the world around you. Some of those memories are in the form of knowledge—things that you have learned about the effects of sunshine without experiencing them yourself.
You can even think about sunshine in a symbolic way. Sometimes people talk about letting sunshine into attitudes, ideas, or the past. What happens when you “shed a little light” on something? In government, for example, “sunshine laws” are the laws that make sure government business isn’t conducted in secret.
Whatever you decide to start with, tell what happens when sunshine falls upon it. Write as little or as much as comes to your mind. Maybe you will fill up the whole page with ideas about just one thing. Maybe you will fill up a few lines and feel like you’ve said enough.
If you have room after your first idea, begin again,
When the sun shines on…
Name something else that the sun might shine upon and explain what happens when it does.
Continue this way until you have filled the page.
When you have finished writing, read over your work. Add decoration and color to the page however you would like. Sometimes a little doodling helps you think up a good title. Write the title at the top of the page and make sure the date is somewhere on the page, too. Here is an example of what a person could write.
You can share what you have written by posting it as a comment below. To do that, 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 teaches a writing class that is free and open to anyone. It meets Thursdays from 5:00-6:15 pm at the Recovery Center, 531 S. Main St in Moscow, ID. Drop-ins welcome! For more information, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Community Center.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 