by Nancy Casey
Scan around in your big wide memory and everywhere you look, you’ll find water.
Our bodies are full of it. Without it we die. The same is true for all the other plants and animals we share the planet with.
Hidden pipes carry water in and out of offices and houses. Clouds full of it fall as rain, filling puddles, lakes and streams. Water freezes and makes snow and ice.
Today, write about a memory that has water in it.
Maybe you’ll tell a relaxing story about an outing beside a body of water. Maybe you’ll remember hard times that were caused by flood or ice.
Has there ever been a time when a hot or cold drink really hit the spot? Or a time when you longed for one and couldn’t have it?
You could write about a water sport—an event you witnessed or participated in. Boating. Swimming. Diving.
Water figures into the care of a pet, a garden, or houseplants. Do you have experience with any of these?
Maybe you’ll arrive at a story to tell by thinking about your interactions with water. Or maybe you’ll look around for the water in a story that you want to tell for some reason.
Before you begin, set up your page like this:
Draw a line at the top where the title will go. Mark off a space where you can doodle or draw if you like. Or you can draw and decorate a frame around the whole page.
The page setup, as well as drawing and doodling get your pen started, even before you’ve decided what to write. The motion slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better.
After you’ve told one water story, if there’s room on the page, tell another. Until the page is full. Then go back over your work. Make small changes if you want to. Add more decoration if there is room. Think up a title.
Write the title at the top of the page. Write the date on it too, along with a signature or your initials.
Here is an example of what someone could write.
You can share your work by posting it as a comment below. You can type it in, or take a photo of it and upload the image.
Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. It’s not possible to have an in-person Write-For-You class at the Recovery Center at this time, but if you are interested in writing coaching, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 