by Nancy Casey
If it isn’t an animal or a mineral, it’s a vegetable. If it means something to you, it is significant.
Today, write about one or more significant vegetables in your life.
The obvious vegetables are the eat-your-vegetables kind—carrots, lettuce, green beans, etc. There are other possibilities, too.
There is a whole world of growing things that count as vegetables. Outdoors there are trees, shrubbery and flowering plants. Indoors are houseplants that you grow on purpose and the mold you grow by accident.
Don’t overlook the things that are manufactured from vegetables—a basket made of reeds, clothing made of cotton, and all of the wood that is in your home and furniture. Sometimes pillows are stuffed with vegetable matter. Some plastics are made of cornstarch.
Once you start looking around, there are vegetables everywhere.
Choose one or more of the vegetables that has played a role in your life and write about them. You could tell about your history together or the purpose they fulfill. You could explain how they frustrate you or make you happy. You could simply describe what they look like.
While you decide which vegetable to write about first, set up your page. 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.
If you still haven’t decided what to write about, get your pen started by drawing or doodling. The motion slows your thoughts and helps you notice them better. As soon as an idea for writing comes to you, start putting down some words.
If you finish with one vegetable and still have room on the page, fill up the rest of the page by writing about a different vegetable significant to you. Or make a bigger drawing.
When the page is full, 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 the page 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. 