Gonna Change

by Nancy Casey

Things change. Sometimes we like it. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we’re surprised. Sometimes we’re not. You can’t possibly predict all of the changes that are coming, but some of them do arrive with plenty of advance notice.

In your writing today, focus on the aspects of your life and situation that you know are going to change.

Set up the page first. Draw a line across the top where your title will go. You can also draw a box or blob that you’ll use for illustration.

Describe something in your life that you know is going to be different—in a day, in an hour, in a year or merely someday. Write about the way it is now and how it will be different at some point. You can comment further—explain why this is good, bad, or neutral for you or why you know this change is coming. You can explain as much or as little as you like, just be clear about what the change is. If the story of one change doesn’t take up the whole page, write about another, and another until the page is full.

You can draw or doodle to get started. This can relax your mind and allow ideas to come to you. Or maybe an impending change will pop into your mind right away.

You can consider the routine changes that the world provides: sunrises and sunsets, patterns of stars and moonlight, the weather. What changes do the seasons or the calendar reliably bring into your life?

Changes happen inside you. Aches and pains come and go. Sensations like being hungry and feeling full don’t last. Growing and healing are both forms of change. So is learning.

The configuration of our lives changes—jobs, living spaces, friends, co-workers, the ebb and flow of clutter and chores.

Many of our plans are about change—how to bring a change about, what to do if and when a change is coming.

Our tastes and desires change, too. It can be hard to imagine we’ll stop wanting what we want now or start to want something different, but sometimes we can anticipate that. When it comes to food or entertainment, people or places to live, our likes and dislikes might not stay the same forever. Can you guess what some of those changes will be for you?

Start writing about a change that you know is coming, and let your thoughts and words flow from there. Write about more than one change if you have room. When you feel like you’ve written enough, stop. If there’s still space on the page, fill it with drawing or decoration.

Look over your work carefully and make corrections if you wish. When a title idea floats to the surface of your mind, write it 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.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. If you would like some help with your writing, contact Nancy or the Latah Recovery Center. In-person Write-for You classes have been suspended for now, but when Covid recedes, they will return.