by Nancy Casey
Today you will be writing about an article of clothing. Something you are wearing right now.
You can consider “clothing” in broad terms. It can be a shirt or a sock. Or it can be glasses, nail polish, or a cane. Anything from underwear to accessories and everything in between. As long as you are wearing it right now and plan to keep wearing it for a big chunk of the day.
It’s best to decide what article of clothing you will actually write about at the moment you begin writing, even if a pretty good idea comes to mind while you are getting your writing materials together. You can always write about the pretty-good idea later, but even if the new idea is a great one, you probably won’t remember it later.
So pick up the pen, look down at yourself and ask, “What article of clothing should I write about?” Go with whatever answer pops into your mind.
You will be writing about that article of clothing from three different perspectives:
1. First tell about the article of clothing you’ve chosen. How you came to own it, why you are wearing it, what it looks and feels like, what it reminds you of, whether or not you like it, and so forth. There are likely dozens of things you can say about it. You are the one wearing it, so tell everything you can.
2. Then write as though you are the article of clothing itself and tell the story of “your” life. Describe yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your worries and joys. Tell your earliest memories, where you live now, how you spend your days and what you hope to get from this day.
3. Write as though you were the article of clothing again, but this time, write as though the clothing is talking to you. (Even if it feels weird, you can pretend this once.) Specifically, write as though the clothing is giving you a pep talk. The clothing will have a good day if you do, so what’s that clothing going to do help that happen? Write it up in the form of a little speech, from the clothing to you.
When you have finished, give your work a title. Using both a title and three subtitles could be a nice touch. Doodles and illustrations are always appropriate. Be sure to put the date somewhere on the page. Here is an example of what you could write.
Try this exercise throughout the week with different articles of clothing. You can branch out if you like and write about any one of your possessions.
Do you have clothing or possessions that thwart you? You can write about them, too.
Nancy Casey teaches writing classes at the Recovery Center on Thursdays. Check the calendar for classes and times. All are welcome. She coordinates Recovery Radio, which airs on KRFP 90.3 FM in Moscow Thursdays at 1:05 PM. Recovery Radio needs on-air and off-air volunteers. Call the Recovery Center 208-883-1045 or email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.
May at the Latah Recovery Center
Alcoholics Anonymous Every day, noon
Positive Affirmations Mondays and Weds 1:10-2
Make Your Hobby Pay 1st Monday of month
Yoga (Hosted by Moscow Yoga Ctr) Tuesdays 12:30-1:30
Life Skills Tuesdays 5-6
Chess w/Steve Tues and Thurs 5-6
Narcotics Anonymous Tuesdays and Fridays 5:30-6:30
Domestic Abuse Support Group Tuesdays 6-7
Prescription Addiction Support Group Tuesdays 7-8
Parenting Support Group Wednesday 10-11
Families and Caregivers of Addicts Support Group Wednesdays 6-7
Get It Written (Writing Group) Thursdays 11-12 AND 6-7
Write For You Thursdays 3-4
New Volunteer Orientation Thursdays 4-5
LAMI: Family Support Program 2nd Thurs of month 7-8:30
Idaho Dept. of Corrections Free2Succeed Mentoring Training Thursday, 5/18, 5-9
Introduction to Microsoft Excel,Word and PowerPoint Thursday, 5/25 and 6/1, 6-7:30
Knitting and Spinning Fridays 2-4
All Recovery Meeting Fridays 5-6
Movie/Games: Billy Madison, Anchorman, Men In Black 1 and 2 Fridays 6:30-9
Bingo Sat. May 27, 4-8
AA Speakers Meeting 3rd Sat of month 11-2:30
Learn How to Crochet & Calm Your Mind 4th Sat of month, 10-12
Adult Children of Alcoholics, Women’s Meeting Sundays 6-7:30
Classes and Groups are ALWAYS FREE OR AT COST AND OPEN TO ALL.
RSVP LatahRecoveryCenter@gmail.com Bolded=Regular offering. Plain text=Special offering for month.
Need an understanding person to talk to? We have Recovery Peer Volunteers here to help you in recovery from mental health and addiction issues all hours of operation. We are here to help!
by Nancy Casey
Warm up your hands by putting your palms together and rubbing gently up and down along the length of your hand, from your wrist to your fingers. Keep rubbing, maybe 20 or 30 times or more, until you notice that the friction of the rubbing is making a little bit of heat. Don’t try to make friction or heat, just notice when you notice it.
Stop the hand-rubbing and place your hands gently on your face. Don’t strain or stretch at all. Have your thumbs more or less along your jawline, your pinky fingers somewhere on your nose, and the rest of your fingers spread comfortably in between. (Impossible to do with glasses on.)
With your hands touching your face, notice the temperature you feel on your skin. Does the skin of your face think your hands are warm or cold? What is the skin of your hands telling you about the temperature of your face? Don’t try to figure it out or guess at how it is supposed to be, just notice whatever there is to notice about messages coming from your face about your hands, and vice versa.
When you get bored with that, imagine your hands and face are covered in soapsuds, and swipe the suds from your face and shake them off your hands. Then start rubbing your hands back and forth again.
As you rub them together, fool around with the way your hands move. Let the fingers flop between each other. Then rub them so the fingertips stay in contact and notice how that’s different. Rotate the hands so they rub at right angles to each other. Do anything that isn’t stressing or straining as long as your palms and fingers are rubbing together somehow. Notice where the friction happens and how the heat mounts up, but don’t try to make any extra friction or heat. Don’t be efficient or purposeful in any way.
After a bit, put your hands back on your face and check out the skin temperature messages again. Are you more aware of your hands or your face? The answer is probably, “That depends.”
Swipe away imaginary soapsuds (noticing what that’s like) and return to rubbing your hands. After a bit, touch your face again. Bring your awareness to the places where skin meets skin and notice the temperatures. Do your hands warm your face? Does your face cool your hands? Is it the other way around?
What else can you notice (without trying!) about your hands and your face? Do your hands give you information about what’s under the skin? Just by touching (not pressing!) your hands probably register whether they are in contact with something fleshy or bony. You can also note points of contact and no-contact. Can you sort out what your face tells you about your hands from what your hands tell you about your face?
When you go back to rubbing your hands together, notice as many different things about your hands as you can.
Keep on making friction and heat with your hands and then touching your face, noticing what you notice for as long as you want to. When you are ready to start writing, rub your hands together one last time. Rub them hard and fast. At the same time pop your eyes big and wide so your whole body makes the gesture that means, “Ready, set, go! Can’t wait to get to it!”
Take up the pen and notice how it feels in your hand. Your hands could be so mightily warmed up that you have to change your position in the chair. Get comfortable. Where is your face in this picture?
Write about everything you have noticed about your hands and your face. (Here’s an example.) Notice what your hands and face do as you write. If you want to notice more things, go back to the hand-rubbing and face-touching part and you probably will.
What about your thoughts? Did you notice any of them?
Nancy Casey teaches writing classes at the Recovery Center on Thursdays. Check the calendar for classes and times. All are welcome. She coordinates Recovery Radio, which airs on KRFP 90.3 FM in Moscow Thursdays at 1:05 PM. Recovery Radio needs on-air and off-air volunteers. Call the Recovery Center 208-883-1045 or email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.
This episode features an interview with Latah Recovery Center director, Darrell Keim. Sign up for our podcast on iTunes or googleplay!
May at the Latah Recovery Center
Alcoholics Anonymous Every day, noon
Positive Affirmations Mondays and Weds 1:10-2
Make Your Hobby Pay 1st Monday of month
Yoga (Hosted by Moscow Yoga Ctr) Tuesdays 12:30-1:30
Life Skills Tuesdays 5-6
Chess w/Steve Tues and Thurs 5-6
Narcotics Anonymous Tuesdays and Fridays 5:30-6:30
Domestic Abuse Support Group Tuesdays 6-7
Prescription Addiction Support Group Tuesdays 7-8
Parenting Support Group Wednesday 10-11
Families and Caregivers of Addicts Support Group Wednesdays 6-7
Get It Written (Writing Group) Thursdays 11-12 AND 6-7
Write For You Thursdays 3-4
New Volunteer Orientation Thursdays 4-5
LAMI: Family Support Program 2nd Thurs of month 7-8:30
Idaho Dept. of Corrections Free2Succeed Mentoring Training Thursday, 5/18, 5-9
Introduction to Microsoft Excel,Word and PowerPoint Thursday, 5/25 and 6/1, 6-7:30
Knitting and Spinning Fridays 2-4
All Recovery Meeting Fridays 5-6
Movie/Games: Billy Madison, Anchorman, Men In Black 1 and 2 Fridays 6:30-9
Bingo Sat. May 27, 4-8
AA Speakers Meeting 3rd Sat of month 11-2:30
Learn How to Crochet & Calm Your Mind 4th Sat of month, 10-12
Adult Children of Alcoholics, Women’s Meeting Sundays 6-7:30
Classes and Groups are ALWAYS FREE OR AT COST AND OPEN TO ALL.
RSVP LatahRecoveryCenter@gmail.com Bolded=Regular offering. Plain text=Special offering for month.
Need an understanding person to talk to? We have Recovery Peer Volunteers here to help you in recovery from mental health and addiction issues all hours of operation. We are here to help!
by Nancy Casey
Sometimes it feels like we have nothing to write about. Other times, we can feel so overwhelmed by how much we have to say that no single “thing” to write about stands out. Even when we do know what we want to write about, it’s often difficult to figure out where to start.
That’s because a piece of writing has a beginning and an end and is “about” something. But our minds and our memories don’t work that way. We are full of ideas, thoughts, and stories that swim around in there all the time. They echo and interrupt each other and are never still. Starting to write about one of them can make the others clamor that much harder to get in.
Rather than enforce the discipline that it takes to “write something,” here is a way to take pen to paper and follow your thoughts. After your mind has had a chance to wander to all the places it likes to go, it is often much easier to think and write clearly about one thing. See if this works for you.
Begin with a clean sheet of paper, and have a second one handy. Turn the page sideways so it is wider than it is tall. In the center, write your Start Word. This can be a topic that has been on your mind, the first word that pops into your head, or a word you point to randomly from a book. Draw a circle (or any shape, really) around the Start Word.
What does the Start Word make you think of? A new word? A story? A person who uses the word? Whatever comes to mind, write that thought down in a word or two, draw a shape around it, and connect to the shape surrounding your Start Word.
Now it’s as if you have two Start Words. What pops into your head next? Write down a word for that idea and enclose it in a shape. Draw a line to show which word it is connected to.. Now three words have jiggled loose from your memory. Keep going. What pops into your head next? Try to fill up the whole page with shapes that hold words and show their connections.
You will find that the words inside the shapes and the lines connecting them wander all over the page, just like your mind wanders wherever it can wander to. It’s fun to see how far afield related thoughts and stories can take you.
At some point when you go to write a word or a phrase, you might get an urge to tell a whole story or explain a big idea. If a whole lot more words want to tumble out about a single topic, take up the second sheet of paper and let the words flow.
Sometimes it turns out that everything you put into this web of shapes is mostly about one topic. If that happens, use the web of shapes as your “notes” and write about the topic on the second sheet of paper.
You could find that one area of the web of connections really stands out for you. You can write about that on the second sheet if that’s what seems like the right thing to do next.
What if you don’t feel like shifting over to writing sentences and paragraphs? Then choose an area of the web of connections you have made and, using it as a rough draft, make a different fancier version of it on the second page.
Give a different title to the two pages you have made. Add any doodles or illustrations you think they require. Put the date somewhere on the page as well. Here is an example of what someone might write.
Try this multiple times throughout the week. Notice which type of writing comes easier to you, the web of ideas or the sentences and paragraphs. It will probably be different on different days.
Nancy Casey teaches at the Recovery Center on Thursdays. 531 S. Main St. in Moscow. Check the calendar for classes and times. All are welcome. Call the Recovery Center 208-883-1045 or email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.
Write for You!
May at the Latah Recovery Center
Alcoholics Anonymous Every day, noon
Positive Affirmations Mondays and Weds 1:10-2
YOU Can Create Your Own Job 1st Monday of month
Yoga (Hosted by Moscow Yoga Ctr) Tuesdays 12:30-1:30
Life Skills Tuesdays 5-6
Chess w/Steve Tues and Thurs 5-6
Narcotics Anonymous Tuesdays and Fridays 5:30-6:30
Domestic Abuse Support Group Tuesdays 6-7
Prescription Addiction Support Group Tuesdays 7-8
Parenting Support Group Wednesday 10-11
Families and Caregivers of Addicts Support Group Wednesdays 6-7
Get It Written (Writing Group) Thursdays 11-12 AND 6-7
Write For You Thursdays 3-4
New Volunteer Orientation Thursdays 4-5
LAMI: Family Support Program 2nd Thurs of month 7-8:30
Idaho Dept. of Corrections Free2Succeed Mentoring Training Thursday, 5/18, 5-9
Introduction to Microsoft Excel,Word and PowerPoint Thursday, 5/25 and 6/1, 6-7:30
Knitting and Spinning Fridays 2-4
All Recovery Meeting Fridays 5-6
Movie/Games: Billy Madison, Anchorman, Men In Black 1 and 2 Fridays 6:30-9
Bingo Sat. May 27, 4-8
AA Speakers Meeting 3rd Sat of month 11-2:30
Learn How to Crochet & Calm Your Mind 4th Sat of month, 10-12
Adult Children of Alcoholics, Women’s Meeting Sundays 6-7:30
Classes and Groups are ALWAYS FREE OR AT COST AND OPEN TO ALL.
RSVP LatahRecoveryCenter@gmail.com Bolded=Regular offering. Plain text=Special offering for month.
Need an understanding person to talk to? We have Recovery Peer Volunteers here to help you in recovery from mental health and addiction issues all hours of operation. We are here to help!
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 