In the News

by Nancy Casey

The New Year is coming up.

In your writing today, you will have an opportunity to think about the coming year. You are going to need a few art materials for this: crayons, colored pencils or markers, glitter and glue, anything you like. At a minimum, make sure you have you two colors to work with.

First set up your page. Draw the line at the top where the title will go. Then draw two lines straight down the paper to make three columns that run the length of the page. At the top of the left-hand column write the heading “Probably Not.” For the right hand column, write the heading “Probably.” Leave the middle column blank for now.

Certainly the year will bring changes and surprises, but much of the year will also meet your plans and expectations. In the “Probably” column, make a list of things that will probably happen during the coming year. There will be lots of them. Think of all the parts of your daily routine that are unlikely to change. Think about plans you have made that are likely to work out. Think about things you have to do whether you want to or not.

Don’t put anything on the “Probably” list unless you are pretty certain about it. Sometimes it’s the most simple things (rain, for instance) that you can be most sure of.

In the “Probably Not” column, make a list of things that you are quite certain won’t happen. Once you get going the possibilities are endless. Will the moon be crashing into the ocean? Will you be growing some new fingers?

Once “Probably” and “Probably Not” are all filled up, fill the middle column with doodles. Yes, doodles. This and that. Scribbles. No planning ahead. No trying to get it right. Just doodle.

While you are doodling, let your mind wander to the uncertain parts of the coming year. Good and not-so-good things that are beyond your imagination will happen to you. Opportunities and people will present themselves. You will unexpectedly change a habit. You will resolve challenges and be met with new ones. You will begin to dislike something you like and start to like something you currently dislike.

What’s in store for you in the coming year? The whole year ahead: winter, spring, summer, fall, and winter again. What’s going to matter most to you by then? Who knows? Just doodle.

If you have doodled up the column in one color, switch to another color and add more things. When you feel like you are all done, add just a little bit more.

When your page is filled, your it will look like the coming year. There is plenty of certainty, but down the middle of it all, a whole lot that you never guessed was going to turn out the way it did–until you did it. It’s colorful and intricate. You took each step even if you didn’t know where it was going. When you step back and give it a look, it’s all very interesting. And it’s yours.

When you have finished, look over everything and give your work a title. Make sure the date is on it somewhere, 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. You can type in your work. Or post a picture of it.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. Sometimes she teaches writing classes at the Recovery Center. You can find more of her work here. She offers (free!) writing help to anyone in recovery. This can be for any kind of writing project—resumes, letters, stories novels—email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.

by Nancy Casey

In your writing today, you will be thinking about the rituals that you have, or once had, in your life.

In the broadest sense, a ritual is something that we do over and over again. Usually for a pretty good reason.

There are a lot of rituals contained in our daily habits. Many people always do the same thing when they get up in the morning. We can have rituals for health and hygiene, for keeping ourselves well-fed. We can have rituals for going to bed.

Some rituals are seasonal. All the different holidays throughout the year have different rituals associated with them. Our personal rituals for getting dressed and going out the door change with the seasons as well. If you walk to work along the same route every day, noticing the seasonal changes in a stranger’s yard could become a ritual for you.

There are many types of formal rituals. Think of the many rituals associated with churches and religions. Families have rituals Sports teams have rituals. Clubs have rituals. Support groups have rituals.

Rituals are usually comforting somehow. Sometimes the memory of how we have performed the same set of actions again and again over time can show us how we have grown. Sometimes when we don’t know what else to do, rituals can carry us through. Some rituals help us do good things for ourselves, whether we feel like doing them or not.

Today, write about the rituals in your life. You might decide to write in detail about just one ritual. Or you if you prefer, you could take note of many different rituals that you engage in over the course of a day, a month, a year, or your life so far.

Rituals are repetitive. They put a special kind of rhythm into our lives. There is something reliable about them. What do your rituals do for you?

When you have finished writing, give your work a title. Make sure the date is on the page somewhere, too. Add decoration and color as needed. Here is an example of what a person could write.

You can share what you have written by posting it as a comment below. You can type in your work. Or post a picture of it.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. Sometimes she teaches writing classes at the Recovery Center. You can find more of her work here. She offers (free!) writing help to anyone in recovery. This can be for any kind of writing project—resumes, letters, stories novels—email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.

by Nancy Casey

We have five senses. We think things up. We learn from the world outside of ourselves. We wonder about things and ask ourselves questions.

These are some of the tools that we use to move smoothly through the world as we experience it. They help us dress properly for the weather, avoid spoiled food, make friends, and understand ourselves. These tools help us gather information. Some of them even operate 24/7.

Today you will write down some of the information you have gathered from these sources.

Begin by folding the page in half so that the top edge touches the bottom edge. Then fold the page in half again the same way. Fold the page a third time so that the left edge touches the right edge. When you open the page back up again, it will be divided into eight equal rectangles or boxes.

Leave a little bit of room at the top of the page for the title you will add later.

Write one of these headings at the top of each small rectangle:

See – Hear – Touch – Taste – Smell – Ideas – Others – Questions

Under the headings for each of the five senses, write down the names of a few things that you can perceive with each sense right now. You can also write things that you remember perceiving with each of those senses.

Under the heading “Ideas” write down a few things you have figured out or thought up. Our minds make up ideas constantly. Sometimes they are complex thoughts about the meaning of this universe. Sometimes our ideas are mostly about lunch.

In the box labeled “Others” write down some things you have learned from what you’ve noticed in the world outside yourself. What have you learned from other people? Have pets or other animals taught you things about the world? Have you learned from a plant? from a book? from a rock?

In the box marked “Questions” write down some questions that you don’t know the answer to. Our minds are asking questions all the time: “What’s that?” when we hear a loud sound. Profound questions about the direction of our lives. Decisions to make about what to wear and eat for the next 24 hours.

You don’t have to fill the boxes in any order. You can skip around. If you get stuck, look around you and listen to your mind—you’ll find you are using some combination of these eight tools all the time. You are constantly taking in information about the world. Your mind is constantly trying to understand everything better.

When you have filed all eight boxes, give your work a title. Make sure the date is on it somewhere, too. Add decoration and color to the page as needed. Here is an example of what a person could write.

You can share what you have written by posting it as a comment below. You can type in your work. Or post a picture of it.

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Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. Sometimes she teaches writing classes at the Recovery Center. You can find more of her work here. She offers (free!) writing help to anyone in recovery. This can be for any kind of writing project—resumes, letters, stories novels—email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.