IdeaStream Week 20
I Like Me And I Like You Too
Inside, outside, and all around
Hello beautiful people,
So, we are coming out of isolation. Some of us. Or are we? Not really sure, the messages have been pretty mixed. As a teacher explained on social media: ‘I can now spend six hours a day with fifteen four-year-olds, but I cannot yet see the one four-year-old I really want to see, my grandson.’
Yep, makes perfect sense.
But listen, we don’t worry about things like that. We keep our focus on what is working, what’s great in our lives, what we really love and like.
Do you like yourself? Have you ever looked into a mirror, smiled, and said, out loud or silently: I like you?
I learned to do this from Louise Hay, founder of Hay House. Now, whenever I get into a lift, I remember to smile and say: I really like you, Marla. I especially like to do this if there’s a child in the lift, because, who knows, it might stick.
I challenge you to do this at least once this week.
Writers Prompts
Poetry Salvage
Write a poem using these ten words.
- Like
- Acceptance
- Approve
- Mirror
- Work
- Envelope
- Embrace
- Simple
- Trust
- Letting Go
I loved the responses to last week’s poetry salvage!
Love abounding from 🦄 Chris Hedges
A declaration of import from Marilyn Flower
Caroline de Braganza is not only wise but prolific.
Limerick prompt
Going a little raunchy this week, as I’m told limericks need to be a bit rude.
There was a young woman who loved Snickers
And standing around in her knickers…
Last week’s Limerick double winner is Caroline de Braganza who came up with not one but two limericks. While in the lav, apparently! Well done you! (You can get off the loo now.)
Haiku Challenge
Write five related haikus about a time you didn’t like yourself, but turned it around.
Finish the Story
Take this short story introduction and run with it!
“I’m having too much fun, you see, to care what others think of me…”
A Herculean entry on last week’s FTS by Melissa R. Mendelson
A new section – quote of the week.
If you come across a quote that really grabs you in a story by a Medium writer, please feel free to send it to me to share; be sure to include the link.
This week’s quote of the week comes Lee Serpa Azevado in his story, The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum
“Back in the day, we coughed to hide our farts, now we fart to hide our coughs.”
An Unlikely Scene For Fiction Writers meets Subject Mash-Up
Choose one or all of these characters to write a story about. Or, pick one subject to write on exclusively, or two subjects/keywords to smash together in an article, essay, or fiction story.
- A child gets lost in a supermarket
- Shaving for the first time
- You get home… and find your house has disappeared
- A troll named Trump
- A parallel universe in which there are two of females but no males
- A world where everyone is a vegetarian
- Lucy, a former bellydancer, wins the Republican nomination
- The president of the USA makes racist attacks punishable by a minimum of ten years imprisonment
- Remember the movie Terms of Endearment? Rewrite the ending
Recommend Reads
None of the above moving you? Try one of these stories below…
by craig rory lombardi, bronx born
By Agnes Louis
By Ethan Taylor
Ideastream is the creation of Xavier Van Holde
What It Is
If you’re looking for a home for your writing with people that like to read & support other writers then we’d be honored to have you no matter your skill level. Take a look at the link below.
Practical Information for Writers
A new irregular section; if I come across anything I think may be useful to writers, I’ll pop it here. This week, I introduce a yoga teacher who shares yoga tips on her YouTube channel. This one is for relieving kricks in our necks.
I leave you with reasons to like yourself, in case you need them
IdeaStream Guest Writer Profile
Marla Bishop is an editor for The Bad Influence, as well as for GetFitGang and The Narrative, and publisher of Lilith. A writer and relationship coach, she lives in London UK with her husband and youngest two children.
