WRITING PROMPT
Open to Joy
Quote prompt №15
I am back with a new quote, and I hope you all will participate! I have loved reading your poetry and thoughts on these prompts. Please keep them coming!
Welcome to Quote Prompt № 15!
There are these photos going around of scenes from New Zealand. People are hanging out together in sidewalk cafés, buying food at a farmers’ market, experiencing freedom and joy. Yes, they are beating the virus. Yes, they have followed the rules and have done the right thing for their population. I am feeling some serious envy right now. Those photos look like the opposite of fear, which in my mind is pure joy.
Like many of you, I keep looking out into a time where we can live freely again — when we can shake hands and hug and trust each other. I really look forward to when we can go back to work and send our kids to school without this underlying anxiety. I cannot wait to really be with my mom again, sharing a bowl of popcorn, feeding the horses, laughing loudly, standing close.
Today, I looked to Maya Angelou for our next quote prompt. I wanted to pull myself away from the “doom scroll” as my husband suggested yesterday. I wanted to be inspired to look for the awesome in my memories and to feel content in my present moment.
Here is the quote:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away.
— Maya Angelou
There are so many moments that have taken my breath away. I am sure you have them too. Let’s all focus on what it means to really be alive, to be open to joy, even if for only a few minutes to write it down.
- The crackle of the final campfire of the summer; the heartache in knowing it is time to say goodbye.
- Feeling my newborn’s chest on mine for the first time.
- Standing at the Temple of Poseidon looking over an impossibly blue Aegean Sea.
- Wrapping my arms around my husband when we are pronounced married.
- Mountain biking in Telluride.
- Wandering into the Anasazi ruins.
- Experiencing a Pink Floyd concert.
- Reading so many amazing novels.
My list of joy feels endless, but now it is your turn. What does it mean for you to fully embrace joy? How can you take one moment and share it with the world? Maybe in reading your words, our breaths will be taken away.
If you would like, respond to the quote above with a poem, short story, essay, or whatever creative expression you wish. I cannot wait to see what you come up with this time! Please submit drafts to Sky Collection only, and link this post to your submission!
Because of the increased interest in becoming a writer with Sky Collection, I have new submission guidelines. If you would like to become a writer here, please email me a draft of your work at [email protected]. We welcome poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and all sub-genres!
Tagging some writers, but all are welcome!
Christina M. Ward Ashwini Dodani Agnes Louis Shringi Kumari Stacey Christiansen Melissa A. Rowe, MEd List Craig Lora Lucente John L Dahle Janis Cox Nathalie E. Amazan Lynne Nardizzi Dennett Thomas Gaudex Melissa Wilson Sylvia Wohlfarth Thomas Plummer Anna Rozwadowska Steven Clifford Kristen v.H. Middleton Priyanka Srivastava guérin D. E. Fulford, MA, MLS Arjan Tupan Tapan Avasthi Jenny Justice Tammi Brownlee Anitha Sankaran Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D. Harshita Roy Reichle J.D. Harms Lisa Bolin Brian Fehler Jonathan Fashanu A Medic’s MusingsHarper Thorpe Liz Tucker Eli Snow Mike Treanor /lfw