IdeaStream Week 16
Slowly, Slowly, Slowly
There’s so much more time than we realise
Hello beautiful people,
I trust you are thriving and making sure to continue to follow your dreams and your heart as far as you can.
Yes, these are strange and unusual times, but we have to go on, best we can until we can’t.
Today’s IdeaStream takes inspiration from a children’s book called “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth, written by Eric Carle.
The sloth takes its time in everything it does, sleeping up to nineteen hours a day. This is an ideal time to slow down and live more like a sloth. There’s no need to rush about. Unless you absolutely must, don’t leave home.
Unearth those projects you shelved forever because you never had time. Grow something. Write, in your journal, blog, or wherever you choose. Call a friend, email a relative, join an online 12-step programme.
Whatever you do, do it slowly, mindfully, and with intention.
Writer’s Prompts
Poetry Salvage
Use the following ten words in a poem!
Lackadaisical
Mellow
Dillydally
Languid
Placid
Slothful
Peace
Lazy
Stoic
Impassive
Haiku Challenge
Write 5 related haikus on what it means to you to be tranquil.
Limerick prompt
“A limerick (/ˈlɪmərɪk/[1]) is a form of verse, usually humorous and frequently rude, in five-line, predominantly anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA, in which the first, second and fifth line rhyme, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and share a different rhyme.
Our limerick starter for this IdeaStream is:
Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,
Days unfold like guacamole…
Once completed, submit with a link for this Ideastream. The limerick I deem my favourite will be featured in my next IdeaStream
Last week’s winner is… Kristen Hill
An Unlikely Scene For Fiction Writers
Choose one or all of these characters to write a story about.
A sloth call Dynamo.
A magician who levitates.
Eve before she met Adam.
A couple whose jeep breaks down in the Sahara desert.
A recipe using avocado, aubergine (eggplant) and apples.
Subject Matter Smash-Up
Looking for an article? Pick one subject to write on exclusively, or two subjects/keywords to smash together in an article, essay, or fiction story.
Meeting Carl Jung at the Eranos symposium that brought forth Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle
A journey into a jungle with a sloth as your only companion.
A day in your life you’d happily live again.
You’re invited to accompany Lara the tomb raider on her next adventure.
A child protege named Alex discovers a vaccine for COVOD-19
Finish the Story
Take this short story introduction and run with it!
“Tell me,” said the cheetah, “Why are you so slow?”
Recommend Reads
Not feeling this round of ideas? Take inspiration from a story below!
by Reuben Salsa
by Kristen Hill
by Kira Dawn
by Lisa Bolin
by Susie Pinon
by Meaghan Ward
What is IdeaStream?
IdeaStream is the brainchild of Xavier Van Holde, Creative Writing Director & Founder of The Bad Influence.
“We are always looking for fresh voices at TBI, and our mission is to inspire creativity, give writers home to be their true selves, and thumb our nose at all the lame people out there that have no imagination (example: people that believe in censorship, corporate overlords, politicians, and religious people who don’t acknowledge others with different beliefs).
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.”
Submit a poem, story, or any media contribution inspired by this IdeaStream Week16–2020. Extra points for cartoons, collages or anything different.
Please use the tag #Idea Stream as one of your four tags, leaving the fifth tag for our editors.
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. You can follow her here.
