Category: Word Prompts

Dominant Issues

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

On Saturday, while I waited for the Women’s March to start, a woman gave me a stamped postcard to send to my Republican senator. I seriously doubt that the senator gives a crap what I think but I decided to send the card anyway. The card has a tiny space to write what I’m concerned about and why. There’s no way I can adequately explain my political concerns on a postcard but I did my best. The three words I listed as dominant issues are loaded with meaning: Democracy, Decency, and Dreamers.

Democracy

I’m concerned about our democracy for a variety of reasons. There is ample evidence that Russians attempted to interfere with our election process. Even if the president had won the election fair and square, his authoritarian tendencies are alarming. He seeks revenge against his political opponents, especially HRC. He encouraged violence at his worship services, I mean, his rallies. He attacks the legitimacy of the press on a daily basis because they expose the truth. He attacks the integrity of the Justice Department and the FBI because their job is getting to the truth. So far, the judicial branch has placed limits on his power but the legislative branch has not been an effective check.

Decency

Decency refers to “behavior that conforms to accepted standards of morality and respectability.” The president violates accepted standards on a daily basis. He lies constantly, even about unimportant matters. His comments about other people are vile, cruel, and profane. His constant boasting is revolting. As a businessman, he stiffed his creditors. He is a serial adulterer who has bragged about assaulting women.

Dreamers

“Dreamers” are immigrants, mostly from Mexico, who were brought to the United States as children. Although I care about all immigrants and refugees, I think that protecting Dreamers should be a priority because they are here through no fault of their own.

Mr. Gardner, not only do I hope you understand these issues, I hope you take your responsibilities seriously. I’m watching and waiting.

via Daily Prompt: Dominant

My Eyes Are On the Horizon

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

via Daily Prompt: Horizon

When I have an especially long road ahead of me, I look ahead at the horizon. The horizon is far away yet reachable. It gives me a goal to reach for. It takes my attention away from the effort it takes to keep on going. One foot after the other, I march onward.

Even as I celebrate the shrinking distance with each step, I marvel at the huge expanse ahead of me. My eyes can take in only so much of it. I am one tiny speck in a landscape that rolls on forever.

There’s something beyond that line where earth meets sky, something worth marching towards. Beyond the horizon, a vision of better times waits to unfold.

 

Entertaining My Thoughts

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

via Daily Prompt: Entertain

There’s something quite compelling to me about the concept of “entertaining a thought.” I seek entertainment when I am bored, when I want to be amused, or when I need to relax and unwind.

My thoughts rarely stop. They come unbidden. Sometimes I try not to think about a certain thing, but my mind keeps returning to it.

Most frustratingly, in the middle of the night, I wake up thinking about a problem or an idea I want to explore. My mind just won’t stop. I learned a long time ago, that counting sheep doesn’t work. So I entertain my thoughts knowing that eventually I will fall asleep and dreams will come.

Dreams are the most entertaining thoughts I ever have and I welcome them. There’s something so weirdly random about dreams. You never know who is going to show up.

This mind loves to entertain thoughts. I pour them a drink, offer them a snack and say, stay awhile. Take off your coat. Pull up a chair. Tell me, what are you thinking. 

But most of the time, entertaining my thoughts is not a social engagement. It is a solitary pursuit. There’s a party in my head and you’re not invited.

Static

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

via Daily Prompt: Static

It seems a little weird to look up a simple word that I already know so that I can write about it. I looked up “static” to see not just its meaning but also its synonyms, thinking perhaps one of them would inspire me for the WordPress daily prompt challenge. The dictionary says that static is “lacking in movement, action or change, especially in a way viewed as undesirable or uninteresting.” Static has the synonyms unchanging, unvarying, stable, steady, fixed and constant among others.

The problem with relying on synonyms for meaning is the nuances or subtle differences of meaning like those that came after the word especially in the definition of static. While the words stable and steady have positive connotations, to be static may be considered undesirable or boring.

The word static reminds me of the word inert. Inactive. Doing nothing. Inert matter stays at rest unless it is acted on by an external force. An object can be static indefinitely unless something or someone makes it move.

There are times when lack of movement or change is desirable. When I was growing up, we moved a dozen times. I wanted my home life to be stable and unchanging and it wasn’t. As an adult, I’ve learned that change is unavoidable and that change is often desirable or necessary even if changing is not your choice.

There are times when it isn’t good to be static, when we should resist keeping things the way they are. For me, now is one of those times. I do not accept the way things are going in my country. I will not normalize vile, racist behavior. I am not inert. I want to be a force for change, even if it is just with words.

Viable Seeds

by Innermost Being, posted in Word Prompts

via Daily Prompt: Viable

Last May, I went to the People’s Climate March. Someone handed out free packets of seeds for flowers that were supposed to be attractive to bees. I had no idea what kind of flowers were in the packets. I waited until the end of May so the ground would be warm enough and planted the seeds in pots just in case the mystery plants spread too much.

It took two or three months for the plants to bloom. I loved watching the wildflower mystery unfold over the summer. There were marigolds, snapdragons, bachelor buttons, red clover and other flowers I didn’t recognize. Unfortunately, the flowers didn’t attract bees.

I am not much of a gardener so I have never given much thought to whether seeds are viable. A viable seed is one that can be germinated under the right conditions. If seeds are stored in the right conditions, they can remain viable for years.

I have discovered that it is very easy to germinate snapdragons from seed. I let the plants go to seed, then scatter them on the surface of the soil.

One of the reasons I love wildflowers is that they are viable in conditions that often don’t appear to be ideal – a little bit of dirt, a little bit of moisture and a little bit of sun.

Viable. Capable of surviving in the right conditions.