Today, let’s begin with a…
WRITING PROMPT (1):
Sheila Bender, poet and writer, reminds us that “The body is the starting place for what we know.”
How do you interpret this quote (from Sheila Bender’s book, Writing Personal Poetry)? Write for twenty minutes. When you feel satisfied with your first writing, ask yourself “Is there anything else that wants to be said?” If so, write some more.
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In our times, we hear talk of “cellular memory” or “body memory”. Some say this is fictitious, an unproved theory. My body has proven itself to be a wise guide. My body brought the awareness of early trauma to the surface of my psyche before I was cognitively conscious of it. Then the work of healing began. In laywoman’s terms, “body memory” acknowledges that the body has stored life experiences in its organs, bones, tissues and cells. It can also refer to generational trauma that our ancestors carried in their cells which was passed onto us as their children. Without getting scientific (I don’t have that background), I’ve found that my body holds many stories and memories along with the old trauma. Something that many can identify with is when you get goose bumps or when suddenly you have an upset stomach in a tense situation. The body recognizes something and reacts.
In this regard then, the body is a field to be mined, a point of entry for your writing. Over the years, I have mined my body as a means to understand and heal myself and to integrate what has, in some way, been disowned.
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WRITING PROMPT (2):
Try this if you like, choose one part of your body (women sometimes choose their hips)–and give it a voice to tell its story.
Poem by Lucille Clifton entitled Homage to My Hips
“These hips are big hips.
they need space to
move around in.
They don’t fit into little
petty places. these hips
are free hips.
They don’t like to be held back.
These hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
They do what they want to do.
These hips are mighty hips.
These hips are magic hips.
I have known them
to put a spell on a man and
spin him like a top.”
Today, thank your body.
Wake Up Princess 