Homework Assignment

"No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap."

Carrie Snow

I'm not usually very good with assignments. Like exercising or dieting, an assignment is something I know I should do, but before I get started on it, I have to dig in my heels and whine a little.

Yesterday at our writing group Carol told us of a good workbook to help stimulate writing [How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci by Michael Gelb] One of the author's suggestions was to jot down 100 questions you have about your life. 100 questions in 30 minutes. 100 free associative questions that don't have to have answers at the moment. The whole point is to get the questions down on paper.

We didn't have time for a hundred so Carol asked us to write down 5. Here are mine ...

1. Why am I so angry?
2. How can I get my $$$s in order?
3. How can I be more compassionate in the face of fear?
4. How can I get to Seattle and Key West more often?
5. How can I get more sleep?

Good Lord, a few more questions like that and I'd have to check myself into a mental health facility for some intense therapy. In a way, though, that's what writing is for me - therapy. Probably why I should do more of it instead of letting things rumble around in my head the way they do.

Each of the women in the group shared one of their questions. When it got to me, I asked the sleep question. Who knew a question about my seemingly endless need for sleep could generate so much compassion and wisdom? You don't have to be a rocket scientist or Sigmund Freud to figure out that my need for sleep is most likely more emotional than physical. But it helps if you're a friend who can help you see the forest instead of the trees. Carol suggested that a way to exercise my writing muscles - i.e. journal more frequently - would be to write every day for 30 days about a different place I'd like to sleep.

THIRTY DAYS ????? That sounds a tad bit like NABLOPOMO! That sounds like work! Just thinking about it makes me feel kind of sleepy!

Yet at the same time, I think it sounds like a fun assignment. If I could sleep anywhere in the world, where would it be? Would I sleep alone or have company? Would I sleep a la naturale or would I snuggle down between handmade quilts in flannel pajamas? Would I sleep on a bed or in a hammock, or on a raft bobbing on an ocean current? Hmmmmm? I'm beginning to like this assignment.

So I'm in. I've got a ton of things to do before Christmas. Hell before Thanksgiving and that is only a week away. But this "to do" sounds like something I can handle and something that will be good for me. I don't know if I'll be any closer to thinking like DaVinci, but it's worth a try.

Stay tuned, Merry ME