Welcome March!
Anyone out there do spring cleaning? Even if you don't you can participate in this writing prompt:
Write about cleaning out your memorabilia box in the attic. This is the box that holds all the things you would NEVER be able to part with. What is in the box and why have you kept the items?
Send your writing to me (lisa@miamagazine.net) or post it here. We are looking for short pieces to include in Mia, and a compilation of writing prompts would be perfect.
Happy Monday!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Believe in Her
Juli and I visited Lindsey House yesterday for a "Lunch and Learn." This is an amazing place. The residents of this vintage 1920s apartment complex are women who have been rendered suddenly homeless because of crisis. They have children and nowhere to go. It's not a shelter, however. It's a Transitional Living Center, which is actually the name of the organization that gives these women the opportunity to pull themselves up with the help of community volunteers who believe in them. The women are carefully screened for substance abuse and interviewed to make as certain as possible that they are a fit for Lindsey House. The women must pay rent - a percentage of their income, have a high school diploma or be working on their GED, and generally prove that they have a desire to make life better for themselves and their children. Volunteer groups adopt units, furnish and stock them, and connect with the woman and her children who are living in that unit.
There are shelters that serve women (and men) who have substance abuse issues, are victims of domestic violence, or are chronically homeless. There is a great need for these types of shelters, but I was struck by the reality that many women need a place where they can prove themselves. On some level, don't we all? When a woman enters Lindsey House, there are high expectations for her success, but there is also plenty of help to get the women on their way to a better life. They are given budget and financial counseling and are accountable to other women for how they are spending, saving, and planning for the future. They are expected to take care of their apartment and be a member of the Lindsey House community. My guess is that there is a high success rate for these women after they have transitioned out of Lindsey House. When someone believes in us, most of us will rise to meet those expectations. I love this concept and am interested to follow the story of the Transitional Living Center model. If it works (and I have no doubt it does), then we'll see more TLC houses opening up around the Tulsa area, and hopefully around the state.
Check out their website here
There are shelters that serve women (and men) who have substance abuse issues, are victims of domestic violence, or are chronically homeless. There is a great need for these types of shelters, but I was struck by the reality that many women need a place where they can prove themselves. On some level, don't we all? When a woman enters Lindsey House, there are high expectations for her success, but there is also plenty of help to get the women on their way to a better life. They are given budget and financial counseling and are accountable to other women for how they are spending, saving, and planning for the future. They are expected to take care of their apartment and be a member of the Lindsey House community. My guess is that there is a high success rate for these women after they have transitioned out of Lindsey House. When someone believes in us, most of us will rise to meet those expectations. I love this concept and am interested to follow the story of the Transitional Living Center model. If it works (and I have no doubt it does), then we'll see more TLC houses opening up around the Tulsa area, and hopefully around the state.
Check out their website here
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday Morning Writing Prompt, February 28
It's Monday, the sun is shining, it's the last day of February, the Spring issue of Mia is being distributed, and I'm working with my dog at my feet. She snores, but I find it an acceptable accompaniment to my fingers clicking away on the keyboard. So in honor of Grace, my nine-month-old black lab, here is your writing prompt for today:
Write a story from the perspective of your favorite childhood pet. Make sure to include details about how the pet sees you and your family.
Happy Monday!
Write a story from the perspective of your favorite childhood pet. Make sure to include details about how the pet sees you and your family.
Happy Monday!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday Morning Writing Prompt, February 21
Some Mondays are harder than others. We had snow here for a week and a half, so life came to a grinding halt. It was kind of nice, I have to admit. Several friends and I agreed that being trapped in your house can be quite productive: no meetings, errands, school, social events. I got cleaning and work done, took some naps, learned how to do most of the exercises on my Wii Fit, and checked several need-to-see-movies off my list. But then the sun came out and the race was on to make up for lost time. Now it's Monday again and I don't feel quite as rested as I did last Monday. Sometimes it's good to take a deep breath before we begin. If you're feeling like me, here is a writing prompt to wake you up and get you going today:
Sit in total silence for five minutes and observe things around you. Write a story about the sense of awareness this brings you.
Happy Monday!
Do you have a subscription to Mia? If not, you should! We'll make sure it's delivered straight to your mailbox four times a year. It's easy to order your subscription online here. We need your support to keep publishing the magazine. , so consider becoming a subscriber!
Sit in total silence for five minutes and observe things around you. Write a story about the sense of awareness this brings you.
Happy Monday!
Do you have a subscription to Mia? If not, you should! We'll make sure it's delivered straight to your mailbox four times a year. It's easy to order your subscription online here. We need your support to keep publishing the magazine. , so consider becoming a subscriber!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday Morning Writing Prompt, February 14
Happy Monday!
It's the beginning of a new week and the middle of the month of February. Valentine's Day, 2011. You can be as ambivalent as you want about Valentine's Day, but it looms large in the stores as soon as the after-Christmas sale items have been picked through and whisked away. Suddenly, red and pink lace hearts are everywhere and we're hit with reasons to buy chocolate, jewelry, flowers and cards that sing. Not to sound too humbug, but I don't get terribly caught up in the commercialism of Valentine's Day. I do, however, love the opportunity to remember to be grateful that I have people to love, most notably my husband. So we do a little Valentine's dinner and buy each other a funny card. But mostly we share memories of our lives over the past several decades and talk about how we would be different people if we hadn't been introduced by a mutual friend on that windy day in front of the college dormitory.
A long introduction, but here is your writing prompt for Valentine's Day:
Write about the first time you laid eyes on the person you love the most. Describe the setting, the person, the moment.
I'm collecting the responses to the writing prompts you are sending because changes are coming to the blog soon. I have been doing most of the writing, but I'd like to turn that over to you. Just as Mia is your magazine, this blog belongs to you also. We want it to be an extension of the magazine and of the storytelling that we publish in print. So keep sending your stories in! They don't have to be long, just a few paragraphs. You can email your writing to me at lisa@miamagazine.net.
Happy Valentine's Day!
It's the beginning of a new week and the middle of the month of February. Valentine's Day, 2011. You can be as ambivalent as you want about Valentine's Day, but it looms large in the stores as soon as the after-Christmas sale items have been picked through and whisked away. Suddenly, red and pink lace hearts are everywhere and we're hit with reasons to buy chocolate, jewelry, flowers and cards that sing. Not to sound too humbug, but I don't get terribly caught up in the commercialism of Valentine's Day. I do, however, love the opportunity to remember to be grateful that I have people to love, most notably my husband. So we do a little Valentine's dinner and buy each other a funny card. But mostly we share memories of our lives over the past several decades and talk about how we would be different people if we hadn't been introduced by a mutual friend on that windy day in front of the college dormitory.
A long introduction, but here is your writing prompt for Valentine's Day:
Write about the first time you laid eyes on the person you love the most. Describe the setting, the person, the moment.
I'm collecting the responses to the writing prompts you are sending because changes are coming to the blog soon. I have been doing most of the writing, but I'd like to turn that over to you. Just as Mia is your magazine, this blog belongs to you also. We want it to be an extension of the magazine and of the storytelling that we publish in print. So keep sending your stories in! They don't have to be long, just a few paragraphs. You can email your writing to me at lisa@miamagazine.net.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday Morning Writing Prompt, February 8
No need to check your calendars. February 8 IS Tuesday. That's today. Snow has a way of making the days run together.
So here is your writing prompt for today:
Clare Boothe Luce told President Kennedy that "every man is a sentence." At Mia, we would tweak it to say, "Every person is a sentence."
If you were a sentence, what would it be? Write your sentence using third person.
Watch the video below about Daniel Pink's book Drive and think about your own sentence. We would love to read yours. Send it to us! Or you can comment here.
So here is your writing prompt for today:
Clare Boothe Luce told President Kennedy that "every man is a sentence." At Mia, we would tweak it to say, "Every person is a sentence."
If you were a sentence, what would it be? Write your sentence using third person.
Watch the video below about Daniel Pink's book Drive and think about your own sentence. We would love to read yours. Send it to us! Or you can comment here.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Last week, Lisa promised a favorite photo and the story behind it. Here it is:
In 1958, my mother developed an unquenchable thirst. She and my father had been married for only a few years when she was diagnosed with diabetes, but this photo was taken a year before that diagnosis. They were living in Baltimore, Maryland in a garage apartment. My parents were small town kids, transplanted from Kibler, Arkansas where they had grown up only a half-mile from one another. She was 20 years old in this photo, newly released from the edges of impoverished backwoods Arkansas and still a bit dazed by the world. I love this photo without reason. She doesn't look particularly happy or unhappy, but it's not her face that captures me in this photo. It's her leg.
The disease that she was diagnosed with about 11 months after this photo took her life, but first it took her legs. She battled diabetes from the age of 21, but it was the last ten years of her life that it landed its cruelest blows. Her kidneys stopped working and she was kept alive by dialysis. About the time her body seemed to have gone its distance with the dialysis, she noticed an odd blister on her foot. That was August of 2007. By March of the following year, doctors had amputated both of her legs. Along with breaking apart and killing vital organs, diabetes causes neuropathy - nerve damage that decreases blood flow. Her lower limbs were literally starved to death of life-giving blood and they became an enemy that had to be separated from the rest of her body. In two separate surgeries that were shockingly quick and simple, my mother's legs were removed.
When I look at this photo, I remember a statement she delivered a few days before she died. "I have been blessed every day of my life," she said with absolute sincerity. And on her face was that same expression that I see in this photo. She faced life with determination, her jaw set with it and a look in her eyes that meant business. She was tough to the end - never bitter, always grateful. She felt blessed, and in proclaiming it, even when her beautiful legs were gone, she was showing us all how to live above the difficult circumstances of our lives, and in the end, defeat them.
In 1958, my mother developed an unquenchable thirst. She and my father had been married for only a few years when she was diagnosed with diabetes, but this photo was taken a year before that diagnosis. They were living in Baltimore, Maryland in a garage apartment. My parents were small town kids, transplanted from Kibler, Arkansas where they had grown up only a half-mile from one another. She was 20 years old in this photo, newly released from the edges of impoverished backwoods Arkansas and still a bit dazed by the world. I love this photo without reason. She doesn't look particularly happy or unhappy, but it's not her face that captures me in this photo. It's her leg.
The disease that she was diagnosed with about 11 months after this photo took her life, but first it took her legs. She battled diabetes from the age of 21, but it was the last ten years of her life that it landed its cruelest blows. Her kidneys stopped working and she was kept alive by dialysis. About the time her body seemed to have gone its distance with the dialysis, she noticed an odd blister on her foot. That was August of 2007. By March of the following year, doctors had amputated both of her legs. Along with breaking apart and killing vital organs, diabetes causes neuropathy - nerve damage that decreases blood flow. Her lower limbs were literally starved to death of life-giving blood and they became an enemy that had to be separated from the rest of her body. In two separate surgeries that were shockingly quick and simple, my mother's legs were removed.
When I look at this photo, I remember a statement she delivered a few days before she died. "I have been blessed every day of my life," she said with absolute sincerity. And on her face was that same expression that I see in this photo. She faced life with determination, her jaw set with it and a look in her eyes that meant business. She was tough to the end - never bitter, always grateful. She felt blessed, and in proclaiming it, even when her beautiful legs were gone, she was showing us all how to live above the difficult circumstances of our lives, and in the end, defeat them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)