Reverb10 Prompt 15 : 5 minutes. Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. by Patti Digh Author of Creative is a Verb: If You’re Alive, You’re Creative
The five minute part
Oh shit, 5 minutes.
- I want to remember waking up at the cabin with my friends and the guys having beer for breakfast and me making pancakes for everyone. I want to remember the kids all sleepy headed in their pajamas in the sunshine looking out through the door of the cabin.
- I want to remember how I felt when I finished my novel for NaNoWriMo, the sheer energy and prode that surged through me.
- I want to remember getting my Green stripe in Taekwondo, and watching The Boy earn his. And I want to remember my competition and how hard it was but how it made me want to try harder, not give up.
- I want to remember my brave Little Guy getting up to the mic at his school concert dressed as a Jedi Action Figure and saying his line as clear as anything.
- I want to remember sitting by the fire on summer vacation cuddling the boys and sitting next to The Man.
- I want to remember lying on our bed with The Man in the sunshine, with his hand on the small of my back, talking and laughing.
- I want to remember doing the endless setlist in Rock Band with our friends last May. It took forever but it was big fun, we had a sandwich bar for supper and we took turns singing.
- I want to remember making the pirate movie with the kids in October.
- I want to remember the love I feel when I look at my husband and my boys, when I see them I feel as if I might burst with joy.
Thinking about the 5 minute part
Turns out 5 minutes is enough to remember a lot of the good things, but none of the bad or frustrating things I feel lucky that it was all lovely things that floated up first. Once I finished the 5 minutes I tried to think of the bad things, just to see what would happen and all I could get was vague, non-specific frustrations. That works out pretty well I think, keeping the moments of delight and letting the difficulties melt away. Of course, to make changes for 2011 I’ll have to call up specific frustrating things, but as a general way of thinking about 2010 I’m happy to let them fade.