Prep + Mise en Place
Write a list of 30 things you love right now. (Here’s my example: PDF)
For your journal or commonplace:
Revisit this month’s list of creative preoccupations. Update it, adding, subtracting, and amending as necessary. Do a short, focused free write about one of your preoccupations — maybe something that has fallen off the list. Can you write your way back to a rekindled curiosity? (Here are my examples: PDF + PDF)
Main Course
Write a true family story, preferably one that has more than one version. Try to express — explicitly or implicitly — what role this story plays in your family’s shared identity. (Here’s my example: Pieta)
Dessert
Read a book or a magazine. Hard copy, non-digital. Maybe it’s something you’ve read before many times. Maybe it’s something you’ve been meaning to read for a long time but haven’t gotten around to it. Go slow.