Memory-making
I love this time of year. It’s all about traditions and memory-making. We recall the winters that came before, and consider the upcoming season. Together, we pause. But not yet. There’s work to do. We are shifting toward celebration, but the holiday isn’t here yet. Inside our house, our family puts up a tree, gathers around the fire, and tries not to eat all of Santa’s cookies. We hang ornaments and stockings and carefully lay all our plans. The season and the weather pulls us toward the end of the year, where we will put the months and days to sleep and awake renewed and refreshed. We can feel it coming, and so we decorate, we create, we celebrate. This year is a strange one — all those traditions that held our days together are slipping away, being replaced by Zoom calls and screenshots. But the earth continues its journey around the sun, and together, we still revel in its mystery. Though we are apart, we remember those who traveled with us this year, and those who company we desperately miss. We prepare; we gather. We await the turning of the year.
Writing Prompts
- Ornament
You see it there, hanging on the tree, a gift, a decoration. It’s full of life and light. Describe it for us. Who made it? Where did it come from? What makes it unique? Its color? Its shape? Who was the last person to hold it in their hands? Who will hold it next?
… - The inevitability of snow
I grew up in the Midwest, where the snow starts falling in the fall and doesn’t stop until the spring. Snow for me is wet gloves and extra socks. What article of clothing makes you think of snow? Write a short stanza or two for the clothes that will bring you through to the spring.
… - Memories
Your character is sitting down at their table with their head bent over an empty page. They have something to tell their best friend about memories, about how memories can slip and slide into our lives and change our stories. How they can transform us into people we did not imagine — or did not intend. Your character has been hiding this memory, or keeping it safe. Let them write to their friend. Let them share their memory — how it changed them for the better or for the forever. Let them tell the story of what of what happened.