Journaling

Guidelines for writing practice

a. Select one prompt
b. Write without stopping for 5 minutes, keep your hand moving
c. Use embodied language (based in the senses, grounded nouns, specific)
d. Avoid abstract language (love, justice etc.)
e. Don’t edit grammar, or cross out words

Prompts

1. Describe how it feels to “tend the fire” of a practice you cherish.
2. What does the “unending NOW” look or sound like in this moment?
3. Write about a moment when stillness felt like both emptiness and fullness.

Sample Response to Prompt 2

What does the “unending NOW” look or sound like in this moment?

It’s the soft flicker of a candle’s flame, steady but never still, shadows dancing along the walls like whispers. Outside, a bird calls once, sharp and clear, its note hanging in the air before vanishing into silence. The hum of the refrigerator thrums low in the background, anchoring the quiet in something solid, something unbroken. My breath moves in waves, each one folding into the next without pause. The NOW feels vast, like an ocean stretching beyond what I can see, but its edges are here, in this room, in this breath, in this flame.