Monday, April 08, 2013

Typos? Not.

When I type I  make a lot of mistakes.
I struggle to type without errors.
Word processing is the best thing that ever happened to my typing.
Technology has finally caught up with my level of inaccuracy and my skill as a typist.
(I made ten! errors in the last paragraph.)

My typo of the word "praying" comes out " prying".

I sometimes feel it is a good mistake. Praying is prying myself loose from the everyday world and prying my self out of my thoughts and focusing them on Eternity and Infinity, on reality.

How many of you go through the day thinking that all of this is just an illusion?
This world is not reality, as much as it presses in on me, as much as I feel that I am dependent on the next breath of air, of my rib cage expanding again, and the food and the space I live in, the need to create order. All of it is just a lie and a test to see if  I can see, feel and experience what is beyond this world to the reality of forever.  Can I pry myself out of this space and be with Hashem?

Write about mistakes that turned out okay in the end.

Write about prying something loose.


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Transformed

BS"D

Memory is selective.

Women pretty much forget what they went through in labor.  In spite of being intense, and sometimes painful, they usually look forward to having another child.

People that were obsessed with getting their homes free of chametz and perfectly clean and orderly seem to forget all about it once the holiday actually starts.  The whole family descends on them;  the grandchildren run around playing, leaving toys and clothes and books in their wake;  furniture is moved around to accommodate diners and conversations; towels and bedding are out, in disarray in every room of the house, including the living room and the housewife that would have shouted about such behavior 48 hours ago, is getting a kind of pure pleasure from this chaos, a kind of satisfaction that is only felt at this time of year, at Passover.

Passover is a holiday of transformation.

Write about any or all of the following words:

Transformation

Metamorphosis

Changes

Rebirth


Chag Semach!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Passover: what is different this time?

BS"D

In the Seder one of the major pieces is the Ma Ishtana מה ישתנה What is different about this night?

Use this as a timed writing piece:  Start every line with What is different....
Write for 5 minutes.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Insanity! Clean for Passover

BS"D


In a way that is short and user friendly, Nicole explains how to clean for Passover without going crazy.

Nicole Bem is a talented writer I met in a class given by Gila Green in Ra'anana, Israel.
Here's the link:   Spiritual Scrubbing
She also has a book out:  LET MY RV GO!

Chag Semach!

Separation

BS"D

This time of year we all spend a lot of time separating:

Is this chometz? Can I sell it?
Does this still fit? Should I give it away?
Do I want this set of glasses?
Should I repair this pair of shoes or get new ones?
Why have I been holding on to this?!
Is there is something under this-what could be under this?  Who put this here!?
I forgot I even had this.
I can't get rid of this.

As you sift through your life, your belongings and memories and junk, what comes up?
Write about sifting and separating.


Passing over Passover

BS"D

I know: who has time to write at this time of the year?!

Just writers!  I can't seem to stay away from my computer.  Call it procrastination.  Call it an obsession.
I only know that as my trash fills up, as my dust pan fills up, as I empty yet another vacuum cleaner bag, I am filled with words.
Mostly I feel gratitude ( yes! really!) to be a part of this season.  It's so easy to complain about the long hard hours of work leading up to the Seder and a full week long holiday.

What are you grateful for in the pre Passover season?

This can be just one word!

Chag Semach!