Merely Day By Day

This evening as I looked out my front door I noticed the moon resting on the branches of our front yard tree.   It rested there for quite some time as if unsure whether to stay or to continue.  If, like me, you find the full moon interesting you might want to stop by Mary Ann Reilly 's Portfolio:   The Moon and Night .   "Celebrate the ordinary, the obvious, the things that surround us."  Donald M. Murray, Crafting a Life in Essay, Story, Poem Night Reflections The moon settles on the shadowed branches of the maple tree. Trying to decide whether to continue to climb or to stay and rest a little longer. Finally, it decides to rise to its place in the quiet night sky. There it shines brightly reflecting the light from the sun illuminating the night. © Cathy L. Mere, 2012

"Writing makes me aware of the extraordinary in the ordinary," Donald M. Murray, Crafting a Life in Essay, Story, Poem Small Town You might have heard John Cougar Mellencamp sing, "I was born in a small town.  And I live in a small town.  Probably die in a small town and that's probably where they'll bury me."  Every time I hear that song I feel like it was written for me.  You see, I have lived in my small town since before I can remember.  All of my memories are of this small town. Growing up I remember walking to school from my grandma's house everyday as she lived in the same small town, and returning there each afternoon to hangout until it was time to go home for the evening.  I remember going for ice-cream at the local dairy queen, spending summers swimming at the pool with friends, and riding our bikes around the block for hours everyday.  In our small town you could ride your bike into the local dime store for candy or to the drugsto...

During this challenge I've been skimming through books I've collected about writing for inspiration and guidance.  It won't surprise anyone that Donald Murray keeps finding his way into my hands.  He said something about the difference between narrative and essay that caught my attention, "The essay looks at the narrative experience critically - emphatically but evaluative - putting experience in a larger context, trying on the patterns of meaning hidden within the experience." ( Crafting a Life in Essay, Story, Poem p. 57)   What?  I was pretty happy with myself for managing to get a piece written each day and now this.  However, Murray challenges us to take narrative to the next step by turning into a personal essay.  He might be onto something.  I suppose it is true that the people who enjoy our narratives the most are our families and friends.  What about the stranger that stops by?  Does our writing speak to them?  Here's my first...

It is only day 9.  I find writing every day harder than I thought.  I could have collected ideas for 31 days (maybe), but having to produce a product each day is challenging.  It's hard to put writing out there so unfinished, so unpolished.  I'm finding it is easier if I pick my topic the night before and let it simmer until I write the next day.  In Crafting a Life in Essay, Story Poem, Donald M. Murray writes, "Each night I write down tomorrow's single writing task on a card, assigning the writing to my subconscious, where most of the writing gets done." Days Long Gone Growing up in today’s world can’t be easy with its immediate access. When we can shout our thoughts out to an audience  but we forget someone is watching. I’ll take growing up  in the days long gone when phones were attached by cords resting in the living room near our parents’ ears. In the ...

"I write every day for two hours. But it's what I do for the other twenty-two hours that allows me to write."                           Don Murray (This post is cross-posted at my other blog,  Reflect and Refine:  Building a Learning Community.) I found this  Donald Murray  quote on  Ralph Fletcher's site .  It made me think.  Write for two hours a day?  I can't imagine it.  I'm not really much of a writer.  I go through writing spells.  Though I don't consider myself a writer, there are times in my life when I can remember writing being an important part of it.  There have been times when I've gotten myself into a writing routine.  Honestly, I've felt the most balanced in those times.  There were my poetry years - years of school in which I focused my writing on poetry.  There were my survival years - the years that writing helped m...