Storm

Texas is having rainfalls bringing floods and damage due to hurricane Harvey. What storms have you survived, weather-wise or emotional?

Tell it all.

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

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Heritage

Food. It holds so many memoires. Our recipes get passed down from generation to generation just like handmade rugs, hats, and bedspreads. Food is a powerful way to keep our heritage alive. I can’t eat lemon meringue pie without remembering my Nana’s lemon meringue pie. Her recipe, memorized so no recipe could be written to get the pie right, was the best. How she cooked it so the peaks were always brown on their tips, and the lemon part was just tart enough, I’ll never know. Even when I sat in front of her one day and tried to write her pinch and handful ingredient measurements, I couldn’t do it.

What heritage of recipes do you have? Whose were they? Do you make them yourself? What memories do they conjure up?

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

Appearances

Things aren’t always what they appear to be. For instance, this moon is not sitting on the ocean, even though we refer to it as that. How often do you have to explain facts about your life, your personal qualities, actions you take? How often do you get challenged or misunderstood? Write about one situation that you want to clear up. Why is it important to clear it up? Who are you wanting to understand the truth?

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

Daughters and Their Mothers

Daughters and their mothers is a most enigmatic relationship. It is like no other relationship women have and it doesn’t matter if her mother raised her, gave her away for adoption, died in childbirth or left her on a doorstep.

Every daughter wants one thing of her mother: to be healthy in her own right. For every mother who takes her own health, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically, seriously, she gifts her daughter permission to be healthy too. When mothers refuse to be healthy, or is indifferent to the many areas health involves, that burden falls upon her daughter.

How healthy was your mother? How burdened did you feel by the way she took care of herself? Or, did she set you free by taking care of herself?

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

I Look Like My Mother . . .

“I look like my mother. . . ” starts a line in Allende’s book, Maya’s Notebook. That line brought up all sorts of emotions for me. What about you? Does that line bring up emotions for you? What are they? In what ways do you think you look like your mother? Is that a good thing or not? Write with every nuance and detail.

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

A Fight That Changed My Life

Sometimes we reach a part of life that makes us give up something for a bigger gain. It can feel like the fight that will change our life. Have you had one of those? Perhaps it was a health issue, or took place in your relationship with your mother, or a decision you had to make when all was against it. Write it out in full detail. What happened? Why did you have to fight so hard? Was it worth it? Why?

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

Bit of Wisdom

What is the last bit of wisdom you received from your mom? How old were you? What brought her to speak to you about the topic? How did you feel about it? Will you follow that wisdom?

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

Favorite Artist

Think for a minute. Who is your favorite artist? What is your favorite piece of art and what about the artist’s work do you enjoy?

Years ago, I went to the De Young Museum in San Franscisco to see a Picasso exhibit. As I stared at one of his paintings, I turned my head to the left and nearly fell apart. A huge painting, titled, Two Women, (as I remember the name) had a profound impact on me. I must have stood in front of it for 20 minutes fighting back tears. It gave off an endearing, tender, powerful punch. Rectangles and cubes, circles and twists, came together in a revealing sense of the female, but not just that. It was the tenderness of the two women connecting with each other. Whether he was depicting sisters, mother with daughter, friends, it was difficult to decipher. It captured the feminine essence and I was deeply touched.

Although I have many favorite authors, this one piece, and the experience it gave me, will remain with me forever. What is the piece of art that has moved you?

Keep the pen moving,

JanMarquart.com and CanYouFindMyLove.com

JanMa

 

Sweet 16

Do you remember being sweet 16? What were you like back then? What mistakes did you make? What wisdom did you have at such a young age? What was happening in your family? Write it all.

Keep the pen moving,

Jan

Independence Day

July 4th is our country’s special day. I hope you all have a safe holiday. But, independence day for each of us comes once or more than that while set out on our personal road to find our free and unique life. What independence days have you experienced? Write then out in full detail including why you needed an independence day and how it turned out.

Keep the pen moving,

Jan