750 words: week 4

Dear Aaron,

You've been in Puerto Rico for 3 days and I've forgotten what this feels like -- this heavy feeling in my stomach because I had you for a good few weeks and now I miss you. It somehow feels a little different, though, because we will have our time together in Portland and then in North Carolina with our families in late December. I still can't believe that the day you left I got a spider bite and Scout couldn't stop sneeze-seizuring... it seems like every time you have to go, weirdness sets in. I wanted to tell you that I found your ancient zune charger and I've been listening to old music I forgot about. It reminds me of early college years when I used to lay in green grass and drink Mediterranean Irish coffee drinks until my stomach hurt. I put that dinosaur of a zune on shuffle and walked around the neighborhood and I just kept wishing you were with me, because every song that came on was like a dream of us listening to it years ago, before our lives changed into what they are now. Even so, it was like listening to a secret -- as if we always knew we'd be here. 

I am picking up my dad from the airport tonight and he has requested a Jalapeno Margarita first thing. I'm excited to show him our she & him Christmas record and I will flip both sides over and over in honor of you. Even though I wish you could join us, I am thrilled to spend my 24th birthday with my parents tomorrow. I promise to take pictures of outrageous moments & food if you promise to do the same and hurry home to us. 

P.S. I love you and I can't guarantee that my dad and I won't buy a VW camper while you're gone. Don't be mad, you know how it is. 

<3m

"Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderfully fertile ground -- you can still discover new treasures under all those piles, clean things up, edit things out, fix things, get a grip. Tidiness suggests that something is as good as it's going to get. Tidiness makes me think of held breath of suspended animation, while writing needs to breathe and move." -- Anne Lamott

As writers, we have to push past the fear of perfectionism and just write. If we want to become better writers, we must practice writing the kind of fiction or nonfiction we want to write. The idea behind 750 words comes from a book called The Artist's Way and the use of morning pages. Morning pages are stream of consciousness writing to exercise creativity and teach you to get in the habit of writing at least three pages a day.The idea is to clear your mind, allowing for a free flow of ideas for the rest of the day and to free yourself from getting stuck on editing or anything else that may stifle creativity.This writing is a great tool against writer's block, but I struggle with writing a quick draft and clicking publish. That's why on Wednesdays, I post at least one (part or whole) of my 750 word writing exercises from my week. I would love for you to join me! Feel free to grab the image below and post a link of your own 750 word exercise posts in the comments. Click here to see all 750 word posts.

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