CartI challenged myself to write a blog in 15 minutes. Can it be done? As if it was an assignment. It actually reminds of an exercise I did in a community creative writing class way back when.
A mere 13 years old I hesitantly approached the big, gray, cool college building on the Portland State campus. So many windows… so many dreams. It was of course intimidating but nothing got in my way more than my own judgment. Of my writing that is. I like writing, I always have, I used to write stories, long ones, short ones, I lived on the edge so don’t let my lack of correct punctuation and inappropriate sentence building fool you. I was good… way back when. One of the assignments was to start writing and to not stop, about anything; it didn’t even have to make sense necessarily. For exactly 15 minutes, no judgment allowed. We would then have to read them out loud, of course for the purpose of breaking down our egos. So fragile. There were 25 year olds in this class for goodness sake! It was torture, I wanted every line to be clever, and witty, of course to make sense and make me look like a great writer, which I considered myself.
I forget what happened when I had to read my piece out loud. I forget how I felt, or what I wrote about. I may have actually just blocked out the entire experience all together based on the trauma. But I know I did it. It had to have made sense. Right? I survived my ego somehow intact. I was 13, so young. It was then I made a life choice to withhold all judgment on myself. Pointless. If I were capable of somehow conquering a feet such as this bruttle creative writing assignment and coming out alive I could do anything! And I wasn’t going to be the one to hold me back. “LET THE WORLD TEAR ME DOWN!!!” I shouted in my head, I am the only one who can build me up.
So there you have it. A blog in 23 minutes. Aw yes I may have failed at keeping my 15 minute limit but who’s judgin’… Not Me!
– Heidi, Assistant Spa Director at Thurman
