Lasting change
Weekly Writing Prompt No. 87
Hello everyone and welcome to my latest writing prompt.
A writing prompt, for anyone who has managed to avoid them thus far, can never be right or wrong. Its only purpose is to help you exercise your creative writing muscle. It does this by taking you out of your literary comfort zone allowing you to explore a different side of your internal creative genius. So dive in, try something new and above all have fun.
“If January is the month of change, February is the month of lasting change. January is for dreamers… February is for the doers.” (Marc Parent). It feels appropriate then if February is the month to plant new seeds of change in a world that, (according to mainstream media at least), is riven apart by discord, discontent and disinformation. In my opinion, the easiest way to sow those seeds is to be very opposite of that which we are being told.
One, two, three and a deep breath …
Random thoughts streamed through her mind as she contemplated the many directions the next conversation could take.
Act … it’s now or never she thought.
‘Hands up if you can tell me what “be the change” means?’
Lucy looked around the class trying to size up those most likely to answer. They looked away, pretending to write something in their notebooks.
Catching a movement out of the corner of her eye she swivelled to face Danny. Of all the kids in her class he was the least likely to step forward. He looked pensive, thoughtful.
Kindness was needed so she smiled encouragingly nodding slightly to show it was okay to speak.
He raised his hand.
‘Yes, Danny’.
Cocking his head on one side he thought for a moment.
‘Miss, does it mean that if I want to change something then I have to change me first?’.
Hallelujah, praise the Lord, she thought, at least one of her young charges gets it.
‘Absolutely Danny, that’s a perfect explanation. Now, I wonder can you think of an example?’
At her praise, he smiled and nodded.
‘Yes Miss. Dad was talking about it last night which is how I know. He said, it’s all very well recycling plastic bottles, but if we keep buying drinks in them nothing will change as we keep making plastic. So Mum said why don’t we stop buying drinks in plastic bottles then’.
‘That’s a great example Danny, thank you.’
Lucy looked at the rest of the class.
‘What do the rest of you think about the example Danny has shared?’
Mica’s hand shot up.
‘Yes Mica, what do you think?’
‘I think it’s a stupid idea Miss because what about the people who make plastic bottles? If no one buys drinks they won’t have a job.’
Lucy noticed Danny’s face reddening at the perceived rebuke.
‘That’s a good point, Mica. There will always be consequences for any changes we make. But is that a good enough reason not to change?’
Now it was Janie’s turn. ‘Miss, what if the factory making plastic bottles made them out of recycled plastic instead? Then we can buy the drinks and people would still have their job and we wouldn’t pollute the planet.’
Lucy smiled. ‘That’s a great idea, Janie. Of course, there will be other consequences we can’t think of right now, but it is a good start. So, with that in mind, your homework tonight is to come up with at least one good consequence of putting into action what Danny, Mica and Janie have said so we can continue talking about it tomorrow.
A school bell rang and the class were quick to pack books into bags and shoot out to freedom.
Danny lagged behind so she called him over.
‘Danny, you did really well today. You were the only one who wanted to tell us what you thought and as a result, we had a good discussion that will, I’m sure, give us some more great ideas tomorrow.
He smiled shyly, ‘Thanks Miss’ and then left.
Time, that was clearly all he had needed to settle in. Lucy was satisfied.
The Prompt
This week’s prompt is part of a quote from Morgan Freeman who asked ‘How do you change the world? If you’ve never done a quotation prompt before, the idea is that you start at the top and then use each word in order as the first word in a new sentence. The aim is to create something new that resonates with the intention of the original quotation. This type of prompt lends itself beautifully to poetry.
For those with sight issues, the full quotation is:
‘How do you change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.’
Morgan Freeman.
If you feel like sharing your ideas please leave a comment as love to read what people come up with.
Mentoring
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With love, light, and laughter
Linda
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