letting ideas flow

i’ve signed up for an online class at big picture scrapbooking called yesterday & today being taught by ali edwards. I love, love, love ali edwards and i am so excited about this class. the first “assignment” was to write for 15 solid minutes - no edits, no judgements - the answer to the following question....

if you were gone tomorrow, what would you want others to know about you and the life you have lived?

i was definitely a little intimidated at first as that's a pretty deep topic, but i gave it a try. i opened a blank word document on my PC, looked at the time and started typing. and much to my surprise the words just starting flowing from my head into my fingers. i was amazed how freely the ideas flowed when i focused on just capturing my thoughts. i wrote about being a mom, about my relationship with both my mother and my grandmother, the life lessons that i learned during my seven years as a waitress throughout high school and college, the importance of my career, and the role sports played in my youth. now i'm not sure that what i captured in those 15 minutes are actually THE things i'd want people to know about me, but it's a pretty good start. but more importantly i realized that just writing freely without applying filters and distilling your thoughts is very liberating. i realized that the majority of my communications in the "real" world are just that - filtered, distilled, sterile. and while that type of writing has its place, its also nice just to capture words and thoughts.

so i challenge you to do the same - pick a topic and just write for 15 minutes. no edits, no filtering, don't over-think it. just let the ideas flow and see where they take you.....