We fill our days with so many events, activities and tasks. We hurry from place to place, from shopping to work to the coffee shop and back again. Even those of us who are retired can get caught up in the movement of the day. Do we listen? Do we hear and see the stories that are flying around us?
I love that flow of activity and the stimulation that being out and about provides to my thinking. There are voices, colors, sounds, animals and people who slip in and out of my thinking as I move from one place to the next.
Each of these places and people have stories to tell –
- This morning sitting in the sun at the tea shop with an old friend – I was listening to her many stories of family, weddings and friends struggling.
- A beautiful lady walks by in multi colored stretch pants and top – black at the edges with brilliant oranges, reds, greens and yellows creating a design all up and down her legs and arms – how marvelous! What is her story? Where is she going with that coffee and wonderful outfit?
- A quick drive to the doctors appointment left me wondering about the story of a young man in a wheel chair, unable to speak his mind but with eyes watching and alert – what stories are hiding in his thoughts?
- From there I travel home for lunch where my husband has stories from his morning walk, work and coffee. There is always a story from the local coffee shop.
- Then on to cardia rehab – a busy room of elderly people today with oxygen tanks or
grandchildren watching – all with stories. One story started to slipped out as I was working with the hand weights – an older man asking for support on getting stronger so he did not have to use the walker in front of him. He was loaded down with a portable oxygen tank but looking to get moving – he references his work as a first responder in his younger days.
Stories – they are swimming in the air around us. We just need to take time to listen, hear and then find a quiet moment to reflect and write.
Time for writing stories – what stories did you hear today?
Words from JL 
So, so true Joanne. It was just this feeling that lead me to dabble in radio production. The wide world is an interesting place–even in our own back yards. All of my writing today has been stories dictated by my four year old. What are you writing these days?
Working on a middle grade fiction novel – not moving fast but plugging along!
We forget too often that the stories are there, all around us in the ordinary moments every day. Almost as often as I notice and write about them, I think “I don’t know what to write about.”
Oh – I have been there so often – I don’t know what to write about – and then an idea come along for the taking!
Love that you’re thinking about the stories of the people you see throughout the day! That’s a game I sometimes play with my daughters! They make up the best stories!
“Stories – they are swimming in the air around us.” Love this and how true. We just have to reel them in.
Exactly – working on that this year! Reeling them in!
“Do we hear and see the stories that are flying around us?” Great question to ponder as I go about my day. I love how you shared the stories from your day.