She Must Be in the Stream of Consciousness

January 11, 2020 by JoAnna 34 Comments

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. It’s an interesting prompt.

….“the first 3 words of the first full sentence.” Okay, follow me here. This is what I want you to do: 1. Grab the closest book to you when you sit down to write your post. 2. Open it to a random page. 3. Locate the first complete sentence on that page. 4. Use the first three words of that sentence to start your post, then take it from there–write whatever comes to mind. That’s it! Have fun!”   (That’s from our host, Linda G. Hill.

When I first saw this prompt and then picked up the book I’m reading, I thought it was the first sentence, so I’ll start with that.

“She must be here with you right now.”

The sentence comes from Under the Tamarind Tree a novel by a blogger you might know,  Rosaliene Bacchus, of Three Worlds One Vision.  Yes, Rosaliene, I’m still reading your book. I’m a slow reader and have a habit of reading multiple books at the same time. But I’m really enjoying your book. Maybe enjoying isn’t the best word, because it’s about hard times, but I’m really …. saying really too much…. getting to care about the characters and appreciate the realism of their struggles.

The main character, Richard, says to his friend, “She must be here with you right now,” about his friend’s mother who is deceased and a dream Richard had about her. She must be here refers to his friend’s wedding. This reminded me of my feeling that my mother was there in spirit at my wedding even though she is an angel in heaven.

If I go back to the prompt and do it correctly, I would use the first three words:

She must be

She must be crazy. That’s what that other driver must’ve been thinking yesterday when I was not being mindful of my driving. I was looking for a place in an unfamiliar neighborhood and could have caused an accident. Thankfully the intersection was not busy and the other driver WAS being mindful. I’m still embarrassed. But also thankful that I wasn’t driving fast, and God was watching out for me. Maybe my mom was too. And Dad. Thank you!

So here’s the deal. I have to be mindful when I’m driving. I have to put up another sticky note in my car where I will see it every time.

MUST BE MINDFUL!

That must mean no free flowing stream of consciousness while driving. Only what I see on the road, signs, and traffic lights.  Maybe I can make it like flipping a switch when I get in the car to drive. A prayer would help. God, help me be mindful when I’m driving.

But when I’m not driving, let the stream flow!

And while we’re on flowing streams, God, please let the rains flow down and put out the fires in Australia.

Amen.

 

That’s my stream for this Saturday.  Great prompt, Linda!

….

For more info on Saturday’s Stream of Consciousness, visit Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/10/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2020-daily-prompt-jan-11th/

The good SoCS rules which I mostly follow are:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!