What if you were handed a list of words, a subject, and five minutes to write?
This past year, I attended a one-day writing workshop in Los Angeles. We were given several writing exercises throughout the day. This one was one of my favorites.
Our list of words: Autumn, candle, coin, poppy, landscape, calendar, vision, obvious, cruel, translucent.
Our subject: Mirrors
Midway through the exercise, we were told to STOP. From that stopping point, we had to begin the next section with "This is all surface. The truth underneath is... "
Here is that little exercise from my pen.
Mirrors are strange things. On one hand, they can paint the entire landscape of your life. I have seen the spring, summer and autumn of my years.
Mirrors are cruel too because if you live long enough, you know the winter is coming.
It's as if mirrors contain a translucent calendar of your face-to-face meetings with mortality.
On the other hand, mirrors are like a coin, holding up two sides of your existence: the one you can see and the one you cannot.
This is all surface. The truth underneath is...
I am a spirit that is ageless and timeless, trapped for a brief second in this mortal body.
Soon to be released...
Soon to look back at the mirror and laugh in its face.
True, my life is a candle.
True, my vision has dimmed.
But just like the poppy, you will see me again.
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