This was a writing prompt from Dinty W. Moore’s book: Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction.
What makes me dull and uninteresting? A list in no particular order:
1) Being too polite 2) Being self-absorbed 3) Being afraid 4) Being nervous and self-conscious 5) Not taking risks 6) Not pushing beyond my limitations 7) Getting defensive 8) Not reading enough 9) Not getting outside enough 10) Not getting my hands in the dirt enough 11) Allowing my critical internal voice to rule 12) Not seeing my friends often enough 13) Allowing myself to sink into shyness 14) Not going to good movies often enough 15) Not going often enough to art museums 16) Not going often enough to the symphony 17) Not listening often enough to music 18) Not singing often enough 19) Not going to church often enough 20) Not praying often enough 21) Not getting involved in charitable activities often enough 22) Not having a good, long chat with my girlfriends often enough 23) Not snuggling with my husband often enough 24) Not reaching out to some of my beloved, long-distance friends and relatives often enough 25) Not seeing my children and granddaughter often enough (This should be at the top of the list) 26) Not walking my dogs often enough 27) Not going camping often enough and being out in nature 28) Not writing often enough 29) Not taking risks in my writing often enough 30) Not seeing and sharing with fellow writers often enough 31) Not traveling to new places, near and far, often enough 32) Not eating healthy food often enough 33) Not stretching and growing intellectually often enough 34) Not devoting time to do nothing often enough 35) Allowing rigidity to settle in too often 36) Not dancing often enough 37) Not laughing often enough 38) Not doing something completely spontaneous often enough 39) Not allowing myself to just do whatever I damn well please often enough 40) Not acting the fool often enough 41) Not relaxing into life often enough 42) Not pushing beyond my resistance to change often enough 43) Not following up on some of my dreams often enough 44) Not allowing myself to create new dreams often enough 45) Not pushing beyond conventional thinking often enough and settling instead for the status quo.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list. I probably have forgotten many things that are glaringly obvious. Nevertheless, this does help me to see what I don’t want to do if I hope to keep my mind, body and spirit healthy, happy and challenged.
This is a very interesting writing exercise. I had never thought of these things from this point of view. I would recommend giving it a try. If you do, then please share!
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