Come late summer, many of us spend more time in the garden. Think back ... Did your family have a garden when you were growing up? Flowers, vegetables, or both? Do you have a garden now? Have you grown your own food? How do you cope with critters and weeds? Do you visit public gardens or parks? How do you feel in the garden? Share your garden stories forward.
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This Week's Prompt
The Garden (1 Story)
Come late summer, many of us spend more time in the garden. Think back ... Did your family have a garden when you were growing up? Flowers, vegetables, or both? Do you have a garden now? Have you grown your own food? How do you cope with critters and weeds? Do you visit public gardens or parks? How do you feel in the garden? Share your garden stories forward.
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Upcoming Prompts
Disasters (7 Stories)
Some are natural, like hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, or wildfires. Some are human, like illness, divorce, accidents, bankruptcy, or 9/11. Others might just seem like disasters, like a breakup or a bad haircut. On this anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, think back ... to a disaster that shaped your life. How did it change you? Did it have a silver lining? Share your disaster stories forward.
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Fame
In the future, Andy Warhol (famously) predicted, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Think back ... Have you spent time in the limelight? Been on TV or in the news? If you've been famous, what was it like? If not, would you like to be? What's your claim to fame? Have you had brushes with fame or the famous? Are today's celebrities "famous for being famous?" Share your fame stories forward.
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My First Paycheck (5 Stories)
This Labor Day, think back ... to your earliest work experiences. A paper route? Babysitting? Landscaping or construction? Wait staff or fast food? Teacher's aide or candy striper? What was it like? How did it feel when you actually got paid (if you did)? What did you learn? Share your early work stories forward.
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Middle School
The recent movie "Eighth Grade" got us thinking about middle school, that awkward, difficult, in-between time when you're not quite a child yet not quite an adolescent. Or was it? Think back ... What was it like? Who were your friends? What were your interests? Were you still close to your parents? How did it change you? How was it different for your kids? Share your middle school stories forward.
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Past Prompts
The Social Network (4 Stories)
Since the early days of bulletin-board systems and email lists, the Internet has been a way to connect. Think back ... Are you on a social media app like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Pinterest? What do you share (besides cat videos)? Are your kids on? Given recent abuses, are you tempted to quit? How has social media changed your life? How has it changed our culture? Share your social media stories forward.
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In the Band (8 Stories)
Prototypically, you played guitar in a garage rock band. But maybe you played chamber music or sang in the choir. Maybe you performed in plays or danced in a troupe. Or you played team sports or led cheers. Maybe your band was scouts or a religious youth group, or simply a band of brothers (or sisters). Think back ... what bands were important to you and why? Share your band memories forward.
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1968 (8 Stories)
It was a momentous year, a cultural flashpoint. Think back ... to the Tet offensive, LBJ's withdrawal, the MLK and RFK assassinations, the Paris riots, the McCarthy campaign, the Chicago convention, Nixon's election, the White Album and 2001. Where were you in 1968 and what do you remember? How did that year affect your life and the nation? What can we learn, fifty years later? Share your 1968 memories forward.
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Something Wild (7 Stories)
"In wildness," Thoreau wrote, "is the preservation of the world." Think back ... to time you've spent in the wilderness or in nature. How did you experience it? How did it affect you? Do you have a favorite place in the wild? Have you encountered wild animals? Or, write about a time when you went a little wild, or felt like you were "lost in the wilderness." Share your wildness stories forward.
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Nudity (5 Stories)
We skinny-dipped at Woodstock and hot-tubbed with our friends, but most of us grew up with some notion of modesty. Think back ... to times when you (or others) "let it all hang out." Did you feel self-conscious? anxious? liberated? aroused? Have you been to nude beaches or pools, or nudist camps or resorts? Have you ever sexted? What did you teach your kids about nudity? Share your nudity stories forward.
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