Writing Prompt #9
dealing with your STUFF + an object gallery
A a recent writing salon, the topic of objects came up. We discussed how writing about or into a specific object can shed light on a deeper narrative. I was reminded of Dorianne Laux’s poem “My Mother’s Colander” which does an excellent job telling a story through a specific, physical item:
I also thought about Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum, a Sesame Street book I read as a child and that I now share with my daughters. On each page, there are unique exhibits artfully designed to teach kids the names of common objects. It’s a colorful and funny read.
(Here is a narrated video if you want to see the pages or share it with your kids.)
For our writing prompt, you have a few options:
#1 Think about a specific object, ideally one that is right in front of you. It can be a utensil, a plant, a piano, anything! Write about it using prose or poetry. Write for 10 minutes.
#2 Object Gallery. Choose an array of objects from your home or yard (a good mix of biological and non-biological things could be interesting (ie a flower and a fork). Set up your own exhibit or object gallery. See if you can use all of the objects in a reflection or story (or poem). Try to pick things randomly or ask someone else to pick out the items for you.
Feel free to use the objects (pictured below) I picked out for our writing group at Village Books. Dandelion, leaf, wooden spoon, glue stick, red crayon, rock.
Talking about objects made me ponder our complex relationship with STUFF, in general. We have so much of it in this country! And copious amounts of storage for our stuff. According to Global News Wire:
“In 2021, the global self storage market was valued at $54 billion. The self storage industry growth projections at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.53% between 2022 and 2027 and expected to hit $83.6 billion by the end of 2027. The North American market is projected to contribute the most significant chunk of this figure.”
Here are some additional questions to consider and respond to in writing:
What is your relationship to stuff?
Marie Kondo, the well-known Japanese organizing consultant, asks us to look at our stuff and decide if it sparks joy. If it does, keep it. If it does not, let it go.
What stuff are you attached to and why?
How does your stuff and your joy overlap in your life?
Take fifteen minutes to reflect on these questions.
According to this article in State of the Planet, “A 2015 study found that the production and use of household goods and services was responsible for 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.”
In the Guardian, writer Chip Colwell asks, “Can we solve our addiction to consumerism?” This article is worth your time and I appreciate his return to personal and collective responsibility at the end.
“There are strong moral arguments that we have an obligation to reduce our consumption and its associated waste, because although our individual contributions to the environmental crisis may be infinitesimally small, our small sacrifices – buying less plastic, for example – do add up to meaningful change. Such sacrifices also express our values, which can inspire others around us to do their part.”
Maybe don’t throw out, or feel guilty about, keeping your mother’s colander, but do consider the meaning behind your stuff before you purchase something new. This is where creative writing can be very helpful, allowing us to metaphorically unpack our sentimental attachments to things and the source of our need to buy new things.
Do we actually need the new thing or is something else going on underneath?
Does that new thing spark joy or panic or both?
Where was that new thing made and by whom?
