Writer's Notebook

Hello everyone, Happy New Year! As I enter the new year I am excited to find new books to read, books to add to my classroom library, and new things to write about. Although I have already purchased well over a dozen books this year, I can't wait to find even more great additions to my collection! The purpose of this post is to introduce my writer's notebook, which I have been asked to create for this semester. If I'm being completely honest I have never been the most confident in my writing but I am excited to work on improving as I learn different ways to write! I want to share my writer's notebook on this blog to showcase some of the work I am doing centered around writing, rather than reading which has been the primary focus thus far. Today I will share my first three entries, providing a brief explanation for each, and I will do my best to continue this throughout the semester. Please feel free to submit feedback about my writing or share any new writing ideas you may have, it would be much appreciated!

Below I am including a picture of the cover of my writer's notebook. It may seem like any other notebook, which I suppose it is, but I have had this notebook for at least ten years and have yet to find a purpose for it. Alas, 2021 will be the year this poor notebook has been waiting for, its time to shine as I fill it with an array of my writing creations. The quote on the cover, "My favorite old car had no reverse gear. It taught me I could only go forward" was actually one of the first quotes I ever heard that resonated with me. Periodically I will think of this quote when I am going through a hard time, and what a better time than now to use this book as a daily reminder to continue moving forward.

Without further adieu, here are this week's entries!

In this poem I chose to write about a writer's notebook, clever I know. When I first opened this notebook I had no idea where to begin. When you are someone who doesn't write often being asked to do just that can be challenging, but this was the first entry in the entire notebook which ups the ante, in my opinion. So, I thought that if I were to write a poem about this new experience that other ideas would come to mind!

For my second entry I chose one of the explorations listed in How to Be an Explorer of the World, by Keri Smith. This is the first exploration in the book and is titled "Right Where You Are Sitting." The goal of this exploration is to look around where you are sitting and write down ten things you notice in that moment that you hadn't noticed before as quickly as possible, no filter. I chose to do this while sitting in my room, which is where I spend most of my time these days, but surprisingly I was able to notice new things when I took a step back. I really liked the quote included on this page so I will share that as well, it read "The aspects of things that are most important for us are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity. (One is unable to notice something - because it is always before one's eyes.)"

- Ludwig Wittgenstein

This is a poem I decided to write centered around the word "Home." I began this writing during a 30 second quick write in class and I wanted to add to it and include it in my writer's notebook. As I grow older the meaning of this word continues to change for me, which is why every year I like it just a little more. We are taught that home is a place, specifically the place that you live. But have you ever been with someone who feels like home? Or left your own home only to feel just as comfortable in someone else's? I have, which is why I view the word more as a feeling. A feeling of comfort, peace, tranquility, safety, love. There may be times where you're struggling to find your home but you may just need to wait for your home to find you.

Believe it or not I am not really into poetry, and when I do dabble in the area I typically steer clear of rhymes, which is why I was surprised when two out of my three entries were rhyming poems. I am interested to see what other types of poems I experiment with as I fill up my writer's notebook and I can't wait to share my journey!

I am going to end my first blog post of the new year with another quote I really enjoyed. This quote was shared in Amanda Gorman's reading of "The Hill We Climb" on Inauguration Day and I cannot express how much it moved me. If you have yet to listen to her reading I have included a video below because this is something you need to listen to. I am also including her website and other information because she is an inspiration and I want to share her astonishing words anyway I can. I've said enough, I think Gorman's words are the best way to end this post.

Here's the video:

Amanda Gorman's...

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook