Today’s prompt is brought to us by Liz Danzico. An interesting idea with many ‘awareness’ aspects.
What do you think? Should the sentence be written at the start of the day, or the end?
“Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing. The force of character is cumulative.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
If ‘the voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tracks,’ then it is more genuine to be present today than to recount yesterdays. How would you describe today using only one sentence? Tell today’s sentence to one other person. Repeat each day.
At the start of the day my sentence is this:
A day like most others – a quiet drive for contemplation, lunch date and errands for interaction, tilling the soil for groundedness, learning new programming for development, and projecting love as an act of service – balanced as well as a Wednesday will allow.
I think there is great value in describing the day when it is finished as well. I will revisit and rewrite my sentence at the end of the day and post it below. By doing so – and if I were to do this every day – I may come to recognize self-defeating patterns, aspects of personality that may need adjusting, parts of life that may need to be incorporated or given more credence.
If it is more genuine to be present today then what does the day require of me and will I be open to new beauty if my path is laid out at the start of each day? Or will I so rigidly set my path and destination by the sentence written that I miss life’s adventures and opportunities for growth?
My end of the day sentence…
This day began with firm intent and produced glorious surprises; but sullied by the cruelty of those I have empowered, I went to bed and wept.
My end of day sentence, as I had guessed, awakens awareness and facilitates growth. I already know who I am at the start of any given day. I know what gives me pleasure and I know how to include those things into my day to achieve a harmonious life.
It is the introspection at the end of the day – when held in stark contrast to my morning intention – that shapes my remaining days.
In summation I learn that if I do not yet own the power to ignore those less aware, then I need to set my path around them as an intelligent captain would steer his ship around the jagged rocks.
