I just created a challenge for myself and thought I'd share it with you. What is the oldest item in your home?
Here are some questions that flow from this first question:
What periods of time has it traveled through?
How did it travel if it even did?
Who or what has held it and when?
Permitting some artistic license, what has this item heard, felt, seen?
What is its importance to you?
If you store it away in pristine condition, what do you secretly wish you could do with it?
Or do you use or come in contact with it often?
Do others take an interest in it? How is it different for them?
Does it stir up memories? Negative or positive or mixed.
How does it connect you with that time past?
Does it carry a part of you? If so, what part or parts of you?
If you were to lose it, what would you tell others about it.
What do you wish you'd done with it before you'd lost it?
Now I dare you to write these answers. Doesn't have to hang together as a sophisticated story or poem. Just share rich detail. Be specific. Be honest. Don't hide secrets on the page.
It doesn't have to be right - just let the thoughts, images, sounds, and feelings flow.
Old tintype of unknown distant ancestor from maternal family Bible from the 1830s.