The February Dig!
Write from your current
Welcome to the February Dig!
The Dig is a monthly set of writing prompts to help you “dig” deeper into the current of your own creativity and benefit from its flow.
Respond to one or more of these prompts in whatever form tickles your fancy—journaling, poem, story, essay . . . the possibilities are endless.
Be playful with the prompt . . . or serious . . . or seriously playful. Practice old ways of writing, or try a fresh new approach. Write alone, or with a friend.
Most of all, write for yourself. Write what you enjoy, even if it’s occasionally difficult. Write what’s true—in the soul sense.
#1: A one-word writing prompt
Write anything in response to this word: UMBRELLA.
Did you know . . . This word stems from the Latin word umbella "sunshade, parasol," diminutive of umbra "shade, shadow." An umbrella is used in some places for sunshade; in other places, for shelter from the rain. In Asia and Africa, it has also been a symbol of dignity. Its figurative sense of including something under an authority—as in the phrase under the umbrella of—has very recent origins, dating from the mid twentieth century.
#2: Try a persona poem based on an object
A persona poem is a poem in which you speak with the voice of someone or something else.
This time, try an object.
Look around the place you’re sitting. Identify objects that particularly capture your attention. (Here, in my studio: a big roll of birch bark, a geode, my guitar, an aloe vera plant, a stack of photo albums waiting to be digitized . . .)
Choose one of the objects you’ve noticed and speak in its voice in a poem (or in another creative form).
#3: Start here.
Write a poem (or another creative form) that begins with these words:
I never notice I’m angry,
just that I’m right.
According to Anne Lamott, a version of these words was spoken by her Jesuit friend Tom Weston.
If you’d like, substitute other words for “angry” and “right.”
Want to share?
Share your work with other Diggers. Swap ideas. Ask questions. Reveal insights.
Happy making!
I love etymology - the study of word origins Umbrella comes from umbra -shadow. Parasol comes from - French word parare "to prepare, adorn, avert, shield") + sole "sun," going back to Latin sōl. Modern day uses umbrella shadows us from rain. Parasol shadows us from the sun. Bumbershoot is a slang for umbrella that I often heard my father use.
Playing with words
Pink parasols parade across the promenade. Blue bumbershoots bounce along the boulevard.
Umbrella is a bit harder. An umber (brown) umbrella under utility lines? A unit of umbrellas unified by ?????
Ever since I was a little girl, I have believed that umbrellas were kind of magical. Whether an umbrella I had was simple and utilitarian, or beautifully designed with vibrant colors, I thought of it as being mine only for a short time and saw all umbrellas, ultimately, as being part of a universal pool of magical moving shelters. Perhaps that is partially because I have left them in many places. But, I am not the only one. They are, after all, often left in restaurants, and bus stops, on subways and schools. Every church I’ve ever visited has an umbrella stand with a variety of these weather helpers that have, at one time or another, been abandoned by someone, making them ready and available for the next person in need of shelter. There is something rather sweet about it, a reminder that we all have days where we need shelter. We all have days when we forgot to bring an umbrella, but find ourselves in need of one, another symbol of our shared humanity. It became a delight to leave an umbrella somewhere, or offer one to a stranger on a rainy day. If umbrellas could talk (and who knows, maybe they have a language all their own) perhaps they would like to share the tales of the different people who have carried them in a storm, toddlers they have sheltered, winds that have torn them from a hand, adventures they have experienced. I certainly would love to listen! And then I would take an umbrella and leave it somewhere it might be needed, as I walk away, smiling.