And so it is done. Though there were months during my blogging honeymoon that I posted 40-50 times in thirty days, this month, this November, has just about quenched my desire to EXPRESS MYSELF.
I know my youngest sister would find that hard to believe. Once Mary and Karen and I were driving along a dark road and I told them something I’d been thinking about for awhile. Karen asked if I just say everything that pops into my head, and I reassured her that I refrain from saying at least nine out of ten of the things that pop into my head.
I wondered today, as we did the usual Sunday things, what I would write on this the last day of the great NaBloPoMo (a day so significant that, yea, verily I say unto you, nearly 99.99% of all the earths’ inhabitants have never even dreamed of being aware of it).
What would you write if you only had one more month to live? And you can’t say “A letter to my family telling them how much I love them.” Pretend you’ve already done that. Or that your family, you know, knows that you love them, because you smell their panties to determine cleanliness WITH YOUR OWN NOSE.
And you can’t say “Instructions for my funeral,” because, get over it. Funerals are for the living, not the dead. I don’t know why people do that thing where they plan out their funerals. Does anyone really do that? A birthday party for six year-olds is about my limit planning-wise, so I’ll leave the funeral seating arrangements to the experts.
What would you write?
Your memoirs? Gothic poetry? That fiction story that’s been nagging at the corners of your mind for months? (years?) A rock opera? The great American novel? The great Madagascarian novel? A play? A screenplay? An inaugural speech for if you were elected president? I know, a BLOG POST. A postcard to your estranged mother in Australia?
A few things I’d like to write include:
* A romance novel that’s kind of a cross between Jane Eyre, Some Kind of Wonderful, and Suddenly You.*
* A hymn of praise/unworthiness. Take a classic measure/phrase pattern and preferably a tune that was once a Welsh drinking song, and write my own lyrics. Deep, forgiveness-inducing lyrics.
* Memoirs of that period in my life when I fell in love with completely the wrong person, about a year and a half before I fell in love again, this time with completely the right person.
* Some sort of motherhood handbook that tells the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Easy, because naturally there is only one right way to be a mother.
What would you write if you had only a month to live? (and you can’t say that you’d be too busy spending time with your family, telling them how much you love them. Let’s say if you have six months, okay? Surely in that much time you’d want to leave some sort of mark. What would it be?)
Jane
*I’m not recommending Suddenly You to the gentle readers out there. It’s a bit racy.
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personally? memoirs.
A screenplay. I know that isn’t nearly as cool as a book or a collection of poems. A Nora Ephron funny kind of screenplay. A letter to my grandchildren. Having kids later I always wonder if I will live long enough to see them grow up and get married like my grandparents did. And hey, congratulations on making it through NaBloPoMo – I totally was not up for it this year – maybe next.
Beths last blog post..Sick Day Policy For Motherhood
I think honestly I would write an ending to my journals and post them. Let everyone know what I thought about everything, that dress I was stuck in for a wedding, when Taylor was born, my friends, my husband. Hell I have one month even people who I only met a few time should know what I thought
I would post everything everyday for a month so that they would all know what was on my mind for 34 yrs(yep long posts lol)
well, i would write something for my kids, but it would go beyond the how much i love them genre. i’d write to them about my own mistakes and urge them not to repeat them. that ought to take up a month or so.
Memarie Lanes last blog post..Happily Ever Sometimes
I’d finally have that last chapter to my life story that I’ve been waiting all this time to write but just not having the material for. And it would be laced with poetry, because my deepest feelings translate better into poetry. It would be the biggest chapter in the book, and it would include life’s lessons to tell people how I messed up, and what I worried about too much, and things I wish I’d had the courage to do. I would like to spend my last moments writing, and end my life mid-sentence. To me, that would be an apropos way to go out, seeing that writing has been one of my greatest passions, so it wou
Rusty Southwicks last blog post..What a Rusty-Led World Would Look Like
This is regarding the funeral planning–I agree that funerals are for the living. But my dad did most of the planning for his funeral towards the end of his long battle with cancer. One of the many thoughtful things he did. He left a notebook with his written obit, hymns that he liked, who needed to be called, arrangements for the church, the graveside, etc. It was a blessing to not have to deal with all those decisions.
Hmmm, since I can’t write a letter to my family…
I know I wouldn’t blog… As much as I love blogging, I don’t want it to be one of the last things I do. I would rather my real family remember me than my blogging buddies.
But I would write all sorts of stuff. Poems, stories… probably childrens stories mostly. And paint — providing I could actually paint.
Kathys last blog post..It was bound to happen…
Congratulations! You made it through! But what am I going to read each day now? I hope you at least write almost every day….
If I had one month left I would write the song that’s been playing in my mind all these years, I would write down my testimony for my kids and grandkids and if I still had time I would write that one amazing novel I’ve had kicking around in my head too.
A travel guide to somewhere exotic (= fun or new). The whole guide, and of course, it’d be about travelling with a family in that exotic location or as many locations as I could squeeze into that month.