Try This! - Walk, Stop, Imagine, and Scribble

From Jeannine Atkins:

I don’t carry much when I take a walk. My bag is just big enough to
hold my keys, a dog leash, a pen or two, and a notebook. I usually
walk after a few hours of work on poems or stories. I’ve shut down my computer, but ideas have their own momentum, and some come after the clicking sound of my laptop’s lid has declared that I’m done for the day.  

As I keep my eye on the dog’s wagging tail and the path through the woods, new ideas take shape. I stop to scribble a few words. Some good ideas might stay in my mind by the time I get home, but some escape, so these few words are reminders. Each will need many more words around them to make sense. But even an apple seed doesn’t look as spectacular as a tree, and that's where it all begins. With a few words.

I know the ideas come from a place I call my mind, but sometimes I
can’t trace their origins, and they seem like gifts. It can be fun to
pretend the ideas come from what’s all around me. 

Here’s an exercise for you to try.

When walking, stop, take out your notebook, and look at a plant, tree, flower, or stone. Imagine it’s talking to you. What does it say?

Here's my bag and notebook:

Click to Enlarge

Jeannine Atkins (www.jeannineatkins.com) is the author of BORROWED NAMES: POEMS ABOUT LAURA INGALLS WILDER, MADAM C.J. WALKER, MARIE CURIE AND THEIR DAUGHTERS.