For today's prompt, write an active poem. That could be a poem comprised of active (vs passive) verbs. But it could also be about exercising, playing a sport, or keeping your mind active. Any activity would do, I suppose, even watching the paint dry. Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them.— Robert Lee Brewer, Writer’s Digest
In Action; Inaction
Why is it
I feel so confident about
what I think everyone else should do?
What actions they should take
and how their lives would be so much better
how things would just work out
if they made the choices I think they should?
And yet
every day
in my own life
there are things I don’t know how to handle,
situations I’m not sure how to approach,
decisions where I can’t sort out the pros from cons,
I’m overwhelmed,
mired in inaction.
This isn’t just a rhetorical question, and when I think about it, I actually do have at least part of an answer: nuance. When it’s someone outside of myself, I apply much more logic and much less emotional weight. (And most of the time, I think I keep my opinions to myself. I’m not big on offering unsolicited advice.) But when it’s time to advise myself about what actions I should take, all the nuances of the various outcomes enter into play, and the line between the “right’ choice and the “wrong” choice becomes much fuzzier. To where it’s not right or wrong, not good or bad, but maybe better and worse. Or easier in the short term vs. more productive in the long term. Nuance.