Prompt #163 – Changes

As summer draws to a close and autumn begins, there’s a familiar feeling of seasonal change in the air. That turned my thinking to changes in general and how changes impact our lives. So ... this week, let’s not go with an obvious change-of-season theme; instead, let’s write about changes (other than seasonal) that have occurred in our lives.

The psychology of change is an involved subject but, without getting into the details, change (for most of us) is accompanied by a range of feelings, including relief, hope, fear, disquiet, or expectation. Sometimes we resist change. Along with change may come feelings of impermanence, loss of control, uncertainly, self-doubt, fear of surprises, and concern about the ripple effects of change. Sometimes, though, we welcome change and look forward to happy outcomes.

Things To Think About:

1. Are you usually comfortable or uncomfortable about changes in your life?

2. Frame of mind can impact feelings about change (fearful people fear change, hopeful people look forward to changes for the better). Has your frame of mind been a consideration in how you dealt with a change in your life?

3. Have you ever had a change forced upon you (change of job, position, marital status)?

4. How has a particular change rocked your status quo or shaken you out of your comfort zone?

5. Have you experienced a change that you feared but which brought positive results?

6. How has a change in your life made you stronger?

7. Have you ever had a significant “change of heart” about someone or something?

8. What does the statement “people change, feelings change” mean to you?

9. What's the biggest change in your life?

10. What change do you see in yourself following a specific life experience or series of experiences?

Starters:

1. You might start by making a list of important changes that have occurred in your life and then selecting one to write about. Think about changes you have resisted or welcomed, and why. Think what the outcome of a particular change was.

2. Try to reach the universal through the personal. Think about how readers will “feel” your change incident.

3. Now, for an added challenge: I’d like you to include a change within your poem—that is, a switch from the change you began writing about to something else—a shift in subject, tone, thinking, imagery. Work with making an unexplained connection between the two parts of your poem, and be sure to think about what you want to “say” and what you actually “say.”

Examples:

"Trying to Name What Doesn't Change" by Naomi Shihab Nye

"The Change" by Tony Hoagland

"Change" by Carl Dennis
"The Beautiful Changes" by Richard Wilbur