For instance, I've always had a fear of failure and of being inadequate. As an adoptee, I always felt I had something to prove. Even though my adoptive parents have always been loving and supportive, my twisted psyche was afraid of not being enough, of not measuring up to some arbitrary standard. If you had asked me even 10 years ago about this, I couldn't have told you why.
Everything changed for me when I attended a week-long writing seminar in 2010 that literally broke me open. I had dabbled in journal writing before that, but the intensive and nurturing atmosphere at that workshop dug into my fears and my tears so deep that in less than a year, I was hospitalized until my mental health could be stabilized.
Now I get it. I can name my fears and we have become something akin to friends. When they show up these days, I know how to deal with them in healthy ways, through painting and writing. I also have a standing appointment with a therapist who gets me. I still feel afraid sometimes, but the fear no longer controls me. Instead, it fuels me as it pushes me out of my comfort zone.
The Prompt
Make a list of your fears, however large or small they may be. Then pick one fear to work with. Write out a conversation with the fear. Ask it questions and record whatever "responses" pop into your mind. Trust your intuition on this and see where it takes you. I have no doubt there will be lots of poems from the things that come up!
Acronyms to Consider
Forget Everything And Run
False Evidence Appearing Real
Face Everything And Rise
False Evidence Appearing Real
Face Everything And Rise
Images and Quotes
Remember, our prompts are only suggestions, you can find your inspiration wherever your muse leads you. Please visit the other participants, share the hashtag, #OctPoWriMo, on social media, and share your link in the comments below. Let us know how this journey into poetry is going for you.
We've made it to the halfway point! Thank you for being here with us!
I wish you words,
Amy McGrath
Posts
a Lento from me :)
ReplyDeletehttps://ladyleemanilablog.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/day-16-losing-your-fears-and-tears/
I'm really interested in today's prompt but I feel unable to go there. The #metoo hashtag is on my mind, and I'm lost for words. So this one is written form a safe distance: https://unassortedstories.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/monkey-see-monkey-dont/
ReplyDeleteI liked this one. I am also wanting to write from the #metoo but I cannot go there at the moment.
Delete'Gorgon Heirloom'
ReplyDeletehttps://medium.com/@tolu/gorgon-heirloom-e35073ad11da
#OctPoWriMo
16/31
So much movement in your poem, beautiful.
DeleteThis line struck me: "That pendulum timed my laborious paddle". Thank you. xoA
DeleteThank you! :)
DeleteMy Day 16 "Fear" poem: https://prettykooldame.com/2017/10/16/octpowrimo-day-16-fear-of-unfeeling/
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to be participating and being able to read as many poems as I can from others. We've passed the halfway mark! Amazing :)
https://whisperingwithwords.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/losing-fears/ Is Day 16 and is an acrostic :)
ReplyDeleteMy poem for Day 16 :)
ReplyDeletehttps://wordswithannie.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/a-step-closer-to-being-whole/
Day 16: #OctPoWriMo
ReplyDeletePrompt : Losing your fears and tears
The protagonist in my poem has a heart of gold but is outspoken and doesn’t hesitate from calling a spade a spade. She is also quite impatient and is unable to hold onto relationships for long, but she is scared of loneliness. The very thought of returning to an empty house suffocates her .The silent rooms mock at her loneliness . Yes, she breaks down in tears at the very thought of living alone all these years!
Tried to follow the story-line based concept even today where till the end the fear remains.
https://amritapauls.blogspot.in/2017/10/scared-to-be-alone.html
https://kryptic.blog/2017/10/16/living-with-ghosts/
ReplyDeleteI love this line: "Breath moves in, out, revealing nothing." and the repetition of it. Gives me the feeling of it all happening now. Thank you. xoA
DeleteDay 16 Poem:Conditioned Fear https://experiencewriting.com/2017/10/16/writober-day-16-shiny-shiny-lure/
ReplyDeleteSome humour for today....
ReplyDeletehttp://missdragonlady.blogspot.com/2017/10/writing-prompt-fears-i-could-have-taken.html
The poem I dug hard to get out.
ReplyDeleteThis is an exhausting month, all these prompts seem to want me to kick my own arse and do the work, HEAL.
I'm sure hoping it works!
http://www.awritersuniverse.com/2017/10/telling-my-story.html
Sacred Silence
ReplyDeleteSo mine isn't so much about losing a fear but rather a fear I have. With all the craziness in the world today, I worry about the prospect of war. Here's my poem.
ReplyDeletehttp://stepstimestwo.wordpress.com/2017/10/16/war/
Day 16's offering: http://tao-talk.com/2017/10/16/day-16-octwripomo-the-next-life/
ReplyDeleteSharing for Sudha Reddy
ReplyDeleteThe topic is vast..... and for today I chose...
False evidence appearing real......
Heart felt feelings.....from some real cases....
No system is perfect. And every professional is not the same...
This was more about questioning the status quo functioning of ANY system..... that accepting certain practices as norms.....
I FEAR....the threat to a FAMILY UNIT
Conspiracy and Judiciary
I fear that No loving ,functional family unit ever be separated....NO reform comes out of it....
I fear , while the tears of so many families have left their eyes dry
I fear , how their hearts throbbed in the uncertainties of their family’s future
I fear, how the families hold tight over fear of separation and devastation
I fear , how the kids in the family grieve over the loss of the family unit
I fear , how they are going to withstand this wrath which made their lives upside down
I fear in a complex convoluted judiciary system , if it actually works for a criminal who knows to manipulate the loopholes even before he did The scheming of the conspiracy
I fear in a complex convoluted judiciary system, a penniless, innocent gullible ,trusting ,victim is considered a weakling and is left to prove his own innocence
I fear It has become a game of manipulation , scheming, coning , drama and mind games....
I fear in the court of the God of conscience is limited to the act of Oath
I fear in conspiracy cases, the big fish with money , power and the knowledge of loop holes in the system get away easy...
I fear in conspiracy cases, the small fish which inadvertently got sucked into the case are easy targets and get entangled in the net of the judiciary system... becoming a repeat victim with emotional, social and financial suicide..or a rape......?. short of physical suicide , are sent to serve a jail term....away from their family.
I fear , a jail term for such victims is NO reform...
I fear, that it is NO reform in breaking a loving caring functional family
I fear, if being gullible, trusting, not scheming, not being able to understand the manipulation, not having money and power is the crime enough to be sent to the jail....
I fearlessly question that , then who gets to live freely....?
I fear with tears rolling down my cheeks thinking about the legal conspiracy of snitching in the judiciary system which is prevalent and prevailing fearlessly........as an accepted norm.
Yes , without fear , with the tears rolling down the cheeks..
I promise......
I plead ......
.. That we will Err more on the side of kindness.... That we will try and stay objective without getting sucked into partial truth , snitching and false evidence..... the mind games ....and personal gains or of the ..power game , or any winning ventures...tug of war
I fear not anymore.... beyond ....what I can do is my share of my duty..
Preserve the functional loving FAMILY UNIT......which is the building block of our society. Breaking it is No reform in any society..😊💕🙏sr
Our system is broken. You describe it very well.
DeleteI may write another one for this theme because fear in mine is general. https://saschadarlington.me/2017/10/16/everything-to-gain-octpowrimo-day-16-amwriting-octpowrimo/
ReplyDeleteAnd finally today's day 16 poem https://zwabisabi.blogspot.com/2017/10/losing-fears.html
ReplyDeletehttp://biancasbookblog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/octpowrimo-day-16-losing-your-tears-and.html
ReplyDeleteThought I would try an Alouette http://hittingthemark-jones.blogspot.ca/2017/10/the-sense-of-fear.html
ReplyDeleteHere's my Day #16: serendipity756.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteThis line resonates with me: "we stuffed it all back in
Deleteto the boundaries that we made" Thank you. xoA
https://mandibelle16.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/octpowrimo-day-16tale-weavers-poem-free-verse-me-too-amwriting-poetry-taleweavers/
ReplyDeleteA free verse poem for today!
Sixteenth Day of #OctPoWriMo 2017.
ReplyDeleteLife got in the way
And I'm behind a day
Now I'm picking up the slack
And should soon be back on track
www.poemsbyannis.blogspot.com
And I follow Annis with the prompt of the day :)
ReplyDeleteHere is my Day -16. A rushed effort and trying to keep up the pace.
http://musingssurvive.blogspot.in/2017/10/she-walks-tall-among-wolves.html
I feel a bit vulnerable about sharing today's creation.
ReplyDeleteDefying Fear