Try This: Chapter 1

I Remember...

Do a timed writing for ten minutes. Begin it with "I remember" and keep going. Every time you get stuck and feel you have nothing to say, write "I remember" again and keep going.

*I have copied this directly from my word document almost verbatim.

I remember walking along the beach in Florida with my long hair getting caught in the wind behind me. It was an amazing day as usual and the waves were nonexistent. However I was sad. I felt like I was never ever going to be a whole person again. I felt like I had just had a piece of myself painfully, surgically removed. I was listening to the Amelie soundtrack and twirling trying to loose myself somewhere between time and space. It is not a happy time to reflect upon but I remember spinning on the white sand feeling weightless despite my heavy broken heart. I had just been broken up with. He had had blue eyes and we had dated for just over a year. I had completely given myself over to young love and lost myself on the way. I defined myself as his girlfriend and forgot who I was. I remember crying to my parents that I would never be happy again that I would never love again… They just sat there and listened and loved me. All they had to give me were the years of experience they had beyond my mere 18. “You will be okay.” I thought they didn’t get it. Thank goodness I was young. Thank goodness I have patient parents and loving friends. The aftermath of the week in Florida (which was the week after the break up) was one of the best times in my life. I remember feeling hope after hopelessness, I wanted to tell Cher YES I DO believe in Life After Love because I am living it! And I was living it well. I made dinners, dresses and friends. I played board games, watched Will & Grace and finished my To Do lists. I walked around the Rose Bowl, I had weekend Barbeques I took vacations. I was excited to be single. I was dating myself. I learned that I did like wearing bright colors and hated scary movies. I learned that learning to love myself was just as important as finding the love of my life.