I love blogging/journaling; however, sometimes I bore myself. What is left to say about the trauma of turning 60, the joys of small town living, the beauty of a solitary Saturday morning, or the loyal companionship of my dog? I have revealed my camping secrets, shared photos of my garden bounty, and reported endlessly on my Denver visits.  I make reading lists, humorous Person of the Year posts, and share recipes. What topics can I write about now? What? Readers already know that I am hopelessly clumsy and accident prone; try endlessly to get rid of junk, only to backslide in materialist moments; and that I simply love adventures of any kind. Yet, it is Monday morning! Time to write something original and thought-provoking.What?

Other bloggers address this lack-of-interesting-things-to-write-about challenge by participating in group write-ins or Blog Fests. Everyone is invited to write about the same topic and then share. I actually tried this and loved the disciplined focus. Our topic: write about your most important possession. My entry: Thread the Needle.

What next? I decided to buy a book of writing prompts, expecting to find the same level of challenge and delight. I scanned the contents and found a list of prompts arranged by topic, including Seasons, Life, Health, The Weird. Ok, I like these topics, even though I beat some of them to death already. I was hopeful as I turned to Seasons/Fall and read my first prompt,  #95:

You are a leaf on a tree that is undergoing foliage. What are your leafy thoughts and feelings? 

Undergoing foliage? Now I don’t know everything, but I am certain that trees don’t undergo foliage. Besides, if such a thing were possible, foliaging/foiling would occur in the spring. Nevermind that writing prompt. How can I get serious about this with such an odd question?

I move on to Seasons/Summer and find prompt #98:

Ring a ling! It’s the glorious Pavlov dog effect of the ice cream man. Write about your ice cream man experiences. 

First of all, I would not use the Pavlov dog metaphor with ice cream. Watching a dog eat ice cream from the sidewalk is rather disgusting. Furthermore, any experiences with the ice cream man and chocolate syrup might be highly personal, nothing I want to share in my blog.I am a minister, after all.

This little Kindle book of writing prompts must have something I can go with today, so I swipe across the screen, hoping.

Prompt #125: What did you and your family do for entertainment when you were little? Did you play board games together? Go to the movies? Go into extreme detail of a family fun night of some kind. 

This prompt will not work, either. Our family fun nights involved dodging a drunken parent, praying they would pass out so we could finish the Monopoly game in peace. Family fun night is an oxymoron where I grew up.

Prompt #129: Talk about your first parental visit experience during college. 

Well, Mr./Ms. prompt writer, not everyone has that classic college experience of leaving home for the first time with all your possessions in Wal-Mart plastic tubs, the scene where  Mom and Dad are sobbing and Jr. goes off into the world of college. Me? I fled from home, worked a year, then put myself through college. I don’t remember parental visits to my little trailer nestled among saguaro, although coyote often traveled through, entertaining me with their howls.

Prompt #165: It’s tough not to gossip a little. Which two celebrities do you think will get a divorce next? 

pass

#275: You have encountered a Success Genie who will grant you three wishes to make your life more successful. He won’t give you ten billion dollars or suddenly make you look super attractive, but he will add to the success of your life. What will your three wishes be and talk about your encounter with the genie as a whole. 

First of all, every genie I know about would never limit one’s wishes. A real genie would grant 10 billions dollars or turn me into Kim Kardashian. So, my third wish would be for something brilliant to fill my blog.

#304: You have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Describe your first week after finding this out. 

Now, besides being bored I am hopelessly depressed.

#328: In a “Freeky Friday“-esque situation, you have switched bodies with your mother or father. Describe the next 24 hours.

What a disgusting thought. What is Freeky Friday? Besides, I already have my mother’s flabby body.

#782: I know, I know, this is a little kindergarten, but if you could be any animal, what would you be and why? Detail a typical day in the life of the new animal version of you. 

A mouse! I would eat all the crumbs off the floor at night and sleep in the walls during the day.

So, maybe I should stick with the kindergarten-ish prompt and imaginary animals I like those! Today I can be a mouse, tomorrow a cat!!! Endless possibilities.