71-73/365 A River in the Desert

Following the stream of consciousness

Mar 18, 2025

I wrote along each “bank of the river”, a meandering list of gerunds (ing words) that I recalled from my 5 weeks in San Miguel de Allende. I barely scratched the surface, but it serves as fodder for another time, and a great way to take inventory of experience.

March 17, 2025

I'm home. After five wonderful weeks in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, I find myself with so much to digest, record, and incorporate into my creative life. I opened my journal and immediately drew a blank. How do I begin? This is a call to my fool-proof method for times you think your well has run dry. I’ve found it just needs a bit of coaxing.

Several years ago, I developed a technique to map out memory by building a flowing structure on the page. I call it Riverwriting.

To share this transformative practice, I'm offering a FREE workshop this week:

Write Me a River
Thursday, March 20, 2025
6:30 pm CDT
on Zoom

Today, I thought I'd show you what Riverwriting looks like in practice – how I create placeholders of memory that I can write "into" at a later time. It's a simple yet powerful way to scatter seeds across your journal pages. Then, when that familiar voice says, "I've got nothing to write about," you simply open your river of words and follow any tributary to a waiting memory.

I've captured the essence of this practice in several pantoums, which felt fitting for a technique that relies on pattern and flow. You can't help but spark creativity through this exercise – the stream of -ING words naturally connects to images and moments that can be captured in just a few words.

Pantoum #71

Writing my river in the desert
Meandering through a San Miguel arroyo
A flowing map cradles each memory in a sacred eddy
Tributaries become arteries of remembering

Meandering through a San Miguel arroyo
Gerunds shape the current and pull me along
Tributaries become arteries of remembering
Inviting deeper exploration for later

Gerunds shape the current and pull me along
A flowing map cradles each memory in a sacred eddy
Inviting deeper exploration for later
Writing my river in the desert

Pantoum #72

Riverwriting
A meandering stream of gerunds unleashed
An unstoppable pulse of memory
Forming tributaries—veins of golden connection

A meandering stream of gerunds unleashed
A deep well, primed by source
Forming tributaries—veins of golden connection
Moments captured, stepping stones in your story

A deep well, primed by source
An unstoppable pulse of memory
Moments captured, stepping stones in your story
Riverwriting

Pantoum #73

The Well is waiting
Your mind does the fetching
Drinking sweet memory one image at a time
Surprising and rich, often remarkable

Your mind does the fetching
Be both Jack and Jill as words tumble to lower ground
Surprising and rich, often remarkable
A visual map guiding you home

Be both Jack and Jill as words tumble to lower ground
Drinking sweet memory one image at a time
A visual map guiding you home
The Well is waiting