Back in 2013, I was invited by a friend and colleague to be a part of a closed Facebook writing group. The format was simple: a short phrase each week that had to be incorporated into a new original piece inspired by it. There were no restrictions on length, format, or genre. The feedback was inspiring and constructive, and I got to offer the same to others. What fascinated me was
seeing how the same phrase inspired people so differently.
I barely knew anyone in the group and knew almost nothing about them personally. It was a “single-tasker environment” – I got the prompt, I posted, I read what others posted, and then I got the next prompt.
Recently I have come to the conclusion that due to life circumstances, illness and other events, for the last 8 to 10 years I have been forcing all of my creative energy in to survival and problem solving, only things that were purposeful.
I thought back to these writings and when I originally wrote them. The Group W Bench represented “play for the sake of play.” The stories didn’t have to be publishable or submitted anywhere for money. There was no grade, no editing for punctuation or length. It was purely about what the phrase triggered creatively and how I used it. I could write whatever emerged.
I thought it was a shame that these original Group W Bench pieces were hidden away in an essentially abandoned private Facebook group where no one could or would ever see them so I bundled them up in to this handy PDF Collection for you to download and peruse at your leisure, if that is something you’re in to.
Think of this as a historical record if nothing else. These writings do exist. I think some of them are even pretty good. Others I can tell were pulled out of me with a tow truck just to get something submitted in time. But there are moments captured here that represent me in a way that nothing else does. I would hate to think that they could completely disappear, I believe they deserve a home that isn’t a locked vault.
None have been edited, corrected or changed in any way, they are exactly as written and submitted back in 2013 – 2014.
This collection represents all 22 pieces I submitted. When I went back in to the old Facebook group to read them again, they brought me to tears. I couldn’t believe these things came from me, how creative, clever, funny, sad or poignant they were. I feel very disconnected from these writings, and that writer now.
I recently decided to create a new Group W Bench in a different online community that I am now a part of. With this group and these weekly writings, I am pledging to stop making my creativity work so hard, to give it time to think freely and dream, to “waste” time on things with no expected outcome. It the closest thing I can envision to creative expression with zero strategy attached.
This new Group W Bench is that pledge in action. I desperately want to believe this writer is still there in me somewhere, maybe this new experience will help coax him out of hiding.
Your thoughts?