Month: March 2025

Posted in Life, Writing

You’re Writing Your Autobiography. What’s Your Opening Sentence?

Posted on by jennrae

I enjoyed looking at the glass and all the little plastic bubbles with tiny toys inside. Some were stickers, some those sticky hands that came in fluorescent colors, and some were tiny erasers. I knew they needed a coin to insert in order to get one of the bubbles. But, I wasn’t sure how to ask for a coin, or whether it was a good idea to ask for one. I studied all the different little things, thinking about asking my Mom for a quarter.

And then, I looked around, and my Mom, the shopping cart, and my brothers were gone. I was alone. By the front door of the store. I felt myself panic a little. I was scared. But I wasn’t scared of being alone.

I was scared I would be in big trouble. I knew I couldn’t ask for a quarter now. She would be mad at me. I did something wrong. I looked at the bubbles and somehow everyone disappeared. It would be only later that I would realize that I remembered it differently.

My mom tells it that I ran off in the store, of course, she was upset, and panicked and wouldn’t let anyone leave until I was found. Some old man brought me to the register, and I didn’t say a word.

I remember just getting distracted and staying by the entrance. It was my family that wandered off from me, leaving me behind. I do not know what really happened.

Unfortunately, I liked to tell tall tales and my relationship with reality was sketchy at best back then. I also told everyone I lived in the White House. My house was white, so to me it was true.

I thought if I said something, I could make it happen. I also thought I could understand animals. Ants especially. Ants were my friends and cabbage moths. I even didn’t mind spiders. I would learn to fear them later like so many other things.

Daily writing prompt
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
View all responses
Posted in Uncategorized

What Experiences In Life Helped You Grow The Most?

Posted on by jennrae

The experiences that helped me grow the most were the times where I was forced to make a choice. Like when I had to leave that abusive relationship, I saw two pathways clearly, and knew I had to make a choice. When I was pregnant with my son, and I had to reach out and ask for help, something I hate doing. I don’t like being a burden, or being in a position of weakness at all, ever. So, that was difficult but I had to deal with the reality that I couldn’t do this alone.

I am a loner, I can belong to communities in games or online, but there is a safe distance there. Being with people is still hard for me. I have the utmost respect for people that find it easy to be around crowds. That has never been my thing. I have gotten better at not giving into panic. That is a conscious decision I have had to make many times.

To get where I need to be I need to be able to at least fake it until I make it. I have gotten better at promoting myself, now I just need to get the product out there. I am not looking for fame or money, although enough to not worry would be optimal, I am trying to put my ideas out there. That will be my legacy. And, my son who has a lot of potential, he is a special person who I believe will leave a legacy of his own.

Daily writing prompt
What experiences in life helped you grow the most?
View all responses
Posted in Life, Writing

Do You Believe In Destiny Or Fate?

Posted on by jennrae

I went from not really thinking about it at all, to being cynical and jaded and thinking “Is this All There is?”, back to thinking yes, there is something behind it all after all. Currently, yes, I do believe in fate or destiny. I think things happen for a reason even if we don’t understand that reason, and there does seem to be a point to it all. There have been times where I thought I should be dead now, but something intervened, somehow it wasn’t my time.

If you had told me I would still be here in my mid forties to me in my twenties, I wouldn’t have believed you. I thought I would die young, not sure how, or why, but I just didn’t feel like I belonged in this world. I never felt like I fit into any particular mold. I had trouble relating to people or making close friendships. I had trust issues that have only gotten worse.

So, why would I believe in destiny or fate now? If you asked me a few months ago I probably would have told you I don’t. But, sometimes things, or dominoes fall a certain way and change your view or thought process. And, that happened to me in November. I can’t fully explain it, not without sounding insane, but I will say, much like the butterfly effect, little things lead to bigger things, and alter one’s life path. However much I try to choose or do down a different path, I am always brought back to a certain place. I do not know the future. But, I do know what I should be doing.

There is a reason I say I am a writer, and not a published author. I am not a published author, although I would like to be someday. The good thing about that is it is a pathway that isn’t limited by age or looks, but ideas. I have ideas, I just need to follow through and put them down. I do believe I have a destiny, and I do believe there is a point to all this. I don’t claim to know it, or understand it, but I know it is there. I know where my path is supposed to lead if I can get out of my own way.