Dear Daughters,

Sometimes it’s wicked hard to conjour up a holiday memory (like Halloween) to write about when you’re staring at a blank piece of paper or at a blank screen. It’s like trying to whip something up from… blankness.

This is why I recommend beginning with a monster brainstorm board. Not only is it super fun to create one, but it’s also an expedient method for generating rich, full-bodied memories. Yes, I deliberately used red wine adjectives! Ahahahaha!

Rich, full-bodied memories contain elements such as colorful detailed imagery along with corresponding prose, feelings, smells, sounds, tastes, cackles, groans, grimaces, roars etc., etc., etc. This is the flavorful stuff that helps us as wisdom writers to flesh out the traditions, dramatic/comedic/tragic stories, mantras, do this/don’t do this lists that we want to capture and pass along. Your families will be thrilled to revisit these blasts from the past. So will you.

To create your brainstorm board, start with a topic and drop it in the middle. I titled mine, “Cobblestone Halloween Memories.” Then close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and roll your mind back to a specific memory. When you are anchored in that time and place, start jotting and sketching everything that pops into your head. Do it fast. You can add details and make it pretty later. Speaking of pretty, you could copy the entire board into your Woman’s Wisdom Book as is, or choose a subtopic and start doing your thing….capturing and expressing what you want, how you want.

BTW, my #`1 Halloween Tip? Don’t buy bags of candy until the morning (possibly even the afternoon of) Halloween. I’m sure you can guess why!

Lighbulb Moment! A group brainstorm board would be a sweet family activity because everyone would have a different viewpoint for a shared memory, as well as those, “oh, yeah..I forgot about that,” memories!

All my love.

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Brainstorm boards are part of the Zoom course, Create Your Woman’s Wisdom Legacy Book Now! So much fun!!! Check it out here.