ready to run

a writing prompt for one of our beloved parts

If you read this Substack, you’re probably having the same conversations my friends and I have been having: at what point do we need to flee the city? At what point the country?

It’s an entirely valid discussion and line of inquiry. It’s also a nearly impossible question to answer, especially with nervous systems heavily inflected if not hijacked by the relentless cycle of bad news and worse news, of neighbors dragged from their homes and Blackhawk helicopters wasting gas and tax dollars circling overhead.

There is a part of me, as I imagine there is a part of you, that wants desperately to run. To leave it all behind. That moreover, wants someone to tell me, to tell us, that’s it’s time to run. Or not yet, but soon. Or not soon, but stay tuned, I’ll let you know.

I was talking with one of my amazing coaching clients last week about this question of stay or go, plan or dig in, try to find or make some semblance of safety here or chase what might be the illusion of it elsewhere.

And of course neither of us have answers or solutions. But one thing that came clear is that the terrified part, the part for her that has always run and never found safety, simultaneously deserves to be heard and should not be driving the decision car.

So what we did, and what I invite you to do, is call that part forward and let it speak. Setting aside for a minute or an hour the question of what to do, and getting into relationship with this part and the fear it carries.

Here we go.

Feel into the part of you that is shouting RUN. That perceives and likely has perceived running, fleeing, escape as the answer to problems/challenges/dangers in the past. And no judgment! It’s very possible, likely even, that fleeing a situation or person has helped or even saved you. But invite forward the part of you that believes flight is THE answer. Always or right now.

Now I’m going to ask you a series of questions. Thinking of what you just pictured, answer each in a full sentence.

Just write whatever the part has to say without worrying about logic or being right or poetic. Then ask and answer the question “why” or “how so” to keep writing.

For example, if I ask, “What do you taste?” you might write down “I taste the moon” or “What I taste is the moon,” or even “I don’t taste anything.” THEN ask yourself WHY or HOW SO and answer it as many times as you can before I move on to the next question.

As in, I taste the moon because the moon is a mystery.

WHY? the moon is a mystery because it’s so far away.

WHY? the moon is so far away because love requires distance, and the moon loves us.

It’s also fine if your answer is no one, or nothing, etc – just use the why or how so to keep writing!

What do you hope for?

Is what you hope for behind you, above you, below you, or invisible?

Is what you hope for honey, lightning, a whisper, or a bell?

What fuels you?

What have you run toward before?

What was chasing you?

Was the running feathered, freighted, uphill, or slow-motion?

Who taught you to run?

What is your favorite memory of running?

What part of your body leaves first when you run?

What do you carry with you when you run?

If you didn’t have to run, would you want to dance, swim, sleep, or fly?

If you didn’t have to run, would you sing, paint, knit, or garden?

If you didn’t have to run, would you make tea, soup, salad, or a mess?

If you didn’t have to run, where would you go?