Up: [[Life Writing]] Related: [[Mary Oliver's Poem]] Created: 2026-05-04 Updated: 2026-05-05 Mary Oliver’s *Instructions for Life* have been my daily touchstone for a decade or better, and with good reason. *Pay attention. Be amazed. Tell about it* has been the answer to every question I’ve ever asked myself about my values and how to be fully alive in the world. But I hadn’t anticipated that it would also answer the question, “What makes writing original?” Ask a dozen people what they notice in any shared experience, and you’ll get a dozen different answers. Just think of Nick’s kickoff event for WOW. If you were to write a single paragraph about one thing that really caught your attention, what would it be? The ease you felt with one writing prompt compared to the difficulty with another? The results from one of the polls? Keaton’s responsiveness in the chat? Something Nick said? Something in the setting? The answer to a question you didn’t ask but wondered about? The speed at which some people typed their rapid responses? An unexpected response you or someone else made? Whether you are having a shared experience in a community or are simply one of many people strolling the same downtown street, we each see the world differently and what we notice triggers memories and connections that are unique to us. The same applies to the books we choose to read, the shows we watch, the concerts we attend. If we pay attention to what we notice, and we make connections to other things we’ve noticed or are inspired by, we cannot help but amaze ourselves with our originality, our singular view of our world. The catch is that we really must complete the loop and “tell about it,” even if just to ourselves. It’s not sufficient to just notice the three lights on the diagonal behind Nick in the kickoff video, or the leashed dog straining towards the garbage bag on the street corner. We also have to ask ourselves why. Why this moment, this book, this choice of a tv show out of the dozens of things we could have noticed? What memory is being prompted, what connection is being made? While noticing what we notice can conceivably happen just in our minds, I’m finding that when it’s in my mind it’s too fleeting and superficial. I’m too quick to leapfrog to the next idea or the next activity. When I take the time to ask myself why and to write or sketch an answer, I feel more fully alive. ______ Note: This piece was posted in Circle as my Week 1 WIP.