Editor’s Note: This is the 3rd installment in our new series “The Journal Speaks Back” where Menomonie resident John Wilkerson invites you to join him in his love for journaling.
Physical objects have power over our memories. Some totems we construct, some we find, and others find us. When we are young, we have colorful toys and dolls that build our emotional selves. I have never met a child who did not have a treasured rock, shell or acorn. As we age, we continue to find objects that speak to us. Old hammers and antique store photographs speak to me.
I’d much rather find an old hammer in a junk store and bring her back to life than choose an unproven one from a modern retailer. Why? If you are willing to listen, the hammer will tell a story. It will speak of past work, people who have tested its weight, and nails driven. I don’t imply that the hammer literally speaks; it’s your mind that adds these stories to the totem.
When I used to write fiction, I would pass through antique shops and look at old photographs. As I sorted through the boxes, I could find an occasional one that would tell me its story. Children, adults, even farm animals might step beyond the silver print and speak to me their tale.
Story provides containment to a wandering mind. It places boundaries around emotional chaos. On a recent trip to a thrift store, I came across a bundle of mechanical pencil lead. In the bag was a collection of drafting leads of different sizes and in sleeves ranging from wood and pressboard to modern 1980s preformed plastic holders. I instantly knew what I was seeing: history, my father’s drafting desk from my childhood. I sniffed the contents, looking for deeper memory immersion.
To write a journal and to be good at it, you must be willing to lie and tell the truth in every sentence. We lie about our achievable passions and carry the truth of our memories. Totems are a physical trigger for what to write. We see our place in the universe through the things we touch. Our car defines us. Grandmother’s iron skillet always makes the pancakes taste better. We can’t escape our totems.
This week’s writing prompt: Choose one item from your past and tell its story. Include what you remember when you see and think of the object. If you want to go a step further and play with the world of fiction, pick another object, like a table lamp, and tell its story of where it came from and how it came to live in your home.
Both story methods build your ability to communicate. The remembrance teaches you to convert a memory into words. The fiction story teaches you to think outside of your own point of view and place your mind’s eye into something else.
If you want to see how creative the human mind can be, ask a younger child to tell the story of the table lamp. Let her know that their story can be anything she wants it to be. The tale she weaves will illustrate the depth and strength of the human mind. We as adults forget that we thrive on stories. Your journal is a story. It doesn’t need to be real, only honest. An honest lie is always fun to write.
John Wilkerson works most days writing and fiddling with his computer. His new, old, home in Menomonie is constantly subjected to DIY mayhem. His background includes ghost writing, newspaper reporting, and a long stretch in marketing and advertising.
John may be contacted at: [email protected]
