RE:

I want to tell you about an idea for a creative project I had a few years ago. This is the Introduction I wrote at the time –

I have no idea where this will go, what it will be, how it will look.

But this is a project I’ve been mulling over for a while and if I don’t start, it will go nowhere.

I love the idea of living as a person with RE: words at my core. I see my role as living out these RE: words as best I can in all my relationships in my everyday life.

I want to explore them, enjoy them, journey with them, see where they take me.

The process is as important as the product.

Let’s see how it unfolds.

Helen, September 2010

It never did unfold. It didn’t go anywhere.

It was going to be very beautiful: a collection of creative writing, photography, quotes, personal experiences – mine and others, almost like a creative scrapbook.

But lots of my ideas come to nothing in practice – there just isn’t enough time.

But actually, it did come to something. It sowed the seed of these words in my heart and I have had to put some of them into practice in ways I never imagined over the last five years……

RE: WORDS THAT TOUCH A CHORD:-

REFRESH

RESTORE

RENEW

RETURN

REDEEM

RESPECT

RELEASE

RECONCILE

REPENT

REMAIN

RECLAIM

I know. For each of those positive words starting in RE:, you can think of a negative like RESENT or REGRET. That is not the point of the exercise.

In many of these words, the prefix RE: denotes ‘a return to a previous condition, restoration’. That’s what I’m getting at. That’s what draws me in. That hope that every situation can be renewed; every relationship made whole again….that hope that I can be renewed and make whole again.

Words like RECONCILIATION and RESTORATION have become precious to me. The idea that anything that is broken can be fixed.

I know. That may not seem possible for you right now. This may all sound idealistic. Let’s see where this journey takes us over the next couple of months.

Choose a RE: word to carry with you today. Write it on your hand or on a piece of paper to put in your pocket. See where it takes you…..

And how do you choose? Read through the above list again and see if any word jumps out at you…if not, here are some more to choose from…..

Reactivate, readjust, recapture, recharge, recommit, reconsider, recover, recuperate, recycle, redress, refill, refine, reflect, refuel, rehabilitate, rebirth, renaissance, recreation, refuge, resurrection, rejoice, rejoin, rejuvenate, relax, relieve, remember, repair, replace, replenish, reprieve, rescue, resolve, respond, rethink, retrieve, reunite, revive…..

I have a feeling we’re going to be revisiting some of these words a lot over the next few weeks.