A Good Tempered Month Filled With Ease And Unmerited Freedom — May Promposity Challenge
By: Natalie Frank
Tags: Spring, Psychology, Poetry, Writing Prompts, Contests

As the pandemic continues to rage worldwide, I have found my days largely bleeding one into another. It seems the brain fog is hanging on and some days it seems worse along with the exhaustion and general achiness about my limbs. Everything seems harder to do and trying to find the motivation to do the simplest of tasks of self care activities is hard fought.

While I have been attributing all of this to the last effects of the virus, calculating back to when I first got sick has made me realize something else is likely going on. I know I have been feeling particularly stressed about how I will be able to pay my rent and my bills already over a month late and the lack of freedom to leave my home and go anywhere except for a very few places is also providing a sense of being downcast. In an effort to turn all of this around, I decided to consider how I might find ways to release all of this tension and establish some sense of control over my life letting me have the freedom to make choices that are important to me.

Which brings me to the theme for Promposity’s May Writing Challenge:

“Ease and Unmerited Freedom”

The May Promposity Challenge expands on the April prompt by continuing to explore how we find small gifts of happiness within the stress of a worldwide pandemic. How can you use the themes, characteristics, imagery, sensory stimuli and other wonders related to the month of May and springtime (or autumn if you live in the Southern Hemisphere) to overcome uncertainty, fear, confusion, and feelings of being imprisoned by the pandemic?

What is it about the month or seasons that could provide a sense of relief or bring something positive to your life which is somehow freeing and makes you breathe easier? The idea is to find small things that bring goodness to your experience of the world around you even from the confines and isolation of quarantine or while social distancing during what may only be brief forays outside your home.

For example, there is the custom in some parts of the world of the May Day Basket where neighbors and romantic prospects gather flowers and set them in paper baskets or cones with simple baked goods, small gifts and candies and hang them on each other’s door knobs. In some places, the person would then ring the bell and run away before the door opened. The person who opened the door then had the job of chasing and catching the person leaving the May Day gift. Many marriages were said to have begun that way.

Louisa May Alcott describes the tradition of the May Day basket in her children’s book, Jack and Jill:

“Such a twanging of bells and rapping of knockers; such a scampering of feet in the dark; such droll collisions as boys came racing round corners, or girls ran into one another’s arms as they crept up and down steps on the sly; such laughing, whistling, flying about of flowers and friendly feeling — it was almost a pity that May-day did not come oftener.”

While perhaps not exactly an example of ease, right about now it sounds like an amazing amount of freedom. Even the ability to hold a wedding is all but impossible today unless it is done over Zoom or the like. I wonder what the custom would look like in today’s world and whether it would still retain the sense of freedom found in the original custom.

May and springtime also usually gives us newfound freedom from winter’s harsh weather and the ability to enjoy everything outdoors has to offer. As the weather warms it is also a time to relax in hammocks with some enticing reading or take naps beneath the cool air of a ceiling fan.

May 15th was thought to be the birthday of Mercury, the messenger and son of Zeus who could travel with the speed of thought. I am curious how we can use our thoughts to experience the same limitless freedom of the god of shopkeepers, merchants, and travelers, at a time none of those things are available to us. What has taken their place that may have granted us some sort of ease or the freedom of travel without the need to go anywhere at all?

Hopefully, if you participated in the April challenge, you will have gotten your creativity flowing. If not, or if you didn’t participate, take this opportunity to see what happens when you try to restructure your thinking and the way in which you evaluate your life in positive ways.

Like April the form of your submission doesn’t matter. The important thing is to repower your creativity in ways that lead to happiness, satisfaction, and a positive quality of life despite the ongoing tension that the COVID-19 outbreak is eliciting.

Your response can be a poem or work of prose. You can write a song or compose a letter. If you are at a loss for words, try a sketch, drawing or even a comic or use photographs or images to help you create the story you want to tell.

Create a list of related words, phrases, colors, song lyrics, things your child has said to you, things that you used to take for granted that now have new meaning.

Collect things you find around your house that make you breathe a little easier, or anything that makes you feel a little lighter or to experience a brief moment of relief, burst of happiness, or sense of accomplishment, pride or satisfaction.

Consider what or who makes the weight on your chest lift, giving you a sense of unfettered freedom. Do you find yourself defining freedom differently now and if so how is it significant for you currently?

You are free to interpret the theme of Freedom and Ease any way you’d like so long as it is evident that the submission incorporates them in a significant way.

I think Edwin Way Teale said it best:

“The world’s favorite season is the spring.

All things seem possible in May.”

Think about what things are possible for you in May despite the pandemic. What is it that will ensure that the virus and all of its effects won’t strip you of all of your freedom and the sense of comfort and ease you normally feel in your life? You response can be as simple or as complex as you like.

To get you started, here is my response to the prompt in the form of a poem:

Each piece should include a royalty free image with appropriate credit listed below.

Please also be sure to share the happiness by TAGGING THREE OTHER WRITERS at the end of your article. This is something that many people forgot in April. It is something you can share with others to help them reframe their views of life during the pandemic in a positive way.

If you aren’t yet a writer for Promposity, leave a note on this story or email us at Promposity@gmail.com and ask to be added.

For further information about how to submit to Promposity, please see the submission guidelines here:

I have tagged some of our writers and several others who I know have been interested in writing responses to these types of prompts in the past. I apologize if I’ve forgotten anyone. Please let us know if you want to be tagged in future prompts!

We at Promposity wish you and your loved ones an easing of any negative effects of the COVID-19 health crisis and that you find a way to exercise freedom and self determination in choosing your life path now and always.