Challenge
The Great American Road Trip Part One
Part One. The Seahawks are losing to the Broncos. It is almost half time, and I start to feel a sick sense of anxiety come over me. At half time, I knew I would be leaving behind my safe little world for awhile. I knew that for the next three months, my life would be dramatically different then how it had been. I feel somewhat scared. So much could happen in three months - getting in an accident was my number one fear, but there were many others, some rational, some not. I got up to fill my coffee cup one more time. It is stronger than I like it, but that's how these brothers, Bob and Bill, like their coffee. I add an extra spoonful of Creamora. The thought of saying good-bye to Bob starts to enter my mind, but I dismiss it rapidly. I have already made up my mind that I don't really care what happens to "us" while I'm away. Since we've only been dating for a few months, I don't have a lot of expectations. Sure, it would be nice if he was still available and wanting to be with me when I get back, but if not, I won't be too heartbroken. I don't think.
By Cheryl Kellerabout a year ago in Writers
5-Minute Prompts That Unblock Writer’s Block (Tested with AI)
Writer’s block doesn’t knock. It just shows up, often when the deadline is too close and the coffee’s too cold. For writers — whether of novels, newsletters, or brand copy — that silent pressure to produce something good can be paralyzing. Add AI tools into the mix, and suddenly the bar for “good enough” rises even higher.
By Karen Coveyabout a year ago in Writers
My Grandmothers Said so
Once, there was a little girl, so stinking cute and well-loved, she knew the universe revolved around her. With dark curly hair and big blue eyes, she proudly sat amidst everyone's attention. Knowing that she could do nothing wrong, she basked in the glow of their pride, as they expounded upon this wee lass's perfections.
By Mother Combsabout a year ago in Writers
Simplicity and Humility of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW):
----- Let's start Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last Prophet of Islam, is a perfect model of human character. Among his many beautiful qualities, his simplicity and humility stand out as shining examples for all of humanity. Despite being the most beloved Prophet of Allah, the leader of the Muslim Ummah, and the head of a growing state, he chose a life of modesty and simplicity over luxury and pride. His behavior teaches us that true greatness lies not in material wealth or power, but in humility and service to others. From the very beginning of his life, Hazrat hammad (SAW) was known for his simple lifestyle. Born in the noble tribe of Quraish, he came from a respected family, but his early years were marked by modesty. He worked as a shepherd in his youth, and later as a merchant, earning an honest livelihood. Even after he was chosen as the final Prophet, and Islam began to spread rapidly, he never let pride enter his heart. One of the most remarkable aspects of his life was his home. The Prophet (SAW) did not live in a grand palace or a luxurious house. Instead, he resided in a small, simple home made of mud bricks. His room was so modest that when he lay down, there was little space left. His bed was a simple mat made of date palm leaves. When he slept on it, the rough texture would sometimes leave marks on his blessed body. Yet he never complained. When some of his companions suggested that he should have a more comfortable bed like the kings of other lands, he replied that this world was not his true home — he was only a traveler passing through. His food was also very simple. Many days would pass in the Prophet’s household without any cooked food. Often, he and his family would survive on dates and water. Sometimes, he would tie a stone to his stomach to reduce the pangs of hunger. Despite having access to wealth after the victories of Islam, he never stored food for the next day. When asked why, he explained that he wished to rely on Allah each day for his sustenance. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) was also humble in his dealings with people. He treated everyone with kindness and respect, regardless of their status. Whether he met a king or a poor laborer, he would greet them warmly and listen to them patiently. He never looked down upon anyone. He would sit on the ground with his companions, eat with the poor, and visit the sick. He mended his own clothes, patched his shoes, and helped with household chores. Even when invited to a simple meal of barley bread and vinegar, he would happily accept. A beautiful example of his humility was during the conquest of Makkah. As he entered the city victorious, with thousands of companions around him, his head was bowed low in gratitude to Allah. There was no pride or arrogance in him. He forgave those who had harmed him, including the people who had plotted to kill him and forced him to leave Makkah years earlier. He declared, “Today, no blame shall be upon you. You are free.” The Prophet’s (SAW) humility was also evident in how he dealt with his companions. He never allowed them to stand up for him out of respect, and he forbade them from giving him titles that would elevate him above his human status. He would say, “I am only a servant of Allah and His messenger.” He reminded his followers that he was a human being like them and that they should worship Allah alone. Children loved the Prophet (SAW) because of his gentle and humble nature. He would greet them, carry them in his arms, and even play with them. He once shortened a prayer when he heard a child crying, out of concern for the mother. His mercy and compassion extended to animals as well — he would advise his companions to treat animals with kindness and not to overburden them. Perhaps one of the clearest signs of his humility was his response to criticism or insults. Even when people mocked him, threw stones at him, or treated him harshly, he responded with patience and forgiveness. He never sought revenge for personal reasons. Instead, he prayed for the guidance of those who opposed him. In all aspects of his life, Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) demonstrated that humility is a sign of true strength. His simplicity was not because of a lack of wealth — after the spread of Islam, much wealth flowed into Madinah — but because he chose to live simply, fearing that luxury might distract from the remembrance of Allah. The lessons from his life are deeply relevant today. In a world often filled with materialism, pride, and competition, the example of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) teaches us the value of humility, gratitude, and simple living. True success does not lie in wealth or status, but in serving others with sincerity and in maintaining a heart free of arrogance. In conclusion, the simplicity and humility of Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) remain unmatched in history. His life continues to inspire millions around the world, teaching us that a humble heart is more valuable than any worldly treasure. May we all strive to follow his noble example in our own lives.He was the last prophet of Islam.
By Huzaifa Writerabout a year ago in Writers
Shadow Dancer
I've lived a pretty rough life for a good portion of the time I've been alive. At the time I didn't realize exactly what I was getting into. I've come a long way from who I was 15 years ago. I started out so naive, with no real world knowledge or experience because of how secluded and indoctrinated I was raised. So when my problems started after I moved out of my parents at 18, I really had no idea what I was doing, or that the choices I would make would ultimately destroy my life in many ways. Before I even understood the problem, the first domino had already fallen and started a chain reaction that would slowly turn my life upside down. I've spent years paying for my mistakes and poor choices in varying ways. Which has led me on a pretty intense journey of self-discovery, and learning self-forgiveness. I was a borderline atheist about 6 years ago, I felt there was nothing bigger than me. But some events happened that opened my mind to spirituality, I choose to leave religion out of it. I dealt with some really dark times, some people refer to it as the dark night of the soul. It was a critical point in my life, I was at a crossroads and the options were to change or die. So spirituality coming into my life when it did helped me harness introspection and learning to question my thought process. I've since made it somewhere I never thought I would. Don't get me wrong, the struggle has still been real. It hasn't been all unicorns and rainbows. Internally this has been the biggest battle of wills. Me vs. the old version of myself. There have been multiple times where I feel like I'm really progressing, and then suddenly I find myself stuck and stagnant. My depression kicks in, and I lose the motivation I had built up. It has halted my progress at times because I fall back into old thinking patterns, and I let the negative thoughts take over my mind, so then I have to fight my way back out of them and into the healthy ones I am creating for myself. It's been a process. Even when I'm not in that pit of depression, I still have daily struggles. The biggest one I'm working on is me losing my daughter's, I think of them every day. It hurts, missing their childhood. And I have a hard time forgiving this one because my choices put me from Mother (which I loved being) to a failure without a purpose. My immediate impulse after losing them was to fall back into the drugs and give up on life, that's how I had always handled pain before, and this was another level. But I can't, because I still have a chance to try and fix some of it. Once my girls are adults, they have the choice to reach out to me, and if I get that chance, I refuse to let them down again. This gave me purpose, and regardless if they reach out or not, I am going to be someone they will be proud of. Not just for them, but for me. I had a kind of extreme realization that ended up changing my perception of myself not long ago, and I'm gonna be honest, it is really uncomfortable writing this out. But I really feel the need to share this in this challenge because it is an initiation of sorts, it is going to help push me to integrate this new self awareness I mentioned. The timing of what's happening in my life, and this particular challenge coming up, was a clear sign that I couldn't pass, it's an opportunity for significant growth. Going back to what I said about paying for my choices, one of the consequences of my addiction was poor overall health. Over the years most of my teeth have been slowly falling apart. It has been a very sensitive thing, as my appearance has always been important to me. I was fortunate because my front teeth stayed intact, but if I smiled you could see the damage with other teeth. It affected me enough that I haven't smiled with my mouth open for years. It's been forever since I've seen a picture of myself smiling naturally, I'm not even sure that the muscles in my mouth would know how to anymore, this has been my main issue with self-confidence. I wasn't in a place to get them fixed until recently. This situation is what ended up triggering this new opportunity for healing and growth. I was told that because it had been so many years that this had been slowly progressing, even though my front top teeth were good I was still going to have to have them removed, because I couldn't have partials on top. The only thing I could do was say I understood and accepted that this is where I'm at, and honestly I just wanted it done so I could smile a real smile again. Maybe it shouldn't bother me so much, but it does. I have some friends and co-workers with issues with their teeth, and I don't look at them differently, they are just people to me. But when it comes to myself I feel so insecure and worry about being judged. Because sadly there are people who will judge you for something like that, and I don't want my current self to be judged on who I was in my past. But through this process I also realized the deeper part is that I am actually just really judging myself. It's been a constant reminder of my past. Starting the process I was nervous, but also very eager to finally be able to take care of it. During the extraction I just kept hearing the crunching and cracking noises, at one point I felt the deep tidal wave of emotion wash over me and I began to cry. I had this overwhelming awareness of how far I let the addiction take me, and the impact of the damage I inflicted on myself sunk in with a different kind of sadness. All I could think was how heartbreaking it was that I was ever in that low of a place. Putting myself through what I did for so long because in my mind it was easier than dealing with what was really hurting inside. It was so sad knowing I was in such a dark place, and it hurt even more remembering that I believed I deserved it. Sitting there I had a compassion for that version of myself that I had never had before. Like she was someone I just wanted to hug and say “You're gonna make it through this.” It was a good release, but didn't last long. I knew the time during the healing would be difficult for me, the dentist told me it could be up to 3 months before it was all finished. What that really meant didn't fully sink in right away. When I got home and had my first look at myself with no upper teeth the insecurities started flooding in. I started panicking about how I was going to make it through this time without being completely embarrassed. It was hard enough for me while I still had two good front teeth, so how was I going to deal with being toothless up top? It created so much anxiety in me that it was affecting my mood, and I was starting to feel depressed. I ended up just using a face mask any time I was around people, they knew what was going on, but I couldn't let them see. It's summer and the mask didn't have very good ventilation, so I just ended up cutting the nose part off as a solution. I couldn't handle the thought of trying to talk to someone and seeing their eyes wander down to my mouth mid conversation, I'd kill over right there. So I kept wearing it. My birthday was coming up and I had pre-planned to go to a hot spring which had a beautiful hike. Some family and friends were going to come and we were planning on just camping out overnight and enjoying nature. I was excited, but I expressed to my sister that I didn't care about wearing a mask the whole time we were hiking in the heat. She kept telling me that I didn't need to be wearing one at all. I didn't agree. Right before the trip I had another moment on the train, there was a trans woman sitting near me, it was clear she was born a male but was in transition. At her stop, she was exiting, and a woman getting on asking if she was transgender. She said yes and the lady boarding yelled that she was disgusting, the transwoman smiled quietly and walked away. Seeing how she reacted really struck me. Who knows how she was filling inside, I wondered if it matched the outside because it felt like it did with her taking it with such grace not reacting. Seeing that made me realize how truly courageous transgender people are. I'm over here freaking about people judging my teeth, so I’m hiding behind a mask. But these incredible and brave people choose to be authentic and unapologetic, no matter who is watching. It made me realize my own insecurity felt so small and quite honestly ridiculous. It forced me to really take a look at why I was struggling so badly with my own image. We made it to the camping ground and had a wonderful day, night time came which was the part I was looking forward to most. I live in a city so I don't see many stars, but I love to stargaze and it is such a beautiful spot because there are so many. So I laid in my tent, thinking about what happened on the train and really trying to understand my issue. I was admiring the contrast in the sky at the same time between the darkness and the stars, and something about that made me think of the contrast between the good parts of myself and my shadow. I've always feared the shadow part of myself. I believed that I was supposed to deny those darker aspects as a part of who I am. But staring up at that sky I realized that without all of that darkness, we wouldn't be able to experience the light and beauty of the stars. I realized that I shouldn't fear my shadow, but that I should embrace it as a part of who I am because if I choose to understand it, I can see it's here to show me what wounds I'm still carrying and give me the awareness so that I can start to heal them. It lets me know when there is a problem that I need to be paying attention to. It had a role in my life for such a long time, but I let it control me. That won't serve me anymore, so forcing me to feel all that shame about my teeth has pushed me to realize I'm not focused on the right things. I need to acknowledge my accomplishments, be proud of who I am right now, and embrace this phase as a stepping stone into my journey and new life. How I look to other people should never take this much of a toll on my mental health. This is just another battle scar I picked up along the way, and the people meant to be in my life will not treat me differently because of it. So I have since put the mask away, and survived the few eye drops I've received. I'll be happy when this chapter closes and my new one begins. Until then, I'm just going to be me, dancing with my shadow.
By Tressa Roseabout a year ago in Writers
Winner Announcement: New Contest For May, Featuring Your Very Own Deranged Lighthouse Keeper!. Top Story - June 2025.
It took me a while to judge all of the lovely entries into the New Contest For May, Featuring Your Very Own Deranged Lighthouse Keeper! contest, but I've finally done it! Here's a link to that contest, for the uninitiated:
By Laura Pruettabout a year ago in Writers
Thoughts that haunt me
It’s crazy how one traumatic situation can haunt you. Even though everything is going fine, you still linger in the back of my mind. You haunt me, you secretly drive me insane. You make me feel like I will never be able to come over this trauma.
By Merjaunie Lenaabout a year ago in Writers
All Hobbits Share A Love Of Things That Grow. Top Story - June 2025.
“Ride for ruin! Ride now!” And forth charged the riders of Rohan! Spear and horse clashed into the line of cowering orcs, stretching out all across the horizon. Glorious sunlight streamed through the breaks in the clouds; breaks ushered forth by the might and honor of men.
By Matthew J. Frommabout a year ago in Writers
