October Writing Prompt
- Posted on November 23, 2025
Choose 8 images from October 2025 and then choose one of these images to write a few paragraphs about.
- A Hudson Valley Gorge, flush with fall foliage
- A cheeseboard, including white cheddar and feta, veggies and hummus, dried fruit and homemade quince paste from a friend’s backyard tree
- My friend’s sweet rescue dog with a healing heart, head resting in my cupped palms, a smile on her face
- Homemade soft Ice cream from a local Hudson Valley Dairy, on a hot day in early October, melted right off my cone as soon as I licked it, rescued by a cup and spoon
- Time shared with a friend and her listening ear, priceless
- All of this worth the cost of arriving home too late to mow the lawn before dark descended
- Racing thoughts of the upcoming preparation required for my mom’s 75th birthday party I agreed to host, ignored, and returned mind to present moment
- Two mornings after sweet rescue dog rested her head in my palms, she is permanently rested in her backyard after being hit by a car, reminding us of the immediacy of living life. I am thankful for our brief interaction, enjoying each other’s presence
Racing thoughts returned on the morning of my mom’s 75th birthday party as I did not accomplish as much as I had planned the day prior. I reassured myself I had all day to run to the store and get cooking, as well as all the little set up infrastructure details.
The tents and other big items were set up on Friday with the help of Emily. Lily was in charge of decorating the insides and I put Josh to work on getting the 4 pumpkins ready to carve by cleaning them out so I could cook the seeds. I gently woke him before 10 so he could also help me at the store. But while he was hollowing out each pumpkin, my stomach began to feel like an amusement park ride and not in a fun way. I thought eating would help so I made Josh and I eggs and toast. But that was not the self care my body had in mind, as I was gathering energy for the store, I had to suddenly toss my purse on the kitchen floor so I could toss my eggs in the bathroom throne.
Feeling queasy and uneasy was not part of my Saturday party planning and siderailed my efforts. I quickly interrupted Lily’s phone call to tag her in on the store run. While Lily and Josh purchased the last minute items of sustenance, I tried resting, showering and sweeping the floor until she returned with some ginger ale, which brought me back to life.
All that needed to get done found its way to completion and the party was not just smooth sailing, but a smashing success! Mom was so happy and our family enjoyed meeting her friends from work, who each shared how much they love working with her. The energy was beautiful and the activities included pumpkin carving, dancing and mom smashing a disco ball Piñata full of treats!
After party reflections had me questioning myself on the nature of how and why I let stress affect my body that morning. A few things were going through my mind. This was the first big party I was throwing at my house since my partner left at the beginning of the year. My partner was instrumental in not only the heavy lifting of logistics but he also brought me peace of mind whenever I began to feel stressed. Family stepped in to help with the heavy lifting for the party but the stress was all mine to deal with. And I dealt with it, but wished it did not affect my body. But I had also put pressure on myself because I really wanted to do a good job and have things turn out nice for my mom. I wanted things to be perfect, which is an unrealistic measurement, which then leads to unnecessary stress.
Instead, a better measurement is a standard of excellence, which is achievable. My goal was for the party to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere and for my mom and her friends to have a wonderful time. Given the people involved in the planning and carrying out of details, this goal was almost impossible not to fulfill! I should have trusted us better.
We all have self-doubt sometimes and re-learning to validate yourself after previously having a partner provide this for you is an important area of growth. And I have been experiencing much growth this year.
Choose 8 images from October 2025 and then choose one of these images to write a few paragraphs about. Racing thoughts returned on the morning of my mom’s 75th birthday party as I did not accomplish as much as I had planned the day prior. I reassured myself I had all day to run to…
Great post. So sorry about your sweet dog. Happy Birthday to your mom! 🩷❤️💕