Another Friday. Another Five Minute Friday (FMF) post.

You might remember the task is to write for five minutes on a specific prompt word. The initiative was started by Lisa-Jo Baker (http://lisajobaker.com/) who thought about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And she figured, why not take five minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.

This week’s prompt is PAINT … an odd word to write about. But, remember, in a FMF post on WRITE, I made the following statement, “… I like to think a successful story, whether fiction or non-fiction, reporting or papers, have a common ingredient — painting a word picture in the reader’s mind. As an editor I always tell my reporters a story is successful only if readers can paint that image in their mind’s eye. They have to feel like there were there. They have to connect. They have to respond …”

So, with that backdrop, here’s what going through my mind today. The timer is set … so here goes. {clock starts now}

True story. This morning I had an early doctor’s appointment so last night I went to bed early. Sometime through the night, I entered into dreamland with visions of this week’s Five Minute Friday swirling in my head, despite the fact I hadn’t checked the prompt. My dreamy subconscious insisted the word for the week was MONSOON. As dreamland slipped away to allow for a mid-night potty break, I remembered the dream and just couldn’t figure out why the word MONSOON would be in my mind. But, I quickly fell asleep again and this time started arguing with myself. It couldn’t be MONSOON, it must be MAROON. Even that didn’t make sense I argued while still in dreamland.

Today when I checked Lisa Jo’s site, I saw the word was PAINT. Not even close, unless, of course you consider maroon as a color on the palette.

What was the lesson from my pre-Lisa Jo check and my dreams?

First,  … STOP

… I must really look forward to my ventures with FMF, and

Second, I need a life.

Well, that’s what popped into this mind this week.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.