One Sunday afternoon, alone in your room, you write the first draft of the rest of your life. What is your vision of yourself in the future?

When he was alive the great song writer Leonard Cohen treated his audience to a recitation from a piece still in progress; he began:

Listen to the hummingbird
Whose wings you cannot see
Listen to the hummingbird
Don’t listen to me

Now, the completed hummingbird song appears on Cohen’s posthumous new album, ”Thanks for the Dance.”

So, let’s say you haven’t yet heard the new album. As a creative writing exercise, why not write the next four lines you would like to see in the song? Then, at some point, you can compare what Cohen wrote with your own offering.

Please write the song that flows from your heart.

What would be in your perfect dream house?

Everyone needs a safe place, or safe haven, they can go to when they need to catch their breath and find a few moments refuge from the stresses that come from outside or within. For me, such a place has always been the public library which I would retreat to as a boy to get away from the turmoil of an unhappy home. I was always happiest among the book shelves. Other times my safe haven has been my kitchen table where I write my books or read my beloved books. Sometimes, it is a quiet corner in a museum.
Share with us: Where do you find your safe havens — what places or people do you retreat to in search of peace and safety?

When I read that the ivory-billed woodpecker, once thought to be extinct, had been seen in Arkansas, I thought of the words in a beautiful poem by American poet Emily Dickinson in which she wrote:”Hope is the thing with feathers. — that perches in the soul…”
Share with us: How does ”hope” look to you? What are the things that give you hope? What are some of your own hopes?
Write about them and remember what you write so you won’t ever forget hope, no matter what life brings to you.

Dear readers,
I am now working on a book of comfort, to help people as they age, as they deal with different health and life issues, and to encourage them to find as much joy as possible in their precious lives.
If I were to hand you such a book of comfort and hope, what kinds of things would you like to find in it? Good thoughts? Prayers? Nuggets of Hope? Humor? Writing prompts to elicit happy memories? Something more? What do you need? Perhaps you can ask this question, too, of elders in your own life, such as your parents or grandparents — they may have some reach ideas about what they need which you can share with me.
I would welcome your ideas which would be helpful to me as I work on this important project. You can send your ideas to [email protected] or to this page.
In the past I have written other books of hope, such as LifeLines: A Book of Hope and MakeBeliefs: A Gift for Your Imagination, both of which can be found at www.billztreasurechest.com.

But I am older now than when I wrote these, and I am seeking to do something richer to go with wise aging. I truly welcome your thoughts. Please write.
Sincerely,
Bill Zimmerman