#storyseeds Friday: Unknown objects

If you follow me on Twitter or on Facebook, you know that I'm posting daily #storyseeds, a short prompt for creativity and imagination. I started doing them as much for myself as for anyone else. They make me stretch my mind a little bit each morning and they help me remember that I am a creative being. It's fun, a little therapeutic, and a little useful for others. I'm posting expanded #storyseeds here on Fridays, both as a chance for me to experiment with more complex prompts and as a way for you to have a playful start for the weekend. Let me know what you think, which worked for you and which didn't, and send me any prompts you'd like to see posted! I can't promise I'll use them, but I may very well.

In the 1980 film The Gods Must Be Crazy, Xi (a Kalahari Bushman) and his people find a glass soda bottle. They don't know what it's for, so they use it in as many ways as they can; as a musical instrument, a pestle, a firestarter and more. Eventually this object brings strife to their village and Xi must dispose of it at the end of the world.

We are rich with things. Our culture is largely based on acquisition and use; how much stuff do we have and who has the best stuff? It's not a very healthy way to love, thoughI freely admit I fall prey to it.

What would happen if we changed our relationship with the stuff in our lives? This week's #storyseeds may help you think about all the things we have in new ways.

1. Embodied
   Take an every day object, like a fork or a pen or your computer keyboard. Look at it carefully, examining all sides. Take in its qualities, from the color and texture, to the smell and any sounds it may make.
   Now write a list of 25 alternative uses for this object. Try to look at it as if you have never seen it before. Could it be decorative? A ritual object? A tool? A musical instrument? A magical item?
2. Described
   Describe something you own and treasure. When did you get it? Why do you love it? What does it do? How does it make you feel? Who would you give it to if you had to release it? What would make you give it up?
3. A seed...
   A woman wakes up and all of her possessions have been swapped out for similar but not identical items. 
4. Story-story-go!Ask someone you care about to tell you the story of something they love.

Please post any answers you'd like to share, I'd LOVE to know what these prompted for you!

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