Reminiscences: Musings in Memoir - Prompt #4

PROMPT #4 — RUN

Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it.
Oprah Winfrey

Run: It is a myriad-meaning word, one that pertains to mechanics as well as to business, to sports and to nature, and to realms both physical and mental. Water runs, appliances run, numbers run (think: finance), ink runs, animals run, and on the human body one may find legs that run and a nose that runs — occasionally at the same time!

And, oh the fun we can have with compound words!

You can run away (verb) or be a runaway (noun).
And a runaway horse (adj) can run away (verb) with you. 😉

There are – in the negative connotative – ways of ‘running’ that are frowned upon. Running guns is to deal in an illicit arms trade; a drug runner is a person who transports illegal substances; to do a runner is to flee the scene of a crime.

There are neutral runs, innocuous in their meaning. Having a run in your pantyhose is to have snagged them so they ladder. To run a bath is to turn the faucets on and fill up the tub.

There are also positively-imbued phrases that indicate that ‘running’ is a Good Thing. We had a good run is a way of saying, “We did well.” Running a business is generally accepted as a legitimate way of making a living.

Some songs that utilize the concept of ‘run’ in various ways:

Journey’s Faithfully begins, “Highway run… Into the midnight sun…”
Runaway was a late ’80s Bon Jovi song
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band’s Blue on Black imbues the words “You… Turned… And you ran…” with both accusation and understanding
Foo Fighters, Leona Lewis, and Snow Patrol all have separate recordings of different songs, each simply titled RUN

So for the fourth prompt in the Reminiscences writing project, please consider ‘run’. (Feel free to use the concept either literally or metaphorically.)

Are you a marathon runner? Or perhaps you run as part of an exercise or sporting routine?
Have you ever run *for* something? (either in the ‘running a 5k for charity’ sense or in the ‘running for political office’ take on the phrase)
Perhaps you have run away from something? Or run toward it?
Have you ever been a runner-up (placing second) in a contest?
Or maybe, in Forrest Gump style, one day – for no particular reason – you decided to go for a little run…

The point of this writing project is to create new content by writing from your personal memories, with a focus on the form of memoir.

Prompts will be posted on the 10th, 20th, and 30th of each month through August 10th. The purpose of the prompts is simply to provide inspiration. You are welcome to use the prompt literally or figuratively, or as a jumping off point that leads you in another direction all together. You are also welcome to revisit past prompts as the project progresses. Your timing is your own, and adherence to the prompt{s} is not required.

To play:

Write a memoir-esque post.
Link your post either to this prompt or to the Reminiscences project description page. (Use of the badge is optional.)
Leave a comment below – you can use CommentLuv to create a live link to your post on my comment form – to let me know you’re playing.

Kudos to all the fabulous folks who participated in the previous prompt. If you are interested in writing for this project but are unsure how to proceed, I highly recommend you check out the delightful breadth of stories shared last time by these people for inspiration:

Brigit Delaney
Chris at Muscleheaded Blog
Collared Michael
Kdaddy
Marie Rebelle
May More
Mrs Fever (yours truly!)
Polly Cullen
Sass C (who also caught up with her responses to Prompt 1 and Prompt 2)

Thanks also to Abbie Johnson Taylor, who added her ‘wind’ memories to Prompt #1.

And to Cindi at Moondance Pages, who added her ‘green’ ideas to Prompt #2.

If you wrote something for Prompt #3 (or added to the previous two prompts) over the past ten days and you don’t see your name above it means I don’t have your link. Please leave one for me and I will add your post! 🙂

For more information about this writing project, see here.

If you have any additional questions, please let me know. 🙂