Reminiscences: Musings in Memoir — Prompt #5

PROMPT #5 — BIG

I live by ‘Go big or go home.’ That’s with everything. It’s like either commit and go for it or don’t do it at all. I apply that to everything.

Paul Walker

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Big: It is a word that moves in three dimensions — tall, wide, deep — and applies equally to empty spaces and solid objects. Bigness can indicate breadth (of knowledge, for instance) or vastness (think: ocean), comparative height/weight/age (big, bigger, biggest), or indicate scope (a big project). In terms of largeness, you can have big ideas, big problems, a big budget, or big plans. You can talk a big game, run a big business, or be A Big Deal.

Some of the ways ‘big’ applies in everyday life include:

• Being a big fish in a small pond is being a person with a lot of “bigness” of power relative to the smallness of one’s community.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters is a an American nonprofit organization that pairs adult volunteers with community youth for the purpose of mentorship and support.
• If you do something that has far-reaching or highly impactful negative consequences, it may be referred to as causing (or being in) big trouble.

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In music, there is the famed (and oft-parodied) To Be With You by the band Mr Big. Aerosmith put out a greatest hits album titled Big Ones. The rap artist Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie Smalls) literally has a big name.

Music artists and movie stars may be big names or have big hits; you can get served a giant hamburger at the (restaurant) Big Boy; when you’re having a run of fame or success it can be referred to as having hit the big time. Bigness can be relative (I wear a bigger shoe size than my mother) or universal (the world is a pretty big place), and what is ‘big’ to you may be very small potatoes to someone else.

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So for this round in the Reminiscences project, please consider ‘big’. (Feel free to use the idea literally or metaphorically.)

• Do you have memories of “being a big kid” when you were growing up? What did that mean?
• Was something in your life ever a Really Big Deal? Did other people understand that?
• Are you a fan of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep?
• Maybe you got big-headed about something or acted a little too big for your britches?
• Or perhaps – like me – you have fond memories of watching the movie Big Trouble:

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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.

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To play:

1. Write a memoir-esque post.
2. Link your post either to this prompt or to the Reminiscences project description page. (Use of the badge is optional.)
3. 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.

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Thank you to everyone who participated in the previous prompt. If you are interested in participating but are unsure how to approach your writing, I highly recommend taking a look at the plethora of creative possibilities demonstrated last time by these people:

• The Barefoot Sub
• Chris at Muscleheaded Blog
• Collared Michael
• Kdaddy
• Marie Rebelle
• May More
• Mrs Fever (that would be ME)
• Polly Cullen
• Sass C

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If you wrote something for Prompt #4 (or any of the previous prompts) over the past ten days and do not 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. 🙂