Write Bravely - February - 1
Throughout February, the Write Bravely community was invited to reflect on love in its many forms - love practised in ordinary moments, love learned from animals, love turned inward, love that heals, and love offered as a response to the world as it is. These prompts opened up space for honesty, tenderness, and attention to what really matters. What follows is a round-up of the responses shared by our community - thoughtful reflections rooted in daily life, care, and quiet courage.
Jyotsna as usual wrote something so real in her post Love when practised rather than proclaimed
The small ordinary moments are the ones I am learning to treasure- a cup of chai that I have started making since a few months and has become a meditative ritual.My steel milk frother of 4 years adds to the joy of my chai.
Quiet care needs reminders- soaking my feet in a tub of hot water and intentional resting is my go-to.
I hug my daughters and feel their heartbeat against my body.
Read more here:
Jyotsna also wrote about hers pets and how she experiences love through them.
I have 2 cats now, Syrah who is almost 16 and Bono who is 5. They have allowed me to experience care and love without any words - just headbutts and slow eye blinks.
They know I am deaf. Syrah the wiser one sensed it earlier on. Bono took his time to figure out that I don’t hear his miaows. I sleep alone on a big bed. Bono sleeps at my feet on his little blanket. He wakes me up each morning with his wet nose on mine to check if I am still alive. I respond gently by calling his name and he purrs.
Read more here:
Ranju Pillai wrote her response to the prompt : If your life were a garden, what would you be planting this season—and what might need tending, patience, or space to grow?
If life were a garden, I would want it to be full of tall, large trees. For their stillness, for their shade. Life is scorching and relentless. And I am weary and burning up. Maybe I did manifest this garden! I see that I am sitting still under the umbrella of a tree. And letting there be everything and nothing. For a little while, I close my eyes… Before life calls me to my feet yet again But when I wake up, I don’t see any garden. Was it a dream? I then realized that the garden existed within me. And it’s so beautiful. I have planted the most beautiful trees there. Flowers and fruits. Smells and noises of my childhood. The branches like my granny’s arms. Birds and nests, I hold my children’s sweet faces. Butterflies and bees. A few people I can call my own. I find immense joy sitting by myself. The cool breeze on my face, the colors of God’s work, the smell of the fresh earth and the gentle notes of nature. This is where I retreat when life gets too much.
Madhavi responded to the ‘garden’ prompt too:
Harmony is my word of the year. So, in the Garden of my life, I’ve planted seeds of harmony and they’re just sprouting. I’m tending to them with care and nourishing the new-borns with patience and acceptance. It’s indispensable to weed out the conflicts from the garden. However, it is challenging because they have deep and strong roots. I’m finding ways to protect my plants of harmony from pests of prejudice and ego. I’m waiting for the young saplings to grow into huge, strong and sturdy trees that will bloom and give rise to fruits of compassion and forgiveness. The fruit will bear hundreds of seeds that will eventually propagate. When these seeds grow into more trees, one day, there will be a forest of harmony that releases oxygen of love.
Sunita wrote a love letter to herself:
Dear Sunita,
Today is Valentine’s Day, and there may be no card with your name on it, no flowers at the door, no one planning something special just for you.
But so what?
You are enough. And that is why I love you.
You are one of the most beautiful people — inside and out. You love from the bottom of your heart. You love without calculation. You simply give.
Read more here.
Madhavi wrote her first love letter - and rightfully to herself:
Maybe it is the culture thing – we never ever said ‘I love you amma (mom)’ or ‘I love you nanna(dad)’. In our family even parents stop saying ‘I love you’ to their children after they’ve grown up. If they say it, it might sound silly and awkward too. We never stop loving each other, but we stop saying it.
But today, I want to say it – I love you. Since it’s always easier to write than speak when you are embarrassed, I’m writing it. This is my first love letter. I’ve neither written nor received one before.
Read more here.
As we move forward, we’re also making a small shift in rhythm. Write Bravely will now publish community round-ups twice a month, allowing more breathing room for writing, reflection, and living the words we put on the page.
To the Write Bravely Communtiy - thank you for showing up with such care and openness. Whether you wrote every prompt or just one, or stayed quiet and applauded others, your voice is part of this shared practice and we’re grateful to be writing bravely together.
Beautiful responses .