My English teacher gave us an assignment this past month to help us write our college admissions essays. He proposed that we learn how to “show” and not “tell”; Showing writing is more descriptive, sensory, and brings the reader into the story. To see if we could do it, he asked us to show him happiness by recounting a truly happy memory. Not only did this exercise help me become a more thoughtful writer, it also gave me a chance to dwell in some wonderful moments. It is an excellent exercise for anyone interested in writing, so if this is you then I encourage you to give it a try. Here are two of my favorites that I have written.
Ankle deep as far as the eye could see. Clear blue water seeped into the cracks of my heels and scooped sand onto my bare feet. Grey skies above hid the sun from our eyes, and the empty beach felt like it was our own. There is nowhere else I would rather be than there with my friend. Spinning in the water, kicking and jumping, (some might call it dancing), being free. This is the moment I think about with my hand on my forehead, staring down at a question on a test that I would rather ignore.
Driving home the long way, and Runaway by Kanye comes on. The tinkling piano trickling into the hollows of my car, reverberating off any surface they can. Houses I have driven by hundreds of times leap out at me, revealing shutters and flowers and bricks and cars I had never noticed before. The same old burden of a stop sign seems redder, more powerful than before. Flying across the four lane intersection as the song crescendos, propelling more than my car. I think about how this is just the perfect moment for some kind of beautiful sunset, and as I leave the yield lane, the heaven opens. I have never been so happy to be so right. Crisp blues and pinks with beams of gold and orange paint me the best passing by I could have asked for. Sometimes you just can’t help but smile at the little things.
