Prompt & Ponder | Threshold
A sneak peek preview at the beginning of our new wonder-led journey
I’m sitting here with books and academic studies fanned out like wings around me. In fact, that is indeed what they are. Wings.
When I lost my words 7.5 years ago, I would have never imagined the journey would lead me to deep dive into wonder… and eventually write a book about it.
Getting to share this journey with you is a dream come true. I am so grateful you are here.
We have something so exciting happening in this little corner of the internet world today.
Substack paid subscription models range wildly from in-depth extra content created by a whole newsroom of writers to simply a place to express spontaneous support.
These last months, I’ve been doing a lot of listening to your feedback, what the pulse of things is in the world, and where those needs overlap with the best I can offer.
I’ve been slower than I’d like implementing these changes because, to be honest, change is scary.
But being kettled by an army of what-ifs is scarier.
A big reason I write is to help us have words of hope to hold onto and the tools to tell ourselves and one another a better story.
Given all that is happening right now, I’ve wanted to create a smaller space within a space that feels like a hug of inspiration.
A place with courage you can settle into. Something simple and practical that can unlock regular inspiration, exploration, and creativity.
Without you having to weed through dozens of social media posts or be at the mercy of an algorithm to do it.
Things that you can tuck away and apply to virtually any creative format.
Prompts you can write, paint, and journal from… A place where you can connect meaningfully with yourself and others.
So I’ve been scurrying around behind the scenes planning and writing and putting the pieces in place. It’s one reason I’ve been a bit quiet here.
But today is the day. Welcome to Prompt & Ponder. It’s our newly refreshed paid subscriber community of The Wonder Habit®.
If you are already a paid subscriber, you are already set.
For this first week, I’m sending the paid email out a few days ahead of schedule to everyone. I know things are tight, and you deserve a sample to see if it is something that you’d like to jump in on.
Tell me I’m not the only one who loves a good sampling of ice cream before finally choosing her flavor.
The world is pretty overwhelming these days.
The last thing you need is a super long email of monthly prompts and projects to pick through. Make it easy, Michele.
So, instead of waiting on thematic or seasonal wonder challenges or longer monthly emails, I’ll be sending out shorter emails filled with creative prompts and encouragement weekly.
This is an effort to give you tangible touchpoints, a starting place for embracing beauty and finding wonder every day.
Each Sunday, the Prompt & Ponder community will receive:
A weekly prompt email with our One-Word Wonder Prompt for the week (similar to this one) with a reflection/encouragement from me and relevant inspiration prompts to ponder. Hence, our name ;-) Prompt & Ponder… Getting started creating shouldn’t be hard. This makes it easier.
A weekly chat thread with a question to ponder based on the word of the week so you can connect with one another and share your work. I’ll pop in from time to time, but the chats are primarily a hangout space to get to know one another and share your journey.
In addition to the new weekly content, we will have four quarterly live Creatogether™ Zoom calls where we bring what we are making or creating and spend time together creating in community. I’ll also offer some thoughts on wonder, living seasonally, and slowing down with intention.
Prompt & Ponder also includes the complete archive of writing and challenges. It’s an all-access pass to the entire The Wonder Habit® Substack site, a paid subscriber dashboard so you can find everything quickly, and the ability to comment/interact on all content with comments.
This paid content is in addition to my regular, free writing for our Substack at large.
So enough about the nuts and bolts. Let’s get pondering.
Our Weekly One-Word Wonder Prompt: Threshold
The word threshold is dripping with meaning. We could probably spend a month on it alone. But we won’t. I promise.
Threshold broadly means a doorway, a point of entry or beginning, and/or the level that must be met for a certain reaction, phenomenon, result, or condition to occur or be manifested.1
It seems a fitting word to kick off our first weekly Prompt & Ponder with.
I wrote the following words several years ago, but they feel especially relevant now. Maybe you’ll find them meaningful as well.
Letter to Myself at the Start of a New Journey
You know that thing that makes your heart come alive and your mouth curve upward in a smile before you even know it?
That breathes hope deep down beneath all the words you have stored up and makes you feel like you have wings?
The spark that ignites a light that burns brave and beautiful in the darkness.
That place where your soul flies free, that is what you are meant to build
This is the journey you are called to make, the daring path you are created to embrace.
This is the art of the matter: pigment and prose, paint, purpose, and poetry.
Color, forms and fields; beauty etched from landscapes once shrouded in pain; wide awake to wonder and legend; and the stories that shape us.
The metaphors that make us and the images that take us to the depths we didn't know were there.
The bright moment when nebulas can track in suns are formed, moments born with the gravity to change everything.
So what is that for you?
It's not about what you can do, but the thing that pulls you back to its center time and again.
Permission granted to pursue that. To imagine and pursue a path that builds the thing that brings you back to the parts of yourself you didn't know were lost.
Beloved, build there, and the rest will follow. This is the art of the matter: to make living your grandest work of heart and create the future you want to live in.
🎉 Here comes the prompt parade!
✨ Visual Prompt
Use this image as a reference for painting or sketching.
What color palettes could you pull from it?
What would happen if you zoomed in on one detail?
🎨 Art-Making Prompt
Paint or collage a symbolic doorway—what colors, textures, or images represent what’s on either side of it?
📝 Creative Writing Prompts
Write a short scene that begins with a character standing at a literal or metaphorical threshold. What are is that character afraid of? What are they hoping for?
Begin a short piece with the sentence: “I didn’t know what would happen when I stepped through ____...”
✍🏻 Reflective Journaling Prompts
What threshold are you currently standing at in your life, heart, or creative practice?
What emotions come up for you when you face a new beginning?
What have you outgrown that you can release & let go of?
💬 Our Community Chat Link for the Week
Typically, the link will be right here, but for this first email, it will be sent out on Sunday, Jul 13, to paid subscribers.
More Links & Things
👩🏻💻 Here’s the link for our paid subscriber dashboard, where you can find an easy-to-access set of links available to our Prompt & Ponder community.
As always, thank you for being here. I can’t do what I do without you.
If you know of anyone who might like to be a part of this, please share this post with them and help me get the word out.
You are so loved.
