August prompts for Brat Summer

8 prompts inspired by short-lived phases and not overcomplicating the plot

For a long time I’ve kept a seasonal ledger where I catalogue the “me of now”; or what objects, ideas, sights, metaphors, tastes have personified the last three months or so. 

I like looking back at them—observing phases, observing consistency. Recognizing how ideas start, and grow. Realizing how sometimes a burning obsession or unsolvable problem has actually been in the background for longer than I realized. Seeing my susceptibility to influence (i.e. daily, paper-thin slices of comte on rye after a trip to Copenhagen; the time I got into ankle weights; dedicating myself to dry brushing my skin for exactly one week). 

It’s also to recognize algorithmic consumption: the way objects or places or words are used to coarsely flatten interests into boring archetypes. I’ve been thinking about when it’s comforting to feel connected to something beyond myself…and when it just distances me from my own pulse. 

This is all to say: this month’s prompts are about living in themes. About making a pun…