1. Read the poem 

  2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

  3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

  4. Use the selection of prompts below the poem

  5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

  6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

Not According To Plan

When I drop my glasses
in the airport and they’re crushed
in the walkway between terminals, I get to
meet the three kinds of souls
who helped me on the way.

Then I hear you crying
after everyone has left.
So I bring you water
and hear your story.

Ever since the lock on
my door broke, I have
more visitors.

Now the road I always
take is detoured, which
I curse until I see the
heron glide across the
small pond I didn’t
know was there.

Mark Nepo, The Way Under The Way
https://marknepo.com

Please join Writing From The Inside Out by attending the read-around sessions on Friday afternoons. It’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional. If you have not registered, click the button below; and if you have registered, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:

Next Read Around is Friday, October 28, 2022 at 4:00 PM (PST)

My Thoughts

We have all had times when we were saved from some potential tiny tragedy by the unexpected kindness of strangers. The help often comes becasuse some incident has (or could) throw us off course or upset our plans. As in Mark Nepo’s poem, Not According To Plan, I have had strangers help me out in airport and other terminals many times, including once when someone literally had to chase me down when I dropped my passport while running to the gate. The relief and gratitude we feel afterwards often recedes from our minds as we go on with our day. Nepo suggests that those moments are opportunities to notice the gifts that may come to us when our plans are disrupted. When we are looking through goal-directed eyes, we only tend to see what is front of us that either helps or hinders our momentum. Anything that effectively interrupts that ”‘plan” can siderail us and shake our eyes open. The detour may be unwanted and frustrating, but it also delivers rewards if we have the door open to receiving them. Then, what seems to be an annoying detour turns into an serendipitous encounter or a gorgeous view or a charming curio shop, sometimes literally and sometimes metaphorically. These are the blessings we only receive when things are not going according to plan. What gifts might you be missing by your goal-directed life?

Prompt Menu

  1. Journal or write a poem about a time when you received some unexpected help from a stranger.

  2. Write about a time when you took a “wrong turn” or got detoured in life in a way that then led to some unexpected gift.

  3. Journal or write a poem about the moments that led up to a chance encounter with someone (a stranger or even meeting someone you know in a very unexpected place) . What happened externally and internally in that moment of surprise?

  4. Journal or write a poem about a time when you provided unexpected kindness or help to someone.

  5. Nepo uses the metaphor of a door unlocked to describe our openess to receiving. Journal or write a poem about your level of openness to receiving the unexpected gifts of life.

  6. Journal or write a poem about the pros and cons of plans. Conversely, write about the benefits of (or write a testimonial for) when things are “not according to plan.”

  7. As usual, write about anything else that inspires you from the poem or from life.