Daily writing prompt

Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.

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Hello dear friends,
I hope this blog finds you in a cheerful mood, just as the rising sun breaks through the mist each morning.

Today’s writing prompt nudged me in an unusual direction:
“Scour the news for an entirely uninteresting story. Consider how it connects to your life. Write about that.”

At first glance, I chuckled. The idea of picking an “uninteresting” story and making it meaningful seemed like trying to find poetry in a grocery list. Yet, curiosity got the better of me.

As I browsed through the day’s news headlines, skipping past political storms, international debates, and celebrity scandals, my eyes landed on a small, unimpressive headline buried near the bottom of the digital newspaper:

“Municipal Workers Begin Annual Tree Trimming in Sector 14”

That was it. A brief paragraph followed, mentioning how the local authorities had started pruning the old trees lining the road in a quiet residential area.

No controversy. No drama. Just tree trimming. It was as dull as a report on drying paint. But I paused.

And then, something in me stirred.

The Trees of My Childhood

That tiny, uncelebrated piece of news transported me to my childhood. I remembered the massive neem tree outside our ancestral home in Bihar.

Every summer, the municipality would send a man with a long sickle tied to a bamboo pole. With calm precision, he’d trim the overgrown branches.

My sister and I would sit on the boundary wall, watching the green canopy fall in showers of leaves and twigs.

We would collect the ripe Neem fruits and fallen branches, sometimes to use as makeshift swords for our imaginary battles, other times to feed the clay stove in our courtyard.

My mother would scold us if we stepped on the tender plants underneath. My father, a quiet man, would sip his tea in silence, watching the slow change of seasons—his way of noting life’s rhythm.

Trimming the Tree of Life

As I reflect on it now, I realize that the act of tree trimming isn’t just a civic duty. It’s a metaphor—almost poetic.

Trees, like our lives, grow in all directions. They need regular pruning to remain healthy and strong. Untrimmed branches may break in storms; dead limbs might weigh down the vibrant growth beneath.

In my own life, particularly post-retirement, I’ve had to learn this quiet art of pruning. I’ve let go of relationships that were draining, habits that didn’t serve me, and mental clutter that prevented inner peace.

Each time I trimmed away something no longer needed, I found clarity, like sunlight streaming through freshly cut branches.

The Wisdom of the Unseen

The news story also made me think of the quiet workers who trim those trees. No one interviews them. No headlines hail their work.

But their small, repetitive actions prevent major disasters—branches falling on power lines or blocking paths.

Isn’t that true in our own lives as well? Some of our most impactful work is quiet, invisible, and humble. As a retired banker, I once believed impact meant big numbers and decisions.

But now, I see real meaning in simpler things—writing poems, sharing reflections, encouraging others, or holding my granddaughter’s hand on an evening walk.

The quiet things are the important things.

Beauty in the Boring

Our minds are trained to chase stimulation—news, gossip, crises, and adrenaline. But sometimes, life’s most profound truths are hidden in the plainest wrapping.

Reading about tree trimming might not stir the soul like a poem or a tragic headline might—but if we look closer, even that mundane story whispers something wise:

Growth needs maintenance. Progress requires pruning. Peace often lies in simplicity.

My Promise to Notice

Today, I make a quiet promise to myself: to notice the unnoticed. To value the rhythm of the everyday. To listen to the stories that don’t scream but still deserve to be heard. Even a man climbing a tree with a sickle has something to teach me.

If a small municipal news snippet can take me down a path of memory, metaphor, and mindfulness, imagine what the rest of the unnoticed world holds. I just need to slow down and look.

Dear readers,
Perhaps the next time you scroll through the news and come across a seemingly dull story, pause for a moment. Ask yourself—not what the world sees, but what you feel. You might just discover a mirror, a lesson, or a long-lost memory hiding behind the bland headline.

Because sometimes, even a story about trimming trees can quietly trim away the noise in our minds… and open a little more sky within.

With warmth and wonder,
Vijay Verma
 www.retiredkalam.com

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