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Prompt Of The Week: "You can't save everyone..."

User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity February 9th, 2023

Hello community! 💃🏽


I hope you all are doing well! Welcome back to the writing series, where I present you with a writing prompt to exercise your creative muscles every week ☺️


Although I'm not always able to respond to each of your prompts directly, they’re very impressive and impactful. Everyone's individual creative spin has encouraged myself and others to be fearless in showcasing our unique creativity 💙 If you haven't checked out the previous posts of the series, I've got you! You can find it here!


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Without further ado, here is the prompt for today:


"You can't save everyone..."


What will you be doing? Good question! You'll be replying to my post with your original:


1. poems

2. prose (long or short)


As of now, the word limit is a maximum of 500 words.


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Happy writing! And feel free to tag some friends if you think they might be interested in this activity! If you have any questions about the series or want to submit a prompt, then please feel free to message me @SirenOfSerenity , or @Clarisse29


If you're interested in being tagged every time a new post is made to the series, reply to this post with "I want to be tagged for more prompts". To be removed from the taglist, reply to this post with "I want to be removed from the prompts taglist" Thank you!




Taglist: @OuiCherie @SoulfullyAButterfly @niens @azuladragon34 @Izzy274 @jersey123456 @usefulsummer3139 @TilXC @KindLemonade @ThoughtfulBlossom @Sugarlife24 @AuroraBriarRose @Torean @TryingTBH2021 @babydino69 @chaoscookie22 @Cuposad076 @Elise849 @TheJenInBlack @AnnaJ718 @RideARainbow @ImaginativeThinker8574 @Aikyaa01 @HopieRemi @NCG2237 @Helgafy @seashell145 @InvaderStitch @blueAngel00 @WharfRat @mysteriousClover @neverendingRainbow489 @LonleyCheese @lyricalAngel70 @discreetSugar176

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User Profile: toughSkies2639
toughSkies2639 February 9th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity

you can't save everyone

not everyone needs saving

focus on your happiness

then share it openly

happiness is infectious

happiness is relief

happiness is comfort

happiness is perspective

you can't save everyone

but you can help them visualize 'better'


_--+++-++++

not a port, don't know prose, so hoping this fits 😎












1 reply
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@toughSkies2639 Excellent response this week! You did a very well, and creative job 💕

"focus on your happiness, then share it openly" - This stuck out to me the most because I agree. It's not our job, and sometimes out of our jurisdiction to "save" someone but as you mentioned happiness can be infectious. And even if isn't in the moment, you'd still be maintaining your own emotions is a healthy way of accepting that you can't save another's. Thank you for participating ☺️

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User Profile: Torean
Torean February 9th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity

You can't save everyone...

Most of them honestly probably aren't worth saving.

And the ones that are...

What do you even know about their story?

Does their struggle line up with yours, or do you know at all?

We're you listening,

Or were you too focused on trying to save them?


There's a bigger picture,

But you can only reach it on the absolute most micro level.

Everyone who says that life is made of choices,

Never knew what it was like to not judge.

Neither do I, as hard as I try.

But you can only be who you are, and do what's in your reach,

Everything you do, in any form, is a message.

Can those messages spread?

Can they build you up to a position to make change?

To save people who don't have a choice?

Perhaps.

And perhaps you've been right all along.


The caution is to not strive for perfection,

Heroism,

Or saving others.

Rather, be the message that only you can be.

This way you can remember to try to save yourself in the process,

Lest your message be incorrect or obsolete,

Instead of what it always should have been.


Perhaps, the ones that you can save,

Will come running as soon as they hear your message.

And then it starts with listening.

You'll know you're doing it right when they save you too.

2 replies
User Profile: amiableClementine6566
amiableClementine6566 February 11th, 2023

@Torean this made me cry, similar situation with someone i tried to help

User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@Torean , you always come with your most creative spins on the prompts and they're always very impressive and impactful 😌

"There's a bigger picture,

But you can only reach it on the absolute most micro level..."

"The caution is to not strive for perfection, Heroism, Or saving others.

Rather, be the message that only you can be. This way you can remember to try to save yourself in the process,"

I couldn't agree more! I may need to save that quote for my ownself


Very well said, you

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User Profile: WharfRat
WharfRat February 10th, 2023

"You can't save everyone..."

You can't save everyone, but you can hope to save the people you love. Some people don't want to be saved. Some people would have to put forth some effort to save themselves. They may or may not want to do that.



2 replies
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

Hi @WharfRat 😀 Thank you for participating this week!

"Some people would have to put forth some effort to save themselves. They may or may not want to do that." is one of, if not the primal fact to keep in mind when we reach a desire to "save" the ones we love. This stuck out to *me* the most because in the past I've gone through multiple attempts of trying to save loved ones, and when it failed it made me feel incompetent to do so.

This reminded me that you can't want it more than person themselves. 💙

1 reply
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 15th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity

"You can't want it more than them". That's a good one.

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User Profile: TheGoodFairy
TheGoodFairy February 11th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity

You can't save everyone:

Maybe the person isn't ready to seek safety with you just yet,

or maybe you just aren't the right person to save that one.

Sometimes, try as we might, we don't know enough of a person's story to save them,

And by trying to "save" the person with our limited knowledge, we can sometimes actually end up doing more harm than good.

We still try,

And we try,

And we try,

But that trying that way is not enough. Because we can't "save" everyone.


But if we can show a bit of discretion when we try;

If we can understand that we are not angels deigning to "save" a person,

But rather that each of us is just another person connecting with them on a human level;

If we can show compassion when a person is vulnerable with us,

and live our lives not as "saviors" but simply as embodiments of love;

then we may not save everyone,

but we will not hurt them in our quests to be angels,

and as human beings,

as embodiments of love,

we will at least save some.


2 replies
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@TheGoodFairy added you to the taglist!

"Maybe the person isn't ready to seek safety with you just yet, or maybe you just aren't the right person to save that one." - is so important to keep in mind! It's understandable that when we see a loved one struggling, we immediately want to assume the role of their savior. Which usually comes from the biggest parts of our heart and intention, however when we want to ensure our loved ones get the best support they need these are important to keep in mind.


But what I really enjoyed is what you shared after "But if we can show a bit of discretion when we try;" because it ties everything together in your response. It helps reflect on ways we can still be present and supportive during their hard times even if we aren't the specific ones to "save" them. Awesome job this week 🥰

User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 15th, 2023

@TheGoodFairy


I like the line about connecting on a human level. A lot

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User Profile: TheGoodFairy
TheGoodFairy February 11th, 2023

I want to be tagged for more prompts :)

User Profile: DiscreteThinker
DiscreteThinker February 11th, 2023

You can’t save everyone if you want to save yourself.

1 reply
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@DiscreteThinker Accurate, and straight to the point! 💙 To save someone else (or attempt) it's helpful to check in with ourselves to see if there's anything we need to save ourselves before anyone else. Thank you for participating!

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User Profile: kindsoul314
kindsoul314 February 11th, 2023

You can't save everyone ...

But I heard something the other day which bears repeating: "...To the world, you may just be one person; but to one person, you may very well be their world..." Be kind ... to everyone.

2 replies
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

Hi @kindsoul314 , very beautiful and relevant quote you shared 😊 It's true, although we may not be able to full on "save" someone, something as simple as being kind can make a bigger impact than we know during their struggle. 💙

User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 15th, 2023

@kindsoul314

My sister used to say this to me. It was nice. BUt she had high expectations of me that pushed me away.

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User Profile: Shawdios
Shawdios February 11th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity (i wish to be added to taglist)


You cant save everyone.


What a curious line

For the people pleaser to hear

Do they deny it?

And cling harder to the toxic ones they hold dear?


Or does it resonate

And spur the moment to break

Away from the leeches that drag them down

Who always take and take


The same leeches who use their kindness

With no care for the pleaser

Luckily, they are free now

But not without the damages of fear


5 replies
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@Shawdios added you to the taglist!

I really enjoyed the way you started this off, from the point of view of a "people pleaser". I 100% resonate, and you did a very creative job responding in a way that doesn't shame or judge the "people pleasers".

Instead it gives room to reflect on what toll it takes on them and if it's their place to continue. Awesome job!

4 replies
User Profile: Shawdios
Shawdios February 15th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity


awww thank you! Im glad it was able to resonate with you <3

this one actually comes from a personal experience of mine, so, hello fellow people pleaser! Hehe.

I do feel as if i rushed ending the poem though, i wish i could edit the post and fix that.

3 replies
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 15th, 2023

@Shawdios


I felt that about my poem too. But I had worked four straight hours on it and was cramped up on the couch.

We can go back and rewrite it; I found I can select and copy my poem on here even though it's already posted and could work on it in my phone's Notes app or something and repost if need be.

🙏🏼🗻

2 replies
User Profile: Shawdios
Shawdios February 16th, 2023

@Dallady

ill likely do that and repost it in my poem thread

1 reply
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 16th, 2023

@Shawdios


samesies

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User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 11th, 2023
@SirenOfSerenity



Spiderhouse






We lived in a house of woven lies

An alarm set in the deepest room

Down in the basement, in the gloom

The ticking, ticking in the night



I heard it once, then twice, again

Do you not hear that? Asked the wind

But water, fire aren't its kin

And the ticking then became a din



Soon I could hear it all the time

It grew a mold upon my mind

This time the earth did rumbling ask

Do you not hear? No - not my task.



A leaking void came under the door,

Some poison came up through the floor,

It caught me up, went down my throat

Leaving me lone, engulfed and choked



Now instead of ticking, spiders came

Millions everywhere, in my brain

They covered every inch of wall

I saw a huge one, closer crawl



Along the ceiling, towards my head

It came like justice, dust and lead,

As it dropped, I cursed all, all things

And fell into the darkest end.



For millennia I didn't move

Every day an endless dead tomb

But in this waste, something did grow

A sprig of urgency doth show



So the earth remained. That was a hope

But I couldn't see it; eyes unborn

And how to move when bones are ghosts?

But in endless black, a tiny glow...



A star...a star! That is enough

I said without saying, vacuumed shut

That's more than nothing, more than space

And my finger moved the slightest length



I ached with endless pins and needles

Growing pains ripped at my ankles

Fire covered me like a haven

Water drowned me leaving me shaken



Finally my joints and bones bore weight

I lifted keys and unlocked gates

Was hurled back, and back into the fray

As flailing, failed beside my fate



That distant star's my only chance

Upon unnamed words it does it's dance

So I reach and claw and try again

Through nothing, no one, anything



Another person in the distance!

But this is space, no one here listens.

So I was hurt for no good reason.

But if I'm nothing, what's this feeling?



It's lifetimes later, I'm still here

Still lost in space, it would appear

And yet it's only been six years,

Since you said 'can't save everyone, dear'



'Only' six? My, how time does fly

But stopping it? That's not my wish.

Because I'm learning how to build

More than a spider house, more than this.



And the spiders haven't really left-

Sometimes I see one when I'm stressed.

But it's made of something fuzzy; soft,

Not like before, where all seemed lost...



My life path is a bouncing ball

For discount sale at the cosmic mall

'Don't sell yourself short' they might say

But I also don't want to be saved.



I want the fire, I want the wind.

I want the earth, the sky, to swim.

To float inside an endless sea.

Because it all comes back to me.





Ugh. Worst poem ever. 'Cosmic mall'?😔 Also, most egotistical ending birthed. If one could even call this abortive myth as such.
4 replies
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 11th, 2023

I spent four hours on this poem and got one heart haha. Grateful for it but also omg

User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 13th, 2023

@Dallady worst poem ever?! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and respect your creative skills to sit and make a unique response to this prompt (and making it rhyme! I personally struggle with that) 💕


As the reader, when I got to, "Soon I could hear it all the time. It grew a mold upon my mind. This time the earth did rumbling ask

Do you not hear? No - not my task." I interpreted the rest of the poem as a creative description of the main character's battle with being unable to save everyone from what only they had acknowledged; along with being unable to save their ownselves from the affects. I really enjoyed your poem 🙏🏽
2 replies
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 14th, 2023

@SirenOfSerenity

Gosh, thanks so much. 🙏🏼 🤗🥺😇 I guess all that writing I did to pass the time during covid paid off! And I loved hearing your perspective on it...do you think anything could be improved? Would love some feedback

1 reply
User Profile: SirenOfSerenity
SirenOfSerenity OP February 14th, 2023

@Dallady You're a much better writer than me so if anything needs to be fixed I sure don't see it! ☺️

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User Profile: Marialedoffchoseme
Marialedoffchoseme February 11th, 2023


@SirenOfSerenity

sitting in a cafe.... with a cup of coffee .. or without.... money... well. today I'm gonna speak about love. I came from different city and i found a boy. because of life he left the country... i miss him much. I raise some flowers. And dream one day. I ll meet him. Here or there.... I am a writer. I will write a book. Who knows. Maybe one day .. I'll get back my life... Thank you for reading... Here we are.. have a nice day..

Trust yourself.... And love who you are.... Maybe it's the best moment to love yourself... And don't stop dreaming.... Thank you for reading the story about this girl. It's just the beginning 💖💖


One day she will be happy 💜




1 reply
User Profile: Dallady
Dallady February 15th, 2023

@Marialedoffchoseme


wow that was like spoken word or something. Well done

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