IF I COULD TELL YOU ONLY ONE THING

A friend of mine, Jim Jackson, is embarking on a project and he'd like the help of other writers, so I told him I would post his request on this blog. Thinking about answers to his question(s) is good exercise. Writing about them is a good writing exercise and could give you some great fodder for themes in your own works.

He's proposing that you think about what you would say to someone, a child, a friend, a complete stranger beside you on the plane, the one thing you would say on one of these subjects: life, liberty, loss, love, loyalty, luck or lust. Pick one or address them all!

Jim hasn't decided how he'll use them yet, but an articles or even a book are a possibilities.

Here are his words, copied from his site at http://www.jamesmjackson.com/NonFiction/onething-main.html :

Feel free to pass this request on to your friends, family, business associates, anyone. I have no idea where the most intriguing thoughts may come from. I do ask that your response come in the form of an email to an account I have set up specifically for this project

onething@jamesmjackson.com

I will not open any attachments. (It may be my loss, but so it goes.) In order to provide some identity, while maintaining anonymity, I am requesting your first name and state of residence. In a litigious society, I need something to grant me permission to use your words, and so I have included a release at the bottom, which must be included in the email.

Here is the format I would prefer you use. Please feel free to copy and paste this into your email.

If I could tell you only one thing about [choose one: liberty, life, loss, love, loyalty, luck, lust] it would be this:




First Name: ___________________________

State of Residence: ________________________

I understand that by sending this email, I certify I am over the age of eighteen; I have not quoted anyone else, the thoughts above are mine; and I give you permission to use my thoughts however you choose, including, but not limited to: books, articles, homilies and blogs (regardless of the media format).

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

James Montgomery Jackson

Me, Kaye, again. This could be fun! I've already answer the "life" question and am pondering the others.