Plenty (Movement, 1)
Milk and Honey
Milk and honey,
some for me, some for me,
some for me, some for me,
some for me, some for me.
Milk and honey,
some for me, some for me,
plenty for others, and plenty for me,
some for me, some for me,
some for me, some for me,
plenty for others, and plenty for me.
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plenty (pronoun) = enough / more than enough, from the Latin plenus, meaning ‘full’.
~ ~ ~
The invitation was to close my eyes, cup my hands slightly, and rest their outside edges in my lap. Then, very slowly and gently, with minimal effort, to tilt the outside edges of my hands towards me, in a minimal scooping movement – first one, over and again, then the other, over and again, and finally both, over and again – tuning in to all the sensations in my body as I did so.
It was a Saturday morning workshop run by Anne Taylor for LIRIC, the Lapidus Living Research Community, and Anne had offered us this series of tiny movements as a preparation for writing. Anne is an experienced writer, teacher, mentor and facilitator who uses writing, awareness and movement to help people learn how to move through the world more easily, drawing on techniques from Feldenkrais, a somatic learning method.
I usually write with visual imagery, but having my eyes shut and making these small repeated movements took me to a less concrete, more conceptual place deep within. Feelings arose and changed as the minutes passed, from wanting and needing, to receiving and having, and finally to releasing and sharing. I didn’t so much visualise the milk and honey as feel its sweetness and nourishment in my whole being. When I stopped, opened my eyes and picked up my pen, I wrote the poem from the deeply-sensed feelings I had moved through or that had moved through me. My words became a song, a lullaby, soothing and reassuring, shaping a sense of myself in the world, belly full, needs met abundantly, safe, relaxed, still.
The grammar bit
We use plenty as a pronoun to mean enough, more than enough, when the noun is understood by the listener or potential reader, as in That’s plenty, thanks! (What noun did you imagine there? Milk? Honey? Tea? Cake? Gravy? Wine? Something else?) When the noun isn’t known or understood by the listener or potential reader, we use plenty as a quantifier, with of and the noun we have in mind. This could be things, stuff, people, places, a feeling… plenty of plates, milk, fish, gravy, tea, friends, beaches, love …
Writing activity (6-10 minutes)
This all got me thinking about writing into the word plenty. Here’s what I did if you want to try it. Write some sentences starting I’ve got plenty of … or There is/are plenty of… Trust your pen and see where it takes you. Don’t judge what comes out of it. You might want to make a long list of things, or stay with just a few, writing into them. Then take a moment to read back over and reflect on what you’ve written.
Here’s what I wrote:
· I’ve got plenty of black Berol felt-tip pens. This is good because I use them along with Fineliners, and occasionally pastel, at a free online quickfire portrait drawing event I go to every Monday, a burst of creativity I enjoy. I like knowing I can use those pens liberally without worrying about them running out, the way children use art materials.
· There are plenty of nice walks near where we live. We already knew a lot, but we found more during that first lockdown. One of the few things I miss about Spring 2020 are those daily family walks, when the cherry trees up on the Beacon were in full flower against a hard blue sky.
· I’ve got plenty of ideas for blog posts, but not enough time to write them. This one is the first of three I want to write about movement, body, release and expression.
· I’ve got plenty of time for grammar. Not grammar as something mechanical, abstract or chalky, but something innate, subtle, vital and relational.
And here’s my reflection on writing and reading over my list:
It was nice to think about all that is plentiful in my life – what I own, what is available to me, and what grows, not diminishes, the more I engage with it. It gives me that sense of abundance I had writing ‘Milk and Honey’ – that ‘full belly’ feeling. Safe, relaxed, still.
Language isn’t just in my head. It’s in my whole body.
Want, need, receive, have, release, share. Moving words. Words to move with.