IPIR. It's an acronym my therapist, Lee, invented. It stands for "Important Person Internalized Representation." Isn't it great? I'll mention that and just leave it there for now.

One of my IPIRs, Tom, who is a real person still very-much in the real world as well as being a cast member running around the IPIR OZ mythology of my personal landscape, the real Tom recently started a real blog.  In it, he encourages everyone to write.  To rush write.  It's an exercise I love and have explained a time or two.  Basically, you start small.  Take a timer and set it for five minutes.  Once you're ready to write/type/scrawl/scribble, you hit the timer and go.  Write.  No stopping, no grammar correction or spelling correction, no stopping at all even if you can't think of what to say.  Can't think of what to say?  Write, "I can't think of what to say... still can't think of what to say... still thinking... thinking thinking... thinking of pink bread and wassel and five big loaves of bread at the counter of crossroads and 8th. Blah blah blabhbeedy blahdee dee blah boo booh..." (That was a real rush-write as an example of rush writing, by the way...)  And you proceed thus until the timer buzzes.  Once it buzzes you stop, mid-word, mid-sentence.  Wherever you are you must stop.  The other rule, which I have fudged a little in this particular exercise, is that you're not supposed to 'think' about what you're going to write before you start writing.  The reason I say I've fudged it a little is because I read Tom's post encouraging his readers to do this exercise, last night.  I was not available to do it then but began hatching ideas from the moment I read the title of his blog post.  I imagined a scene, a film scene.  One I may well film.  We'll see.  But who knows what I'll actually write now.

Anyhoo, the topic of the rush write and the first sentence is supposed to be, "My first memory is..."  Then go.  

So here goes.  I'm going to type.  I won't stop until the timer goes off and then I'll post it here.  For whatever it's worth.  Want to try it too?

Ready?  Go!

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My first memory is of sitting in the car seat listening to Andy Williams sing from the 80track on the stearo in the car.. I already sai d car.  Yes, I already said car.  Yes I did.  I said car.

Meryl:  Yes, you siad car.  Could you please just shut up and keep writing1

I can't shut aup and also keep writing.  I have to choose one or the other.

Meryl:  You're supposed to be writing about your first memory.  So why don'tcha do it, asshole.

Languae.  Could you please just let me do thi.

Meryl:  Mmmm hmmm.  Yep.  Go right on ahead.  Ther e you go.  Come on.  Baby talk.  Cjum on.  You can do it little Jasey pooh.  Write. Writhe Write.  Write.  Mmmmm.

Yeah.  Thanks hon.  You're a peach.

So my first memorey isn't actully of sitting int he care listing to andy williams but that's what I just wrote.  We used to listen to lots of music in the van with my parents.  My mother told us there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny while I sat in the back seat of that same van.  Melodee was there too.  We found out because there were bags of cany in the back seat and she, my mother, sot srot of had to come up with a reason why or just tell us ther truth.  So I got to help be the Easter Bunny that year.  I stayed up into the night decorating baskets and placing candy and eggs into the colored grass just so.  It was such a great night.  I loved it.  I also remember riding to Arizone very late at night and just talk talk talking to my mother about everything.  Everyone else was sleeping in the back while she drove us to Phoenix.  It was lovely.  There was a warm breeze and I cant think of the name of the plants but there were ...

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Oh, I thought I was going to get to write so much more.  But there's my first rush write in about two years.  I've left what I wrote exactly as it came out.  I did add the 'dot dot dot' after the timer went off...

Try it for yourself if you like.  You never know what you'll get until you do.

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P.S. I still believe in Santa Claus.