Are you retired?  Is your spouse retired or are any of your close friends retired?

If you are,  how did you know when it was time, or was your retirement mandatory?  How has the experience been:  good, bad, or still working it out?

How are you enjoying life now on your own schedule? What are you doing to fill the time?  Do you have too much time on your hands?  By no longer working, do you feel a loss of relevancy or achievement?

Think back about Retirement and share forward!

Evidence shows that humanity has used fire for two million years.

We use fire for cooking, for light, to forge tools, and to ward off predators. We’ve also used fire as a weapon, to destroy property, nature, and as an instrument of torture.

Has fire affected your life? Do you have fond memories of campfires with friends, or romantic candlelight dinners,  or blowing out the candies on childhood birthday cakes?  Or have you unfortunately lost property, loved ones, or suffered injury from a fire?

Think back about Fire and share forward.

Most of us prefer sunny weather and dislike rainy days. If you suffer from seasonal affective disorder, how do you handle cloudy skies and winter blues? Or, like Gene Kelly, do you actually welcome the rain?

As a child, what did you and your family like to do when the weather was wet? What do you like to do on rainy days now?

Think back about Rainy Days and share forward!

Even at the dawn of artificial intelligence and the deluge of electronic and digital data,  art continues to hold sway over human awareness. From 40,000-year-old cave paintings through theater’s perennial survival, from the 5,000-year-old epic poetry of Sumer to graphic novels, art has reflected our life experience and defined and uplifted our sense of self and community.

What works of art have impacted you? Can you briefly describe a piece of influential artwork and how it moved you?

Think back to Art’s Impact and write forward!

Hacking has become a common peril in today’s world of digital communication. Hacking appears at every level,  from the federal government’s computer systems to our personal laptops and cell phones. Many of us have seen our Facebook accounts hacked, or worse — our debit and credit card accounts.

Have you ever been hacked?  Or unwittingly fallen for a cyber scam? Have you been an innocent victim of identity theft?  If so, what kind of trouble did it cause you? Was it resolved? How?

Think back about Hacked! and share forward!

The first jury trial in the American colonies was held in Plymouth in 1630 when John Billington was found guilty of murdering a fellow Mayflower colonist and sentenced to death by hanging.

Americans have been doing their civic duty as jurors ever since. Have you ever been called for jury duty? Were you selected or dismissed? If you served,  was it a positive or a negative experience?

Think back about Jury Duty and share forward!

Nobody wants to pay a visit to a hospital emergency room.  However,  sometimes we can’t avoid it.

Have you ever had to depend on the services of an emergency room as a patient, an anxious companion, or as a doctor, nurse, or other hospital staffer?

Think back about The ER and share forward!

Although the CDC has officially declared the pandemic over, many after-effects remain. Beyond the risk involved from new Covid strains, society seems to be lingering in isolation.  In contrast, the positive human need for solitude remains precious and universal.

How do you deal with isolation, Covid-induced or otherwise? How do you create and maintain valuable time in solitude?  As a child or adolescent, did you dread isolation? Or did you seek solitude?

Think back about Isolation and Solitude and share forward!

“I could have been another minute late … “.

In songwriter Garrett Hedlund’s Timing is Everything the simple act of holding the door to help a stranger get out of the rain leads to an exchange of names, and then true love.

How did you chance to meet colleagues, friends, or lovers who became game-changers in your life?

Think back about Timing is Everything and share forward!

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Getting up early can be hard for some, while sleeping late can feel almost sinfully pleasurable.

But waking before the sunrise can open a window to a different world!  Many of us can be most creative in our thinking and expertise in those early morning hours; while others may feel the need to get all the sleep we can.

Does age factor into this?  Does anticipation about what the day ahead may bring?  Are you an early riser or a lie-abed?

Think back about Dawn and share forward!