I typically start every short story I write out with scenery. I have found that if I start writing about a place then something has to happen inside that place, and more often than not I will have no idea what the story even is until I'm midway through writing it. It is just a setting I can picture in my mind that then blossoms into a story of some sort. Even if it is depicting the grass blowing in the wind, there is something that has to happen within the confines of scenery.
So now, when I open up this website and begin writing a blog post, before even typing the first word, there are AI generated prompts to get the creative juices flowing. I am not sure where the AI portion comes into play, other than the fact that almost all the prompts it feeds me is dealing with something dark or traumatic. One such prompt today was something along the lines of the weight of unresolved trauma. Heavy. That's the weight of it.
The thing that makes it strange, though, is that even if I don't know what I am going to write when I open up to begin writing a blog post, I still know that I won't want to write about the AI generated prompts - until today, anyway. More often that not, I want to just get some creativity out onto a page, or I want to vent.
And today is no different. I could vent about how I watched a family pray in an Arby's dining area before eating their run of the mill fast food, but not spend the time to thank the people behind the counter for being the ones that actually put in the work to feed them. The disconnect between the actions someone performs and the thanking of an imaginary friend is... well, the epitome of what being an average person really boils down to. Put in the least effort for the maximum reward. Thanks, God, for my Arby's (Heather definitely had nothing to do with making sure my sandwich order was right).
But, really, I just want to put words down on a page. More than anything else, it just feels good to write sometimes. Even if it is about nothing.
So the AI generated prompts make sense in that regard, I suppose, but the rebellious old man in me just sees those prompts and wants to immediately go against it, and write something completely against whatever it is.
So you know what, AI generated prompt? Unresolved trauma isn't heavy. It is light as fuck once the carrier has enough alcohol or drugs in their system to ignore it.
I don't condone the usage of drugs or alcohol to evade your issues, for the record. In fact, I feel like if you feel the necessity for drugs or alcohol to evade your issues, then you likely need a therapist far more than the things to take you out of your mind.
In that regard, AI generated prompt - thank you for winning today, I suppose, because here I am talking about you even though I had planned an entirely different concept of writing when I sat down. Instead - therapy, everyone. Get into therapy. Your life might seem harder from it at first, but if you use it the way it is meant to be used, then surely your life will end up easier.
-Dustin S. Stover
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