Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

With classes having recently ended for many (hopefully most) of us, a whole bunch of stress and tension may have built up in our bods. Stress can make it hard to think, unwind, and especially create. Today’s Creative Prompt is a little more of an exercise—literally. When you’re ready to get into your creative zone, we want you to MOVE for 15 minutes before you get to work. How you move is up to you—pick any form of movement you love. Maybe it’s dancing around your room, doing some stretches, or going for a walk or a run around your block. Whatever you do, concentrate on it FULLY. Even if you’re dancing, let the music fade into the background. Pay attention to what it feels like to be in your body, what it feels like to be YOU.

As you tap into that energy, you will also be tapping back into your creative self. An idea might spark before the 15 minutes is up. If so, jump right in and take advantage. Otherwise, after you’ve danced/stretched/jogged/shaken/whatever it all out, pick up your pen, markers, paintbrushes, et cetera and just free-create. See what comes out. Maybe it will be a reflection on what it’s like to be in your body. Maybe it will be a chance to release any worries or stress you’ve been dealing with. Let whatever pours out of you pour out! Please send your creation—along with your first name, last initial, age, and location—to [email protected] with the subject line “Creative Prompt” by Monday, June 6 at 6 PM EST.

Your last prompt was to write a poem based on a photograph—real or imagined. Here are the beautiful descriptions of what you saw…