Welcome to this week’s edition of the Five Minute Friday link-up! Each week I provide a one-word writing prompt, and a bunch of writers set a timer to freewrite for five minutes flat . . . no overthinking, no editing, just write! And you’re invited!

Whether you have a blog, a social media profile, or a journal, you’re welcome to write with us.

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This week we’re in for a treat because I’ve invited my friend Prasanta Verma to guest post for us! Though we’ve met in person before, I had the privilege of seeing Prasanta again briefly last week at the Festival of Faith and Writing:

It’s a special week for Prasanta, as her very first book just launched into the world!

Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

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Based on the topic of Prasanta’s book . . .

This week’s FMF writing prompt is: LONELY

Here’s Prasanta . . . 

I think of the elderly woman in the grocery store, dragging her feet. She’s glancing around, smiling, taking her time inspecting a robust, leafy green cabbage. She pauses and waves at a little child while the child’s mother hurries her along. The elderly woman watches them scurry away.

I wonder about her and her story and hundreds like her. I also wonder about the teen who sits alone, lost in her own world, earbuds in ears. I consider the young exhausted mom. I think about the woman who parks her car, exits with bags in hand, hiding behind sunglasses.

I think of those in the middle, the middle-aged–who take care of both the young and the old–and who’s taking care of those sandwiched in the middle?

And I think of the one who is different, who looks different. Who feels misunderstood, invisible, forgotten. Simply because she looks different.

It’s been me. And perhaps it’s been you. Most, if not all of us, have felt lonely, and feel lonely regularly. Up to 60% of us actually.

Sometimes it’s because of how we look on the outside.

We know what it’s like to feel alone–yet we are still lonely. Where is the place for love to reach out and touch the loneliness? God didn’t design us to push our carts alone.

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Prasanta Verma was born under an Asian sun, raised in the Appalachian foothills, and resides in the Midwest.

She is a writer, poet, and public health professional, with devotionals published in Guideposts Pray a Word a Day and Guideposts Pray a Word for Hope, as well as published articles in Sojourners, (in)courage, The Indianapolis Review, The Curator, The Mudroom, Propel Women, The Truly Co., and others.

Beyond Ethnic Loneliness is her first book, releasing in April 2024. Prasanta loves chai, reading, and taking walks. Connect with her on Instagram @prasantaverma, her Substack newsletter, or her website.

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PURCHASE HERE

Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging

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