Theme explained:

The theme for fall 2024 PSPP is:

“Foolhardy”  

Thoughts on the theme:

Personal stories of derring-do, desperation, and disaster—or not.

 Prudence be damned. Throw caution to the wind. Full speed ahead.
Whoa! You want me to do what? Hell, no.
In between we live our lives bouncing between extremes, hugging the guardrails on one side and flirting with the cliff on the other, or perhaps charting a middle course of moderate variability between survivable titillation and restraining temperance. Foolhardiness is different for every person and different throughout one’s life. A spirit of adventure and a preference for safety lead us each to make choices when we can, and perhaps other choices when we have to.
The results can vary. It all depends.
Tell us your story.

Here are some thoughts that might spark your own discovery of ideas. These are not prescriptive, not intended to circumscribe the notion of what you might write. Have fun with it.

“Foolhardy” describes a range of circumstances. Yes, it’s foolishness in some cases, yet brave and daring in others. We hope to mine from all the stories any other connotations of the term which readers can appreciate through reading your personal story. In a nutshell, the stories will range from “derring-do” to “disaster” with “desperate” falling somewhere in between perhaps. The continuum may well extend before and after any suggested endpoints. Through your stories, we will discover together what “foolhardy” really means.

Foolhardy means:

“adventurous” when one is willing to accept the risks,

“daredevil” when showing off,

“daring” when courting danger,

“rash” when lacking forethought,

“reckless” when heedless of the consequences,

“venturesome” when jauntily eager for a perilous undertaking.

And as every writer and reader can appreciate, what seems foolish in one setting can be the only choice in a desperate situation, either or both leading to success or failure depending on myriad circumstances, all of which make for great storytelling, if also dreadfully difficult or celebrated memories.

Here are some phrases that come to mind which may help pique a personal story of yours to consider crafting and sharing with us.

 Whether we should have is another matter. We did it.

We all do stupid things when we are young.

What were we thinking?

They didn’t do their homework.

It was a total loss.

We never saw any of them again.

It was all over in a flash.

Incredible! I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

You couldn’t pay me to try that now.

Was it worth losing a leg? Really?

It haunts me still.

A bunch of adrenaline junkies, that’s all.

They disappeared after that.

Totally worth it.

You only live once. Gotta do it.

Our backs were up against the wall on this one. We had to try.

Nobody made us do it. We chose to try.

Sure, I wish it had worked out differently, but at least we gave it a shot.

No regrets, man.

Hell yes!

Hell no!

Don’t ask me to do that.

Are you crazy?

I wouldn’t get near it.

I’m outta here.

It’s only money.

I didn’t think we’d get caught.

We can always move away and start over.

Nine out of ten times, it works. Trust me.

He said it was our only option.

We are often asked what our theme is “about.” We happily reply that we will know when our writers tell us. And, so now it is your turn. Tell us your story of “Foolhardy.” Then we’ll all learn together what it means.

Be safe. Spread kindness. Keep writing.

Write your story. Surprise us. Surprise yourself.