Be The Hummingbird

I don’t need another precious routine.

I need ten real minutes that make life feel sweeter.

That’s what the Nectar List is for me - a small jar I carry in my pocket for the good stuff. One line per moment. That’s it. It’s simply a running list of my sweetest moments so I can savor them later and write from them when I want.

Quick credit where it belongs: this is my son Bill Soroka’s baby. I’m just lucky I get to practice it with him. He built a rhythm that actually gets used - list the sweet stuff, write a fast raw piece, and if it wants to, shape it into honey.

Bill, my son, and I road-tested it together a few times. Once, we stayed at a small cabin on San Juan Island with the sea laid out in front of us. We wrote sitting on comfy chairs with our feet up in the cabin overlooking the water, and then on the shore by the crackling fire, tossing moments into our list while we were making them.

One night we played poker with Skittles. I won because Bill ate his chips. He also ate mine. That went straight on the list.

We’ve done this on the ferry too - a quick Farkle game between pages, safe inside while the cold wind blew, with Bill’s pen moving frantically and my fingers tapping away on my laptop. Another time, we wrote at a picnic table on a seaside hill, Puget Sound spread like a map. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to be inspired. 

Try it with a friend or your family, then read your 10-minute pieces out loud. It’s simple and it connects you. You can even host a tiny “Nectar Reading” at home or on video with 2-3 short pieces and tea.

Here’s my favorite surprise. The last time we wrote from our lists, I chose a memory we shared and wrote my version. When it was time to read it aloud, he had a completely different reality. Same day, different lens. It led to an honest, eye-opening talk that brought us closer. 

That alone was honey for me (honey is the polished version - and by the way, his version was more correct).

Here’s how it works when we use it to write: pick one line, write fast for 10-15 minutes (raw nectar), and later refine it if it asks for more (honey).

From nectar to honey - my real example

Nectar line: Skittles poker at the cabin. I won because Bill kept eating his bounty.

 Raw nectar (10-minute draft):

We dealt another poker hand on the small cabin table. The pot was a greedy pile of yellows and greens because somebody had already eaten all the reds. Bill’s cheeks were full and his eyes were guilty.

“What?” came out “Whof?” because two purples were hiding in his cheek. I raised with three greens, partly to win and partly to keep him from eating them. When I scooped the pile, he clapped, then stole one of my winnings and quickly ate it. I pretended to be mad and wrote one line in my notebook: I won because you ate your chips, you big cheater. Smoke. joy...and sugar in the air. Ridiculous and joyful.

Honey (refined later and could be much longer):

We didn’t play for money. We played for color. The pot glittered under lamplight like a tiny treasure, and we treated it like Vegas while the sea knocked politely at our door. Bill couldn’t keep a stash to save his life. He played like a little boy - a tell in every grin, a confession in every empty, sugar-stained palm. I gathered the pile because I didn’t eat my winnings, which is the only reason I won.

Later, rinsing the sweet from my teeth, it landed that the game was never about chips. It was about a night where calories didn't count, a cheap deck, and a young man I love who keeps choosing joy on an ordinary Thursday. The sea kept time. The sugar put us to sleep. The gas fireplace threw imaginary sparks.

I wrote it down so I can taste it when I need it.

More nectar that’s mine

Lou’s short tail wagging and his butt-up, let’s-play stance with the squeaky toy

Bill and his imaginary playmates

Amy and her “olden days”

Bookstores and flea markets

Camping at Lynx Lake

Camping - thunderstorms and skunks

When Jetta adopted us

Maggie Mae - the sweet but promiscuous park kitty

Kinzer - surviving javelinas, shaking hands

Kinzer and the park, construction workers, stealing gloves

Stories of Grandma - her gas, her cooking, her strength, her adventures, her hemorrhoids, her oasis, the hanging snakes

List from last week

Harold, my partner, slowly healing after being sick for nearly two months

Me - being the nurse I didn’t know I could be

One of my bestest friends visiting from Arizona, making me laugh and cry, bringing homemade hot sauce and green chili. Yum

Sweet Taylor driving up to help and cuddle

Ali showing up with strength and sweetness for Harold - and for me

Quick start for writer-dreamers (from Bill’s newest book The Nectar List: Savoring Life’s Sweetest Moments)

Open your notes app or grab a notebook. Title it “Nectar List.”

Write 10 one-line moments. Don’t overthink it. That’s nectar trapping.

Pick one and set a 10-15 minute timer. Write it like you’d tell a friend. That’s raw nectar.

Optional: polish it later into honey. Or don’t. You decide.

Bonus: choose one photo and pull a memory from it.

If this sounds fun, you’re our people.

My son’s book, The Nectar List: Savoring Life’s Sweetest Moments by Bill Soroka and Bobbi Illing, lands on Amazon Wednesday, August 28. It’s a friendly Write‑A‑Long with easy starts and examples you can try. He also opened a brand new community for experienced writers and writer-dreamers to play with this together.
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Nectar-List-Savoring-Sweetest-Moments-ebook/dp/B0DK64B1FX/

Community: https://www.skool.com/nectarlist/about?ref=f9ce87b8ab9d41d2aa385c965fb8b33b

Be the hummingbird. Go looking for sweet on ordinary days. Share a sip with us.

Diana
Love is ALL there is