Our Writers' Group: the importance of those four words

I have been in a writers' group for ten or more years. It has been my anchor through other writing groups and classes. I go even if nobody turns up and I write. If nobody turns up, I write poetry. But usually four or five turn up, so then I write fiction. The secret of getting writing done is this: a member of our group brings a magazine and reads a random four or five words to us and maybe another four or five from another section of the magazine, and we jot them down, and then keep writing. This is a free write. I swear I would never write what I write in our group if we just said, okay, write. Those four words lead my mind far and wide. It is amazing!