Volume IV, Issue 50 December 14, 2015 Dear ,
Wend is one of those words I have always loved. Consider its synonyms—meander, wander, amble, stroll, saunter, drift, roam, traipse—all so much more appealing to my poet's soul than striding or pacing or racing.
In my experience, wending is a part of all creative journeys—like "The Artist's Way" course my friend and creative comrade Wendy Gill is going to lead this January.
Synchronicity abounds between the two of us—like the fact that Wendy "happened" to wend her way to Chautauqua, where I was teaching last July, on the very day that a dream I'd wended my way to for years, having Garrison Keillor read a poem of mine on "The Writer's Almanac," became reality. Here's a selfie of the two of his together that happy afternoon. You can read more about "The Artist's Way" below, and I will tell you
right now that there's an early bird special that ends December 20th, and that I went through this twelve-week course in recovering your creativity years ago and found it so transformative that I still use many of its tools and practices, including being on the lookout for synchronicity and support for my creative dreams.
I'll also tell you that I begin every retreat (like the Winter Writing Retreat this Saturday!) with the Sacred Circle rules from "The Artist's Way." I've put them below, too, because while they are great community-building rules, they are also great reminders of how we need to treat ourselves as we wend our way to our dreams...
Upcoming
WordPlay
WINTER WRITING
RETREAT
Two spaces left!
(Writing as Renewal/Creating New Writing/
Tools for a Writing
Life)
Renew and delight yourself. The Winter Writing Retreat is an opportunity to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch,
you’ll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You’ll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch and supplies.
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details
will be provided upon registration.
WHEN: Saturday, December 19th, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. To pay online with your credit card or PayPal, click here.
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AN UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY, TAUGHT BY WORDPLAY CREATIVE COMRADE WENDY GILL* THE ARTIST'S WAY: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Expanding Our Creativity;
Creating Joy and Fulfillment in Our Lives)
Are you ready to discover the joy of creativity? Using the proven tools and structure of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, this course will spur your imagination and guide your journey toward creative
self-expression.
Our 2-hour sessions include weekly check-ins, hands-on activities, and creativity exercises. The encouragement and support of this small in-person community (what Julia Cameron calls a “creative cluster”) will help you fully experience the power of The Artist’s Way.
COST: $260 for 13 classes, if
registered on or before December
20, 2016 (Early Bird Special) $295 for 13 classes, if registered after December 20, 2016 WHERE: Downtown Matthews, NC WHEN: Session A: Thursday mornings, 10 a.m. – Noon, January 14 –
April 7, 2016 Session B: Thursday evenings, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m., January 14 – April 7,
2016
TO REGISTER: For more information or to register, please email Wendy directly at Wendy@ProfessionalCommunications.com.
*Wendy H. Gill was a special education teacher for 22 years. One of her greatest joys as an educator was adapting stories, rhymes and songs to engage
her students and instill a love of books. She left full-time teaching in 2000 to create a literacy enrichment program for young children. She is currently a writer, producer, and the owner of Professional Communications, a creative video production agency. Her poems and essays have appeared in a variety of regional and national
publications.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
And 2016 Gift of Memoir class details are on the website here. I am mixing it up this week -- usually, the WordPlayer I feature says something about why
they love WordPlay. Today, I want to brag a little bit on Susan.
Susan is one of the people who read about Wendy's spring 2015 Artist's Way class while she was in my Under Construction class. She chose to jump in, and took a small hiatus from our class to do so. It's wonderful to have Susan back in Under
Construction and see her creative growth.
As Susan shares below, The Artist's Way process led her directly to a novel. Each week, we get to read and critique an excerpt that has brought everyone to laughter over and over again, and to tears every so often too. I'm so excited to watch her characters
come along on the page and can't wait to be sharing her book with you when she's finished. You are in for a treat!
What Susan Staley says about "The Artist's Way"
with Wendy Gill
"The Artist's Way" is a journey to your creative life. And like most journeys, it's much more meaningful when experienced with others. A group of strangers met together at Wendy's home to embark on a twelve-week expedition into the creative life. The discoveries, the insights, and the friendships developed have enriched my life. I have learned to listen to the artist inside of me and let her play.
Wendy engaged all of the five senses as she led our group. Through one of the activities, a writing prompt, I wrote about a character I saw in my mind's eye and now, nine months later, she is the leading character of the novel I am writing. Yes, I am writing a novel!
Adventures don't have to be part of your life, but some adventures can
change your life. I know this one has. I hope you'll take "The Artist's Way." Wendy Gill is a trustworthy guide."
Featured Writing
The Artist’s Way: Being a Froot Loop
by
Susan Staley
from
her blog
The worse part of a trip for me are the last two days. I start to think about the adventure ending and a sadness mixed with slight panic sweeps over me. When I inventory all the things I still want to do and see, I wonder how on earth I can possibly make them happen. And then my mind wanders to the routine of life that awaits me when I return
home.
The final evening of "The Artist’s Way" felt much the same way for me. We were asked to bring a final creative project to share and some light hors d’oeuvres. Professor Profound brought a lovely red blend wine – called Creative Block of all things – which he found on one of his recent trips. He shared it with pride and generosity, a true reflection of his heart. Hard on
Herself Virtuoso (now a sweet friend of mine) brought a big pot of vegan chili (the adventures never stop for me) which was surprisingly good even with the foreign matter she referred to as vegetable protein. Sadly, the group was incomplete. Pet Healer was missing, but as it turns out she needed healing herself at home. Somehow though she still felt present.
We sat
around that familiar rectangular table which had strangely become our temporary shelter of sorts. With each class, the accommodations became more and more comfortable, more homey as the inhabitants added pieces of themselves to the space. It had become a safe harbor from the storms of perfectionism and the thunder of criticism....
You can read the rest of this blog post of Susan's here.
The Artist's Way's Sacred Circle
Rules
1. Creativity flourishes in a place of safety and acceptance. 2. Creativity grows among friends, withers among enemies. 3. All creative ideas are children who deserve our protection. 4. All creative successes require creative failure. 5. Fulfilling our creativity is a sacred trust. 6. Violating someone’s creativity violates a sacred trust. 7. Creative feedback must support the creative child, not shame it. 8. Creative feedback must
build on strengths, never focus on
weaknesses. 9. Success occurs in clusters and is born in generosity. 10. The good of another can never block our own. 11. Above All: God is the source.... We are all meant to cherish
and serve one another. 12. The Artist’s Way is tribal. The spirit of service yields us our
dharma: that right path we dream of following in our best and
most fulfilled moments of faith.
from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way
WordPlay Now! Writing
Prompt This is WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's
"wend."
PROMPT:
Where are you (or one of your characters) wending your way to? Write about a goal or dream you would love to reach. Now, make a list of "rules" that will help you get
there. Feel free to borrow liberally from the Sacred Circle rules above, and/or get very playful with your "rules."
MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and two collections of poetry, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word
work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to yours! |
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