Volume V, Issue 3 January 18, 2016 Word of the Week: inspired Dear ,
I
wish you an inspiring Martin Luther King Day as my husband and I make our way home from Clearwater, Florida, where we spent several days with the board members (and spouses) of the Association of College and
University Printers (ACUP). While we who came along for the ride got to spend our days walking the beach, sitting by the pool, writing in our rooms (well, okay, that was just me), etc., the board members, including Richard, spent from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day hashing out plans, procedures, and a vision for this organization they care deeply about.
I found their
dedication very inspiring. It would be easy, and perhaps typical, for them to have worked a few hours each day and then goofed off. But they are committed to the future of ACUP, so they gave of their time to contribute as much as they could.
It got me to thinking. While few of us spend our days with
anyone who's made as much of a difference to so many people as Martin Luther King, Jr., we daily have the opportunity to be inspired by those around us who make a difference when and where they can because of their particular dreams, gifts, and passions.
Like Martin Luther King, Jr., we all have dreams, both
large and small, that we can work toward, using our gifts and passions. Why not spend this week allowing yourself to be inspired by all the people you encounter (whether in person, or through any kind of media, including books) who have brought, or are bringing, their dreams to life?
Love and light,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
THE HEALING POWER OF WORDS WRITING RETREAT AT SUNSET BEACH
(Writing As a Healing Process)
What benefits can writing provide—physically, mentally, spiritually? Are some ways of writing more healing than others? And can we create quality literary work as we heal? In this retreat that incorporates recent discoveries in the field of mind-body-spirit connection
and Dr. James Pennebaker’s ground-breaking ideas on writing as a way to move through loss and grief, you’ll learn methods of writing that help navigate loss and grief on your life path of growth and wholeness.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 19 – Sunday, February 21,
2016*
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888-575-1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are
blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone — this is a popular event and there are only 7 spaces available. -----------------------------------------------------------------
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT: Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn 2 spots left!
(Writing—and more—as Renewal and
Inspiration)
Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry—the choice is yours. $378 for the weekend beginning Friday, February 26 through Sunday,
February 28. The Coastal Writing Retreat includes writing sessions, two nights’ lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Want to extend your retreat? If you’d like to stay another day to write, or to just enjoy the beach, the Inn is offering to Coastal Writing Retreat participants the opportunity to stay Sunday night, February 28th, at half price. (Extra retreat sessions are a possibility too. Email info@wordplaynow.com if you’re interested.)
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468 WHEN: Friday, February 26 – Sunday, February 28, 2016*
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888-575-1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon by phone — this is a popular event and there are only 2 spaces available.
More WordPlay opportunities here. WordPlay Featured Writer
Martin Luther King Thanks to The Seattle Times for creating an updated webpage in tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s extraordinary life, complete with a biography, a selection of King's speeches, sermons, and letters, and three
collections of photographs. You can find it here. 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 "inspired." PROMPT: Set a timer for five minutes and make a list of people who inspire you, in ways both large and small. Now, pick one of them and write either about them, or to them. (A note of appreciation is always welcome, right?)
If you write fiction, try doing this for one of your characters. Which friends, family members, writers, public figures, professionals, etc. inspire him or her? Why?
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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