Volume V, Issue 5 February 1, 2016
Dear ,
Happy Groundhog Day! I couldn't
help but love this movie—not only is it hilarious AND profound, it's also set in a town that, no kidding, is home to a branch campus of the university I attended. (Indiana University of PA—Don't feel bad if you've never heard of it; most people haven't.)
If you don't remember Groundhog Day as being profound, consider
these words spoken by Phil, played by Bill Murray: "When Chekhov saw the long winter, he saw a winter bleak and dark and bereft of hope. Yet we know that winter is just another step in the cycle of life. But standing here among the people of Punxsutawney and basking in the warmth of their hearths and hearts, I couldn't imagine a better fate than a long and lustrous
winter."
A quote like that segues very nicely into a look at the word whole, coming as it does from the Old English hal that begat such meanings as entire, unhurt, safe, healthy, sound, genuine, straightforward, and even of good omen.
Writing is an activity that helps us to not only become whole, but also to become wholly ourselves. For what is the groundhog's shadow a metaphor for if not the fact that life is made up of darkness and light, good and bad?
Another is WordPlayer Sarah Lowther
Henderson's online "Connecting with the Creator" course. (Learn more here.) Sarah and I have had a wonderful time over the past five+ years exploring our mutual love of words, healing, faith, and yoga. You can see one of our mind/body/heart/spirit collaborations here.
And yet another is a deceptively simple exercise that you can play with in this week's prompt.
Here's to a whole leap month full of wholly lustrous days! 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.
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WRITERS' WORKSHOP: Every Picture Tells a Story Free!
Would you enjoy using visual images as writing inspiration? Come learn fun, easy methods to capture treasured family stories and create memorable fiction, memoir, and poetry. A variety of images will be provided; bring your own photos if you like.
WHERE: Plaza Midwood Library. 1623 Central Avenue. Charlotte, NC 28205
WHEN: Tuesday, February 9, from 6:00 – 7:30
p.m.
COST: Free!
TO REGISTER: To register online, please visit the Plaza Midwood Library website here.
More WordPlay opportunities here. WordPlay Success Story
"The [Healing Power of Words] allowed me to examine my hurt
while creating a safe place for my words and expressions to land,
to search for and embrace pockets of joy again."
Meet Sarah Lowther
Henderson
Sarah Henderson's spiritual mission is to nurture others on their faith journeys. Not an artist per se, Sarah is a creative type and enjoys dabbling in various forms including writing, creative lettering,
and collage. Let’s just say her favorite activity at summer camp was always arts & crafts. In recent years, she has learned about how the creative process can bring us into greater intimacy with the Divine. Sarah's primary calling is as mother to three imaginative and energetic children who share her love for glue and glitter. She is a Master Holy Yoga Instructor, and director of the Kids Holy Yoga and Adaptive Holy Yoga teacher training programs. A transplant from the Colorado Rocky
Mountains, she is happy to call Charlotte, North Carolina home.
What Sarah says about WordPlay
"In the fall of 2010, I enrolled in my first
WordPlay class, looking to find myself after the stillbirth of my son Matthew a couple months earlier. Among the blessings I've received from the gift of Matthew's brief life is the impetus to try writing and, in that, the blessing of having Maureen as my teacher. Maureen has helped me begin to transform my view of myself from someone who is experimenting with writing to someone who is a writer. She has patiently encouraged me and, at times, lovingly challenged
me.
Later, I took a class called 'The Healing Power of Words' with the desire to begin to move through the heartbreak of losing my son unexpectedly. The class allowed me to examine my hurt while creating a safe place for my words and expressions to land, to search for and embrace pockets of joy again." Featured Writing
what i have left
by
Sarah Lowther Henderson
Your summer breeze life— warm and lovely,
and over too soon—
left relics behind,
treasures,
marking not only what we lost,
but also what we had:
a slim white stick boasts two pink
lines,
a startling announcement you were here
pictures from a 6-week ultrasound—
you are tiny and perfect to the eye
the memory of your beating heart,
two short weeks before you died—
tha-thump, tha-thump, tha-thump,
140 beats per
minute
the blue and white blanket,
knit by some kind soul,
cradled your body,
a silver tag proclaims “made for an angel”
photos of your birthday,
your legs crossed and hands clasped,
perfect sukasana
pose,
your little face at peace
your ashes,
proving you are gone
and the white crepe myrtle,
a memorial planted beyond my kitchen window
It will bloom in July,
the month of your birth,
and declare that you are,
in fact,
still with us.
—a memorial for Matthew Leif, our beloved gift from God
Connecting with the Creator – praying in creative forms
A Holy Yoga Bible Study led by Sarah Henderson
This 4-week study isn’t just for artists (though it’s ok if you
are!). It’s for anyone who wants to explore how trying our hands at creative processes can enrich our prayer lives and relationships with God, no matter the “quality” of the finished product. So set aside your fears and mental refrains that say, “I’m not creative! I’m no good at art!” and join us. His goodness awaits you! More than a Bible journaling class, the study will contain exercises that will result in both visual artwork and written artwork. It will be facilitated via phone/internet
conferencing so that everyone from anywhere can participate. Work on Thursday? No problem! The recordings will be available to listen to weekly.
When: Thursdays, February 18th, 25th, March 3rd, 10th, 2016 from 1:00-2:15 pm Eastern (Verify your time zone here.)
Cost: $31. The cost of the Bible study is to cover administrative and facilitation costs to the ministry.
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 "whole."
I've been interested in the healing power of words for as long as I can remember. In fact, I was reading about Eric Berne's transactional analysis and Karen Horney's personality theory and feminine psychology back in the seventh grade. So I got very excited when, a number of years ago, I came across the work of Dr. James Pennebaker's work on writing to heal. You can click the above link to learn more, but this week's prompt is based on Pennebaker's research that the sheer act of writing "positive emotion words" can help grieving people heal.
PROMPT:
Set a timer for five minutes and make a list of words you love that have positive connotations for you. Include abstract words like love, hope, and joy, but try concrete words like raspberry, sunlight, and symphony as well. Notice how you feel when your timer goes
off.
Now, try writing each of your words on an index card. You've begun a "whole" word deck that you can keep adding to. Try pulling out a word and writing whatever it inspires, and/or pulling out three to five words and weaving them into a story, essay, or poem you're working
on.
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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