Volume V, Issue 45 November 7, 2016 Dear ,
I'm having a quiet evening here in my room at the Sunset Inn, between my two writing
retreats. I voted last week, and now...nothing to do but wait to see how tomorrow turns out. And pray for peace for our country, for each citizen, now matter tomorrow's outcome, to do his and her part to make us a nation in which every citizen does her or his best to treat everyone with dignity, the way she or he would like to be treated.
This whole time leading up this election, as you know, has been volatile, and ugly things have been said and done. I've taken to, when I'm alone, singing a song I learned in Girl Scouts called "Less of Me" that begins with the words, "Let me be a little kinder, let me be a little blinder, to the faults of those around me, let me praise a little more..." Because reminding myself often that I can choose to be a person who does her part a
kinder, gentler nation makes me feel better. (How I adore YouTube! Who knew this sweet, heartfelt song was by Glen Campbell? Not me, until I looked it up to share it with you.)
Speaking of choice, tonight I'm thinking about a paraphrase from Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning that I heard many years ago and have repeated to myself over and over: The last of all human freedoms is the ability to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. (You'll see the actual quote below in this week's featured writing.) Until I heard those words, back when I was in college, I didn't really realize I had
that choice. It took a writer to teach me!
Speaking of writers, I sure had a wonderful weekend with these six fabulous women! One of the many things we
discussed was the power that examining our lives, and the lives of those we love, is transformative. In fact, it actually helps us to be able to choose what we want for ourselves and our lives moving forward. One of the tools I shared with them was the process of Inquiry, or, in simpler words, learning how to ask empowering questions that can make a difference. You can get a taste of this process in the writing prompt below.
I love being aware that choices are always available to me—even simple
ones, like choosing to share two photos of these beautiful women, one with me outside the Sunset Inn, and one I took in our writing room, so you could see what Martha looks like without a vine in front of her face! Wishing you peace and fortitude as we live through the election results. And praying that we all can take Frankl's words to heart and be agents for good as we move forward.
Love and light, Upcoming WordPlay
WINTER WRITING RETREAT (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 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 17th, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
TO REGISTER: To pay with a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions. Click here to pay online, using PayPal.
More WordPlay opportunities here. Featured Writer
Viktor Frankl Photo courtesy of http://bookfans.net/viktor-e-frankl/
Featured Writing
A few quotes
from
Man's Search for Meaning
by
Viktor Frankl
“The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who
removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old? Has he any reason to envy the young people whom he sees, or wax nostalgic over his own lost youth? What reasons has he to envy a
young person? For the possibilities that a young person has, the future which is in store for him?
No, thank you,' he will think. 'Instead of possibilities, I have realities in my past, not only the reality of work done and of love loved, but of sufferings bravely suffered. These sufferings are even the things of which I am most proud, although these are things which cannot inspire envy.”
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
“But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.”
“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized
but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Man's Search for Meaning is available on Amazon, 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 "choose."
PROMPT: Make a list of challenging circumstances you (or one of your characters) has faced. Pick one, and write about it, considering these questions:
- How did you, or your character, act/react?
- Were you, or your character, aware at the time that you could choose how you would act/react in the face of this challenge?
- Would
you, or your character, do anything differently if you faced this challenge again?
- What did you, or your character, learn from this challenge?
- How will this challenge, and what was learned affect your, or your character's choices in the future?
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 three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. One of her long-held dreams came true in July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on The Writer's Almanac. 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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