Volume IIII, Issue 28 July 13, 2015 |
Word of the Week: witness |
Dear ,
What are you witnessing this summer? Anything on any travels you happen to be taking?
I am just home from my 10+-hour drive home from Chautauqua, (with a side trip to Buffalo, NY, for
a visit with siblings, uncle, aunts, and cousins, and another to Erie, PA, to spend time with my sister and her husband), and there were many moments worth bearing witness too.
In fact, I am so grateful for every moment of my time up north, and every moment of the drive back, too, since I had the
company of my dear friend, Wendy Gill, pictured above. Wendy was visiting family in the same part of the country, and she not only rode back home to Charlotte with me, but also came to Chautauqua this past Wednesday to witness one of the happiest days of my life—the day I got to hear Garrison Keillor read one of my poems on The Writer's Almanac, a program I have listened to daily for some 25 years, and have shared with literally thousands of people. (You may be one of
them!) Hearing my words in his beautiful voice has been a dream of mine for nearly that long, and to be able to share this moment with Wendy was, well, I was going to use that old cliché "icing on the cake", but no, it was part of the
cake!
I am so glad that Wendy's daughter Morgan, who is WordPlay's operation manager extraordinaire, wanted a picture of us together so that I snapped this selfie to send her—I just hardly ever think of taking pictures until it's too late. If I were better at selfies, you'd see Chautauqua Lake behind us. But I am not, so you will have to take my word
for it—or Wendy's, since she was a witness too.
Why, you may wonder, did I pick witness as the word of the week? I got the idea because "What I Mean to Say," which is the poem selected for The Writer's Almanac out of all the poems in my latest collection, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, is a poem of witness. Encountering an event I'd never seen before while on vacation at the North
Carolina coast some years back, I realized that anything I might have to say about it could never be as powerful as simply bearing witness as truly as I could to the moment itself. In the end, as writers, isn't that one of our most important jobs? To notice the world in all its beauty and, yes, at times, brutality, and to strive to have our words do it justice?
I was lucky enough to be able to see Thornton Wilder's Our Town last week at Chautauqua, and as I heard Emily's haunting line, “Does anybody realize what life is while they're living it—every, every minute?” I thought, this is exactly what she is speaking to—being fully present as a witness to our lives as they unfold.
What is happening right next to you that you have never noticed? What can you bear witness to?
Love and light,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay DELICIOUS MEMORIES (Writing about Food in Any and All Genres) Food not only nurtures and sustains us, it’s a rich source of metaphor and memory! We’ll explore our connections with food as we write of when, where, what, with whom, how — and even why — we ate! You can use your food writings to create a family
cookbook, individual essays, stories, or poems, scenes in fiction or memoir, a food blog, etc. — or just for your own pleasure.
WHERE: North County Regional Library. 16500 Holly
Crest Lane. Huntersville, NC 28078
WHEN: July 15th, 2015, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
COST: FREE!
TO REGISTER: To register online, please click here.
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JOHN CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL (Fulfilling Writing Dreams and Goals; Creating
New Writing; Revising and Polishing Your Writing) Does writing fulfill you? Do you wish you were writing more? Jumpstart your writing life and learn to keep your words flowing. Learn specific techniques and exercises to create nonfiction, poetry and/or fiction. Whether you would like to keep a journal for your own personal growth, spin stories for your loved ones, or further a career as a professional
writer, experience the satisfaction of developing a writing practice that works for you—come spin words into gold.
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, August 23rd through Saturday, August 29th, 2015
TO
REGISTER: Call the John Campbell Folks School at 1-800.FOLK.SCH (365-5724). Or register online here. $594 for one week-long session, plus lodging and meals. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
(Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing) This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You’ll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You’ll also get
feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision tools and methods. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process, whatever your preferred genre. Through examples of accomplished writers, you’ll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center,
1000 East Morehead Street, 28204
WHEN: Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. to noon:
September 2, 9, 16 and 30, October 7, 14, 21 and 28, November 18, December 2, 9 and 16
COST: $399 for 12 classes
TO REGISTER: To register by check, please email info@wordplaynow.com for details. To register online with a credit card, please click this secure link. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GIFT OF MEMOIR (Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your Family; The Art of Memoir) Our life stories
are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift to all who know and love us—they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. It is also a gift to ourselves. As best-selling author Rachel Naomi Remen says in her book Kitchen Table Wisdom, facts bring us to knowledge, but stories bring us to wisdom. If you are interested in writing family and/or personal life stories—those significant tales of adventure, transition, love, loss, and triumph, as well as lovely
everyday moments from times past or the present, come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, 28204. Click here for map.
WHEN: Thursday mornings, 10:00 a.m. – noon:
September 3 and 17, October 1 and 15, November 5 and 19, December 3
COST: $229 for 7 sessions.
TO REGISTER: To register by check, or for more details, please email info@wordplaynow.com. To register online with a credit
card, please click this secure link.
More WordPlay opportunities here. Featured Writing
What I Mean To Say
by Maureen Ryan Griffin You can listen to my poem at this link: http://writersalmanac.org/episodes/20150708/. Just click on the little arrow on the left side of the audio bar under the word "Wednesday." (You can read it there, too, but I do hope you'll listen, so that you'll see how fabulous The Writer's Almanac is....
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 "witness." PROMPT:
Write your own poem or prose piece of witness. Take a slow walk, or sit quietly where you can observe the natural world, or a human encounter. Pay close attention, as if you have never before encountered what/whomever is within range. Then write about what you see, hear, and
experience.
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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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