Volume IIII, Issue 42 October 19, 2015
Dear ,
Several of my WordPlayers became empty nesters this fall, including Lisa Kunkleman, whose essay "Empty Nest Chirps and Tweets: And Then There Were None" is featured in this week's zine.
It's been eight years since my "baby" left the nest, but I still remember exactly how it felt, all the way through his senior year, his high school, graduation (pictured here), and the actual drive down to Miami to leave him at UM. And especially, the coming home without him.
So much has happened in these last eight years—including losing my dad (pictured above), helping my daughter plan her wedding, watching my kids
establish satisfying careers, becoming a grandmother, (you knew that was coming, right?), and even a short-lived time of living in Texas.
I can't possibly know, any more than Lisa herself does, what the next eight years may hold for her. But having been lucky enough to know her since her
recently-off-to-college triplets were six years old, I know we have something big in common—we wrote when our "fledglings" were young, and as they grew, we both lined our proverbial nests with page after page of writing. And it has stood us in good stead.
We wrote about our parents, our children, our
spouses, our dreams, our convictions, our failures, our joys and sorrows. And all those words that we lined our nests with us helped us to grow, along with our children. Because isn't that what nests are for, ultimately?
As a writing teacher, I often get asked,
"Do I have any talent?" I answer them the way I would answer my children. "That's not a very interesting question, and the answer doesn't really matter much. Here's a much better thing to ask: If I really work at it, how good can I get?"
I'm so grateful to share my writing journey with Lisa, and with wonderful
people like you, who love words not only because we can make good stuff out of them, but also because they make better stuff of us.
Upcoming WordPlay
PROJECT BOOK: GET YOUR BOOK OUT OF YOU AND INTO THE
WORLD
(Writing/Publishing Your Book-length Writing Project) A hands-on workshop for any writer who would like to write and/or publish a book and
1) doesn’t know how
2) doesn’t get around to
it
3) feels
a) intimidated
b) confused
c) overwhelmed
d) uninspired
e) all of the above
You’ll gain clarity, confidence, direction, momentum, and working knowledge of the steps you need to take and the procedures and pieces that are necessary (overview, synopsis, outline, and all that jazz), as well as an introduction to today’s publishing world (major publishers,
university presses, small presses, self-publishing, e-publishing, and print-on-demand). We'll talk about marketing, too, whether you're an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert. $418 (plus tax) includes retreat, lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, November 13 – Sunday, November 15, 2015* TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (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.
Find out more here.
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(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.
More WordPlay opportunities here. WordPlay Success Story
"Sharing ideas, critiquing, and writing new material every week in Under Construction is priceless."
Meet Lisa
Kunkleman
Lisa Batten Kunkleman, a lifelong journal-keeper, history-lover, and amateur genealogist, feels compelled to write life stories. As a former guidance counselor and mother of four, three of which are triplets, Lisa
is convinced that we all have stories worth sharing. Her non-fiction work, a mix of serious and humorous tales, has been published in a variety of magazines and newspapers. Lisa’s children were thrilled to see she really was a writer when she won two non-fiction awards through the Charlotte Writers’ Club and stood at the podium reading those pieces. She enjoys entertaining and educating readers through her blog, Lifestoriesandbeyond.com and hopes to compile a book or two from all her stories and essays. Since the triplets left for college recently, Lisa and her husband Dan are getting reacquainted in their newly emptied nest and catching up on twenty-five years of to-do items they put on the back burner. They also plan to travel when they find pet sitters for their farm full of dogs, cats, and
horses.
What Lisa says about WordPlay
My first class with Maureen was in 2003 at the Jewish Community Center, where I found myself in a room full of poets. Thinking in rhyme like Dr. Seuss was quite different from the way the other poets thought. I enjoyed the class and joined Maureen’s poetry group at Barnes and Noble, once again feeling like the only rhymer in the bunch. Everyone was very supportive, saying my words had the makings of children’s books or songs.
Finally, Maureen suggested I bring a prose piece to the group, which I did. Immediately, Maureen said, “Lisa, you are an essayist, masquerading as a poet. This is your strength.”
Relieved, I signed up for an essay class and a memoir class and finally in 2009, for the Under Construction class where I have remained until the present time. The camaraderie of being with Maureen and almost the same
group of women for so many years, encouraging each other, has kept me writing and even submitting. I went from being a timid journal-keeper and rhyming poet to a woman brave enough to read an opinion piece on NPR during the last Presidential election season suggesting adults stop behaving like bullies on a playground and be good role models for their children. Without urging from Maureen and fellow Under Construction classmate Mary Struble Deery, I would not have thought of sending my
commentary to NPR and that became one of my proudest accomplishments. Sharing ideas, critiquing, and writing new material every week in Under Construction is priceless.
Featured Writing
Empty Nest Chirps and Tweets: And Then There Were None.
by
Lisa Kunkleman
I used to stroll our three babies through the mall in their extra- long, stadium-style triple stroller. Every few yards, people said, “You really have your hands full,” or, “Better you than me.” Now friends say, “How’re you doing?” and “I’m praying for
you,” and “It must be so quiet at your house with a triple empty nest.”
I never would have believed eighteen years could fly by so fast when we were hip deep in diapers but it did. What a carnival it’s been for a quarter of a century with our four kids and their friends everywhere we looked running around and climbing trees like monkeys. At times like a circus crossed with a county fair and at
others, like a prep school study center crossed with a music and dance studio. Fast forward through ballgames, choral and band concerts, marching band competitions, dance recitals, church youth group trips and mission work and the time just flew. It’s inconceivable.
Then came senior year and the sympathy questions from friends started and reality set in. One son said in disbelief before
graduation, “Mom, I’ll be in college in three months.”
Finally, August came and everything changed. We’d go to the kitchen and there were no crumbs on the counter or bowls in the sink. No heads to rub or bodies to hug.
Nobody said, “Hey Mom, if you’re making an egg, can you make me one too?”
Nobody said, “Hey Mom, can you call this out to me while I finish making my lunch?” Nobody said, “Hey Mom, can you sign this form? I got a letter grade off for not bringing it in yesterday.”
It’s the hubby and me and the animals wandering around this big old house and farm. There’s that saying about silence being deafening. I get that.
When the kids first left, friends texted of their thoughts and prayers for us as they knew how huge this instant triple change would be. Their prayers must have been answered because I expected to be out of Kleenex and mopping my floods of tears with paper towels by now while scaring the animals with my wailing. Instead, I’m less weepy than I was in the awful pre-departure period when my eyes puddled at the very mention of the kids
leaving.
The animals are taking it pretty hard and stay with me in every room of the house needing consolation and a lap to make furry. So at least I’m still needed. They have a look that says, “Are you two really all we get now?” The dogs want to go in and out of the front door every few minutes just to see if anything has changed. I know the
feeling.
Click here to read the rest...
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 "nest."
PROMPT:
Write about an "empty nest," whether it was you, a character, or a child who "took wing" to create a new life. What celebrations were held? What challenges were faced? What victories were won?
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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