Volume VII, Issue 3 January 15, 2018 Dear ,
I've been thinking about shoes since early last week, when I read a lovely, haunting poem by Randy Ivey, a writer and English professor at the University of South Carolina Union, that makes reference to that expression "filling someone's shoes."
And I've been running across (and remembering) all manner of interesting shoe
stories and images ever since, including today's featured writing, a story about Martin Luther King Jr. and his father from a book called Martin Luther King, Jr.: Dreaming of Equality by Ann S. Manheimer.
So I had
to smile when I noticed the big shoes on Slapshot, the Washington Capitals hockey team mascot who was greeting kids at the Leesburg, Virginia Ice Festival Richard and I went to Saturday with our daughter and her family, whom we were visiting for the weekend. Check out grandson Rhys's shoes compared to
Slapshot's!
It's wonderful to be inspired by someone who gives us "big shoes to fill," from a sports hero (or mascot) to a great humanitarian like Martin
Luther King Jr.
But I believe the only shoes we are truly meant to fill are our own. As they say, "If the shoe fits..." And, like Rhys, we can keep growing (metaphorically speaking).
Meanwhile, shoes are great fodder for writing. I can think of several examples of literature that include a powerful shoe image, including the famous six-word story, supposedly by last week's featured writer, Ernest Hemingway:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
Snopes also lists an "interesting coincidence":
Now it's your turn. Scroll on down to this week's prompt and try your hand at writing about someone's shoes. And if you
haven't yet jumped into the WordPlay 30 Day "One True Sentence Challenge," it's not too late. You'll find the rules there.
As I said last week, you have nothing to lose but the time it takes to write one
sentence a day for 30 days. (That's how long researchers in this kind of thing have discovered it takes to start a new habit.)
I'll be listing the names of all who complete the "One True Sentence" game on my website and in the zine, along with links to any books, blogs, websites, etc.
you'd like shared. And you'll get a small "mystery prize" too, that honors your accomplishment.
Love and light,
Maureen
P.S. There are two spots left in the Gift of Memoir class that begins this Thursday. If you have stories from your own life to tell, and you live locally, why not nab one of them?
Upcoming WordPlay
GIFT OF MEMOIR (Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your
Family; The Art of Memoir)
BEGINS THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 18TH!
TWO SPOTS LEFT!
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.
* For the benefit of participants, an audio recording of the class will be made each week so that participants are able to listen to classes they miss and/or review material covered at any convenient time and place. These recordings are available throughout the class session, along with all handouts, in a shared Dropbox folder.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead Street, Charlotte, 28204. Click here for map. WHEN: Thursday mornings, 10:00 a.m. – noon. January 18 February 1 and 22
March 8 and 22 April 5 and 19 May 3
COST: $275 ---------------------------------------------------------------
THE FINE ART OF COOKING UP A POEM: A Poetry (and Prose) Craft Workshop
Ever wished your writing had more finesse? Or wondered what goes into the making of a fine poem? This class that explores “poetic ingredients” in the areas of content, sound, and form will increase your expertise—in poetry and
prose. Learn how to identify and use these ingredients, as well as how reading work by writers you love can inspire and instruct you. All levels welcome.
WHEN: Tuesday, March 6th, from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m.
When Martin Luther King., Jr. was little, his father took him downtown to buy shoes. It was the 1930s, and the Kings lived in Atlanta, Georgia. The shoe store was empty. Martin and his father, Daddy King, sat in
front. A young white clerk came up.
“I’ll be happy to wait on you if you’ll just move to those seats in the rear,” he said. His words were polite, but he was asking them to move because of their skin color.
“There’s nothing wrong with these seats,” Daddy King answered. “We’re quite comfortable here.”
“Sorry,” said the clerk, “but you’ll have to move.”
Daddy King scowled. “We’ll either buy shoes sitting here or we won’t buy any shoes at all.” He stood up, took Martin’s
hand, and marched him out of the store. As they walked down the street, Daddy King grumbled, “I don’t care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it.”
Atlanta was a big city with strict segregation laws. These Jim Crow laws separated black people and white people, and white people treated black people as if they were inferior. To many people, the experience in the shoe store might have been just another example of segregation. But to young Martin, it planted the
seed of an idea. ~ from Chapter One, “Remember the Seeds” 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 "shoes." PROMPT: Write a poem, scene, story, essay, or whatever else you like that features shoes in some way. It IS your turn! You've been
reading about shoes in literature all your life, from Cinderella to, well, now we know NOT Earnest Hemingway, but definitely Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which holds no less than nine shoe references, including this one: Lvov, in a house coat with a belt and in chamois leather
shoes, was sitting in an armchair, and with a pince-nez with blue glasses he was reading a book that stood on a reading desk, while in his beautiful hand he held a half-burned cigarette daintily away
from him. And while you're at it, you can plop one of your sentences into Day 1 of the WordPlay 30 Day "One True Sentence" Challenge at www.facebook.com/WordPlayNow/ and you'll be on your
way!
WORDPLAY'S 30 DAY "ONE TRUE SENTENCE" CHALLENGE: Here's what to do: - Start on any day of January you like, or even February 1.
- Write one sentence (More about that in this week's prompt below), then go to www.facebook.com/WordPlayNow/
- Scroll down to the post "DAY IF THE "ONE TRUE SENTENCE" THIRTY DAY CHALLENGE, where I posted my first day's sentence.
- Click "Comment" and post your own sentence.
- Repeat daily for Days 2 - 30. Each day's sentence must be written that day—no fair stockpiling sentences.
- If you miss a day, post
again on the last day you shared a sentence, then keep right on going. (For example, if you miss posting on Day 5, post again on Day 4, and then continue on to 5 the next day.
(Though you are very welcome to start back at Day 1, if you want the full glory of writing 30 days in a row.) - You can start over as many
times as you need to. No shame, no blame. We all "fall off the wagon" sometimes. What you're practicing is jumping back on the wagon. You still get where you're going!
- Have fun! Your sentences can all be part of one story, essay, poem, etc. that you're working on, but they can also be separate and unrelated. The game
here is to write and share one sentence a day for the joy of it—and the discipline. See what opens up for you as you are "true" to your desire to write.
Writing one true sentence may make you want to write more, but
you don't have to. You may find it helpful to write some not-so-true, or not-so-inspiring sentences to get the running start you need to get to your own true sentence, but you don't have to.
Try writing at least one sentence a day for 30 days, and see what it feels like to gain momentum, to engage at least a bit in your writing in such a steady way.
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! |
|
|
|
