Volume VII, Issue 32 August 13,
2018 Word of the Week: history Dear ,
Greetings from Chautauqua Institution, where I've been hanging out with my friends Dede, Vive, and Wendy this week.
We've all been blown away by this week's chaplain, Reverend Irene Monroe. (Yes, along with all the music and literature and beautiful gardens and the peaceful lake and the stream of lively, topical lectures exploring the theme of the week, there is also a daily ecumenical religious
service in the amphitheater, during which the chaplain gives a related talk.) Reverend Irene Monroe is an ideal speaker during a week in which the theme "The Forgotten: History and Memory in the 21st Century" is being explored through this lens:
"It is said that those who do not remember their history are doomed
to repeat it. So we look to that history, and to the communities,
movements and ideas existing at the fringes in our world today.
What do we forget, at our own peril? How can we be stewards of remembering, and what must we remember? We are responsible
for the histories of our societies, our families, and of our own individual selves. How can we preserve, honor, and ultimately learn from what was
and what is? This meeting of the past and present hinges upon what—
and who—we must remember."
Irene
Marilyn Monroe, whose life as she knows it began when she was found in a trash can in Fort Greene park in Brooklyn, New York, when she was around six months old, has always understood the need to remember her own history—from being taken to a home for foundlings by three sanitation workers, where she was assigned a birthday. And where Sr. Irene, the director, named Irene after herself and
her favorite movie star; to the Jewish Holocaust survivor and laundry owner who plied her with Oreo's and taught her, not only the works of German philosophers, but also to speak fluent German; to the Chinese restaurant owner who taught her how to use an abacus and to do bookkeeping (she credits him with her perfect score on the math section of the SAT when she was in high school); to her graduation from Wellesley College and Union Theological Seminary at Columbia
University; to her serving as a pastor at an African-American church in New Jersey and, some years later, receiving her doctorate from Harvard Divinity School. (In between, she told us, she did a lot of disco dancing to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive.")
Monroe is passionate about "speaking for a sector of society that is frequently invisible" and told us that her first step in affecting change in those who do not welcome others of a different ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation "to the
table" is to ask the question "When have you felt like an outsider?" It's one way to help people remember their individual, familial, and societal histories.
Her straight-shooting honesty, courage, love, humor, and commitment to justice as she addresses the importance of remembering our history in recognizing the full humanity
of others we see as "different" is inspiring.
I find this week's featured WordPlayer Patrice Gopo work inspiring as well. And I had to smile when I saw the excerpt from Patrice's new book, All the Colors We Will See: Reflections on Barriers, Brokenness, and Finding Our Way, that she'd chosen to share with you.
At its crux, what is it about?
History and memory.
It's absolutely lovely, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Love and
light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
GIFT OF MEMOIR WRITING PERSONAL AND FAMILY STORIES (Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your Family; The Art of Memoir)
NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS FOR FALL 2018! 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., starting in September, 2018.
COST: $285
TO
REGISTER: Please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to start the registration process by filling out a short "Clarity Tool" to share your writing dreams and goals and where you are in the process (anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin).
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS FOR FALL 2018! 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.
* 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: Wednesday mornings from 10:00 a.m. – noon, starting in September 2018. (Other class time/day of the week may be available.)
COST: $435 TO REGISTER: Please email us at info@wordplaynow.com to start the registration process by filling out a short "Clarity Tool" to share your writing dreams and goals and where you are in the process (anywhere you are is a perfect place to begin).
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WRITING OUR WAY TO HAPPINESS - WEEK 9 Writing Class at Chautauqua
Come explore time-tested ways writing can increase your happiness level. This class will jumpstart your pen and provide inspiration and knowledge about the process of creative writing, whether your genre is nonfiction, fiction, or poetry. Ideal for
beginners, and those interested in expanding their writing -for personal growth or for publication.
COURSE NO: 1712
WHEN: Monday, August 20th – Thursday,
August 23rd, 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Hultquist, 201B, Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722.
COST: $99
TO REGISTER: To register
online, please click this link to be taken to the Chautauqua Institution website.
What Patrice says about WordPlay "When I moved to Charlotte almost eight years ago, I had been writing a little over a year. The words were filling pages of my spiral-bound notebook, but I didn't know where to go next or what to do with my work. A Google search landed me at WordPlay's website. I signed up for Maureen's Summer Solstice retreat, then her class on writing micro essays, then her class on writing as a healing process, then her Under Construction class . . . Well, you get the idea.
Aside from being filled with wonderful writing information, thoughtful prompts, and encouraging words, Maureen helped me stand on my writing legs. I arrived in her class with wobbly limbs, unsure if what I did counted as writing or even mattered. Maureen's affirmations about my work strengthened those shaky writing legs. She helped give me confidence to stand tall and believe that I am a writer.
Maureen’s own writing journey has consistently served as an inspiration to me. I know she began her journey in the midst of raising young children. To see what she had done across the expanse of raising a family helped me to believe what might be possible for my own story. Maureen’s advice and wisdom
helped me to make space to value my writing alongside the ordinary acts of raising my girls. Her attitude of being kind and gracious to ourselves helped me recognize that while I may not always have extended time to write, there is much I can accomplish in the in-between moments of engaging in regular life. And over the years, I have continued to work at my writing and improve my craft.
I’m thrilled to say that my first book, a collection of essays about race, immigration, and belonging entitled All the Colors We Will See:
Reflections on Barriers, Brokenness, and Finding Our Way was released on August 7 with W Publishing (an imprint of HarperCollins). Several of the passages and essays in the book were birthed during one of Maureen’s classes or retreats!" Four hours after we leave my mother-in-law’s home in Gweru, we drive into a small pocket of rural Zimbabwe. When we began our journey, the dawn hadn’t yet shaken off the shadows of night. Now we arrive in humble Wedza under a gray blanket of drizzle and fog—so much fog I can’t even see the large hills my husband Nyasha later tells me meet the sky.
We come to this place to say our goodbyes as we prepare to move to Charlotte. From the corner of Nyasha’s grandmother’s home, I watch our daughter Sekai press her body prostrate against a cement floor. Her raised head stares beyond the open door to where two chickens skip across the land. I move to
stand behind her with my camera. Her face now hidden from view, I imagine the crease of a smile shaping her mouth. Perhaps she wants to do more than watch. As the chickens glide through the drizzle, I think her unseen expression might reveal a longing to reach out and grab hold.
In the months and years to come, as our family makes America our home, I will frame this photograph and say to my daughter time and time again, “That’s you there. That’s you in Zimbabwe looking at your great-grandmother’s chickens. That’s you.” I will tell her about the misty rain hovering over the earth and the way Nyasha’s grandmother lifted her from the car with a joyful song. I will say these things so she
can feel the cold concrete through her clothes and against her flattened palms. In her dreams I want her to hear the sounds of the rooster crowing and the tree branches rustling. I want her to taste fine drops of rain on her tongue. So I will tell her this story, believing that one day she will walk down a narrow path in her father’s land and hear a voice whisper her name.
~ from “Holding On” in All the Colors We Will See
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 "history."
PROMPT: Write about a piece of your history (or the history of anyone else's, real or fictional) that you believe is important to remember.
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here. 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.
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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