Volume VII, Issue 36 September 10,
2018 Word of the Week: metaphoray courtesy of Nicholas A. Tonelli
Okay, you well might wonder. But why—and what is—metaphoray?
Well, Kimmerer coined this word in Braiding Sweetgrass: When botanists go walking the forests and fields looking
for plants, we say we are going on a foray. When writers
do the same, we should call it metaphoray, and the land
is rich in both. We need them both; scientist and poet
Jeffrey Burton Russell writes that "as the sign of a deeper
truth, metaphor was close to sacrament. Because the
vastness and the richness of reality cannot be expressed
by the overt sense of a statement alone."
Native scholar Greg Cajete has written that in indigenous
ways of knowing, we understand a thing only when we
understand it with all four aspects of our being: mind,
body, emotion, and spirit. I came to understand quite
sharply when I began my training as a scientist that
science privileges only one, possibly two, of those ways
of knowing: mind and body. As a young person wanting to
know everything about plants, I did not question this. But
it is a whole human being who finds the beautiful path.
Given my love of metaphor, my love of WordPlay, and fact that I pass yellow cards out to all my students that describe and enjoin them to include
all "four elements of human being" in their writing, how could I not love this passage of Robin Wall Kimmerer's, and the word metaphoray itself?
Discovering that
all four elements of human being belong in our writing sprang from my constant quest to make my own writing stronger, and to help my students do the same. It was a real aha moment for me. I often have students go through writing they love and distinguish what element(s) are conveyed in each word/phrase/sentence. There's often an overlap, and I had another aha moment when I realized that metaphor ALWAYS included more than one element of human being: by its nature, a metaphor
shows a likeness between two disparate yet similar things, most often an abstraction, like, say, hope, and something of the physical world, as in, to quote Emily Dickinson,
the thing with feathers
- That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -
For more on metaphoray, see this week's prompt. And for more of Kimmerer's Goldenrod and Asters from Braiding Sweetgrass, see this week's featured writing, which I found posted by Blue Mountain Center. I think you'll love it! (I also wanted you to have the benefit of the two
paragraphs quoted above that are in included in the "Asters and Goldenrod" chapter of the book but not a part of Blue Mountain Center's lovely excerpt.
Love and light,
Maureen Upcoming WordPlay
THE SEVEN ENERGIES OF WRITING Tools and Techniques to Enhance Creativity and Productivity
NOTE: These seven energies of writing are on the backside of that yellow card that describes the four "elements of human being" I mention above.
If you’ve ever had a hard time getting started writing,
finishing what you’ve begun, or gotten stuck in the middle (“writer’s block), knowing how to engage in the most helpful “energy of writing” at each stage of your process—and on any given day—will be a game-changer. In this class, we’ll explore—and practice—the ins, outs, and benefits of all seven energies of writing. You’ll learn invaluable tools and strategies you’ll use again and again to write with maximum ease and effectiveness. Yes, you can be more productive, creative, and fulfilled, no
matter what kind of writing you do or how experienced you are.
WHERE: Charlotte Lit. 1817 Central Avenue, #302.
Charlotte, NC WHEN: October 2nd, 2018, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. COST: $55 – $65 depending on membership
TO REGISTER: To register, visit the Charlotte Lit website here for registration details.
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THE ART AND CRAFT OF POLISHING A POEM
I have the honor of teaching the Master Poetry Class at The North Carolina Writers’ Network 2018 Fall Conference, November 2-4 at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte, NC. The class, titled “The Art and
Craft of Polishing a Poem,” which will offer registrants the opportunity to learn and practice specific revision tactics, as well as get detailed feedback/critique on at least one of their poems.
For the first time, Fall
Conference will offer a full slate of sessions designed specifically for writers of stage and screen. In addition, as part of the Network’s ongoing mission to serve writers at all levels of experience, the Charlotte Center for the Literary Arts will sponsor a “Business of Writing” track at Fall Conference for those who feel ready to take their manuscripts to market. And, because of the Hilton’s convenient location, getting to (and parking!) at a Fall Conference in the Charlotte Metro area has
never been easier.
If a poetry master class is not for you right now, please check out the many, many other offerings available that provide so much ways to learn and grow as a writer no matter what
your level of experiences, plus many networking opportunities!
For more information, and to register, visit www.ncwriters.org. -------------------------------------------------------
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn
Because our November Coastal Retreat filled up so early, we’ve added another one the weekend of November 9th through 11th.
Spots are filling quickly, so if you’d like to come, nab your spot soon!” Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or
poetry—the choice is yours.
$458 + room tax for the weekend beginning Friday, November 9th through Sunday, November 11th. The Coastal Writing Retreat includes writing sessions, two nights’ lodging, two
breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included).
Want to extend your retreat? If you’d like to stay another day to write, or to just enjoy the beach, the Inn
is offering Coastal Writing Retreat participants the opportunity to stay Sunday night at half price.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468 WHEN: Friday, November 9th – Sunday, November 11th, 2018
TO REGISTER: Please contact the Sunset Inn directly at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000. If you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call.
You’ll need a copy of Spinning Words into Gold, available for $23.54 at the retreat. Or order a copy now.
I like to imagine that they were the first flowers I saw, over my mother’s shoulder, as the pink blanket slipped away from my face and their colors flooded my consciousness. I’ve heard that early experience can attune the brain to certain stimuli, so that they are processed with greater speed and certainty, so that they can be used again and again, so that we remember. Love at first sight. Through cloudy newborn eyes their radiance formed the first botanical synapses in my
wide- awake brain, which until then had encountered only the blurry gentleness of pink faces. I’m guessing all eyes were on me, a little round baby all swaddled in bunting, but mine were on goldenrod and asters. I was born to these flowers and they came back for my birthday every year, weaving me into our mutual celebration. People flock to our hills for the fiery suite of October but they often miss the sublime
prelude of September fields. As if harvest time were not enough—peaches, grapes, sweet corn, squash— the fields are also embroidered with drifts of golden yellow and pools of deepest purple, a masterpiece. I wanted to make a good first impression. There were hardly any women at the forestry school in those days and certainly none who looked like me. For the
freshman intake interview, I wore my new red plaid shirt, a hallmark of foresters, so I’d fit right in. My new faculty adviser peered at me over his glasses and said, “So, Miss Wall, why do you want to major in botany?” His pencil was poised over the registrar’s form, twitching, while portraits of Linneaus and Asa Gray looked on from his walls. How could I
answer, how could I tell him that I was born a botanist, that I had shoeboxes of seeds and piles of pressed leaves under my bed, that plants colored my dreams, that the plants had chosen me? So I told him the truth. I was proud of my well- planned answer, its freshman sophistication apparent to anyone, revealing what I hoped was a deep knowledge
of plants. I told him that I chose botany because I wanted to learn about why asters and goldenrod looked so beautiful together. I’m sure I was smiling then, in my new red plaid shirt. But he was not. He laid down his pencil as if there was no need to record what I had said. “Miss Wall,” he said, fixing me with a disappointed smile, “I
must tell you that that is not science. Beauty is not the sort of thing with which botanists concern themselves.” I tried again: I’d like to learn why plants make medicines, why willow bends for baskets and why strawberries are sweeter in the shade. “Also not science,” he said and he ought to know, sitting in his laboratory, a learned professor of botany. “And if you want to study beauty, you should go to art
school.” I had no rejoinder; I had made a mistake. I did not have the words for resistance, only embarrassment at my error. But he promised to put me right. “I’ll enroll you in General Botany so you can learn what it is.” And so it began. I didn’t think about it at the time, the echo of my grandfather’s first day at the Carlisle Indian school, when he was ordered to leave everything—language, culture, family— behind. But they did not cut my hair. If a fountain could jet bouquets of chrome yellow in dazzling arches of chrysanthemum fireworks, that would be Canada
goldenrod. Each three-foot stem is a geyser of tiny gold daisies, ladylike in miniature, exuberant en masse. Where the soil is damp enough, they stand side by side with their perfect counterpart, New England asters. Not the pale domesticates of the perennial border, the weak sauce of lavender or sky blue, but full-on royal purple that would make a violet shrink. The daisy-like fringe of purple petals surrounds a disc as bright as the sun at high noon, a golden- orange pool, just a tantalizing
shade darker than the surrounding goldenrod. Alone, each is a botanical superlative. Together, the visual effect is stunning. Purple and gold, the heraldic colors of the king and queen of the meadow, a regal procession in complementary colors. I just wanted to know why. Why do they stand beside each other when they could grow alone? There are plenty of pinks
and whites and blues dotting the fields, so is it only happenstance that the magnificence of purple and gold end up side by side? Einstein himself said that “God doesn’t play dice with the universe.” Why is the world so beautiful? It seemed like a good question to me. . . . Read the rest of this essay here: http://bmccommons.org/goldenrod-and-asters-my-life-with-plants/
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 "metaphoray."
PROMPT: This week, go on your own metaphoray. All week long, look for the metaphors all around you in the natural world, ripe for picking. What are strong winds and rain, shortening days, pumpkins, flocks of geese in formation, and all else you
see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, metaphors for? Notice how Kimmerer pulls meaning from her asters and goldenrod. What meanings can you extrapolate?
Take this process a step further by being on the lookout for metaphors in everything you read this week. Note specifically how body, heart, mind, and spirit show up in these passages. You may want to create a section in a notebook or use one of your apps to capture these examples.
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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