Volume VII, Issue 44 November 5,
2018 Dear ,
If you appreciate learning new words in other language, thank WordPlayer Jay Sloan, who's responsible for this week's ikigai. I'd never heard it until he brought me a printed copy of an article in Big Think called "7 Brilliant Japanese words we need in
English.
I remember still that moment as a high school freshman when my French teacher introduced us to the idea that
there were ideas in each language that could not be directly translated into another. I was thrilled and tantalized at the thought of the whole new worlds that awaited me as I learned foreign words.
After spending a fantastic weekend at the North Carolina Network's NCWN) Fall Conference leading the master poetry class—and drinking in the opportunities to be with "my own kind," soaking up new writing ideas and meeting new friends, as well as enjoying old ones—ikigai seemed the perfect word to share. To
quote a bit from the writing of the week, "Ikigai is best understood as the reason somebody gets up in the morning—somebody's reason for living. It's a combination of what you are good at, what you get paid to do, what you love to do, and what the world
needs."
I was truly "getting my ikigai on," totally in my element. While I didn't have a chance to talk with NCWN director Ed Southern about this, I am pretty sure that he would say the same. I watched him all weekend as he and his talented team, including Communications Director Charles Fiore, who was kind enough to take this photo of me and Ed, attended to every small detail to ensure that every conference attendee had what he or she
needed to get the most out of the weekend.
This is a shout-out to Ed for the great job he did making this conference such a rich experience for all of us, and to the
entire NCWN staff, including volunteers, who make this organization run so smoothly and provide so much to so many North Carolina writers. (And writers from other places too. In my master class alone, we had at least one writer from Ohio, Virginia, and South Carolina.) If you visit NCWN's website, you'll see their tagline, "Welcome to the writingest state." I say that a large reason North Carolina has such an abundance of fine writers is NCWN itself.
If you missed this past weekend's conference, there are plenty more opportunities ahead,. Visit ncwriters.org to learn more.
And do spend some time this week thinking about your own ikigai and how you might step more deeply into it.
Love and light, Maureen Upcoming
WordPlay
THE SEVEN ENERGIES
OF WRITING WINTER RETREAT (Writing as Renewal / Creating New Writing / Tools and Techniques to Enhance Creativity and Productivity in Your 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. This year, in addition to enjoying various seasonal prompts that elicit beautiful material for essays, poems, stories, articles, and/or self-reflection, we'll be
writing through the lens of what I call the "Seven Energies of Writing."
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. Throughout the day, as we celebrate the coming of the winter season, we’ll explore—and practice—the ins, outs, and benefits of all seven of these energies. 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!
You’ll also enjoy a communal lunch (you’ll pick what you like from the Panera Bread
menu), and private time that can be used to work on your own writing in any way you like and/or play with your choice of "energy-related" 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 15th, 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, please click this link to check out using PayPal.
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THE GIFT OF MEMOIR: How to Get Your Most Meaningful Life Stories on Paper with Ease (Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your Family; The Art of
Memoir)
NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS FOR THE NOVEMBER 29, 2018 SESSION! Just for you, a MONTHLY Gift of Memoir class to help you get your most meaningful life stories written. 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.
You will learn and practice the fundamental tools and steps needed to both capture individual events that have been important to you, reflecting on the impact and meaning as well as what happened, and the process of collecting events together into a full-length memoir or book of essays—whether this is for personal reflection, to share with family and friends, or to publish to reach a
larger audience.
And you’ll have a chance, each month to share one of your stories (up to 1,200 words) with the class to receive feedback and guidance in moving forward.
Our 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.
* 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: The WordPlay studio,
Ballantyne area. Directions will be sent upon registration.
WHEN: Thursday morning, November 29th, 9:30 a.m. –12:30 p.m.
COST: $65 (A
discount will be available if you sign up for additional classes; dates to be announced soon.)
TO PRE-REGISTER: Please send an email with your contact information to info@wordplaynow.com and the subject line: “Gift of Memoir on 11/29/2018” and we’ll reply with more information. Hope to have you there! CLASS SIZE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS. · English is a phenomenal
language, but there are circumstances where words seem to fail us. · Often, other languages have already found a solution to expressing the complicated ideas that can't be succinctly conveyed in English. · If you've ever wanted to describe the anguish of a bad haircut, the pleasure of walking in the woods, or the satisfaction of finding your life's purpose, read
on.
Don't get me wrong. The English language has some very excellent words. There's petrichor, the pleasant smell of the first rain after warm and
dry weather. Paraprosdokian—which describes sentences that end surprisingly, forcing the reader to reinterpret the first half—is both oddly specific and fantastic to say out loud. I'm even a fan of new inventions, like tweetstorm, even if I'm not a fan of the experience.
But English-speaking culture—like any culture—has a limited perspective on the world. Just like English, Japanese also has some five-star words that English could stand to borrow. The Japanese have an entirely different perspective on the world than many English-speaking cultures—as proof, it's tough to imagine that the politely reserved Japanese have a
word for defenestrate, or the act of throwing somebody out of a window. Here's the top 7 Japanese words that we could use in English.
1.
Ikigai
Literally translating to "life value," Ikigai is best understood as the reason somebody gets up in the morning—somebody's reason for living. It's a combination of what you are good at, what you get paid to do, what you love to do, and
what the world needs. We often find our ikigai during flow states, which occur when a given task is just challenging and absorbing enough that we forget time has passed, that "in the zone" sensation. But it's more nuanced than something that is simply absorbing or a passion; it's a fulfilling kind of work that benefits oneself and others.
To enjoy the other 6 “brilliant Japanese words we need in English,” click here: https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/7-best-japanese-words 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 "Ikigai." PROMPT: Write about "the reason [you, or one of your characters] get up in the morning," "that combination of what you are good at, what you get paid to do, what you love to do, and what the world needs." 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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