Volume VII, Issue 45 November 12,
2018 Dear ,
Just in case you missed the reference in the subject line, it's a riff on the line "Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day" from How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel. I know it's a
little early to be bringing up Christmas, but the original animated television special has been touching my heart each year since it first aired in 1966. (Whether, in my eyes, the new adaptation will hold a candle to it remains to be seen.)
And when I first heard, several years ago, that my oh-so-fabulous operations manager, Morgan Sprinkle Gill, was planning an international adoption, I felt my heart growing at least one size. Now, finally, Morgan, her husband, Daniel, and their son, Ben, have been matched with a little boy in Thailand, where Morgan and Daniel
lived for more than two years while they were in the Peace Corps! . One of the reasons Morgan's adoption story is so heartwarming is because, as she says:
This entire process began when, as a child, I dreamed of
having a family of adopted children. I have had adoption
in my heart since I was in elementary school and have
been a steadfast believer
throughout this entire process.
I pictured my family looking like this:
Thank you, United Colors of Benetton!
Another reason is that Morgan is a dream employee—kind, responsive, speedy, efficient, and committed to excellent service for me and each of my WordPlayers—all as she juggles the many pieces of her very full life, one of them being crafting
lovely handmade objects out of the fallen wood on their property outside Brevard, North Carolina, to raise the money they need for an international adoption. (You'll learn more about all this below, as Morgan is this week's featured writer.)
I don't know about you, but my heart is broken again and again these days by the violence, meanness, prejudice, selfishness, and greed that seems to be running rampant in our country. How good it is to have my heart uplifted by Morgan, Daniel, and Ben's generosity and vision.
Which reminds me of another "heart" quote that speaks volumes to me right now, by the woman who was appointed the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945 and served as poetry editor of The New Yorker magazine for nearly 40
years:
“...in a time lacking in truth and certainty
and filled with anguish and despair,
no [one] should be shamefaced
in attempting to give back to the world,
through [her/his] work,
a portion of its lost heart.”
~ Louise Bogan
How grateful I am for the loving, giving community of writers I get to share words with each week! Thank you, , for being one of them.
Wishing you at least one moment this week that makes your "heart grow three sizes" and all best wishes for your own attempts "to give back to the world through YOUR work, a portion of its lost heart."
Love and light, Maureen Upcoming
WordPlay
Connect with Your Creativity at the Sunset Inn
WE HAVE HAD A CANCELLATION AND
CURRENTLY HAVE ONE SPOT AVAILABLE 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 16th through Sunday, November 18th. 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 16th – Sunday, November 18th, 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.
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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.
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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.
Meet Morgan Sprinkle
(and family)
Morgan has worked as Maureen's operations manager for four years, and has likely exchanged an email or two with you! She also teaches part-time at a Montessori school in the mountains of western North
Carolina.
She and her husband enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, splitting firewood, raising animals and teaching their son Ben about the importance of taking care of the woods that surround them.
Morgan and her husband are adopting and appreciate you taking the time to read their adoption
story below.
by
Morgan Sprinkle
I’ve always known that I wanted to be a mom, and that specifically I wanted to adopt. As a child myself my dream was to have a family of adopted children from different countries and live together, a happy motley crew of different cultures and backgrounds bonded by love. I remember seeing a United Colors of Benetton ad,
the one with a diverse group of kids who appear to have come from all corners of the world, and thinking, “That’s it! That’s what I want my family to look like.” It’s a conviction that has simmered, silent and strong, in my heart ever since.
My husband Daniel and I met at college, fell deeply in love and have enjoyed every minute of our lives together since. We were both teaching majors and happily taught for four years in the US before deciding that we wanted to challenge ourselves a bit more. We’ve always loved challenges. We joined the Peace Corps together and lived in Thailand for 27 months. We
learned to speak Thai and respect and appreciate the idiosyncrasies of Thai culture. Our neighbor taught me to make curries and Daniel worked with another neighbor, a barefoot 81-year-old woman, to grow an incredible garden in our backyard. We traveled the country, celebrated Thai holidays and learned to live with less and appreciate more.
Fast forward to 2014. Our biological son, Ben (conceived in Thailand!) was 11 months old and we were talking about plans for our second child. Adoption had always been part of our family-planning conversations, and we decided that we’d take the plunge. Daniel loves the idea of
adoption for practical reasons—he feels that if there are already children who have been born and are in need of a home, it’s better for both humanity and the planet to adopt. I love adoption because it speaks to a palpable conviction in my heart. Between the two of us, there are so many reasons why this is right for our family.
We started researching agencies that night. We felt energized, excited, apprehensive and relieved that it was going to happen for our family!
We found an adoption agency we adored and when we looked over the list of countries our agency works with and saw Thailand, we were thrilled. We imaged going back to the country that we called “home” to meet our child. Unfortunately, the Thai Red
Cross only worked with couples whose infertility prevented them from having biological children. We were devastated. We did some soul searching and realized that we still wanted to adopt, and luckily Bulgaria was an option. We didn’t know anything about the country but we knew that there were children who needed families. That was enough for us.
We got on board the Bulgaria train and for three years we talked about our “Bulgarian babe” and spoke to Ben about how his bro or sis would come from Bulgaria.
Seven months ago I saw a message from our adoption agency on Facebook that changed our life. The Thai Red Cross, due to its restrictive family requirements, had more children available for adoption than
families looking to adopt. Our agency was putting out a call for families who were interested in adopting Thai children. The Red Cross was willing to make exceptions and was relaxing the requirements for families.
In an instant our lives changed. I called Daniel in from outside and breathlessly told him the news. His response was, “Mo! Email them!” I did, with shaking fingers and beating heart.
We submitted our paperwork, were accepted into the program and waited four months before learning we’d been matched with our sweet boy. Our son. A boy who was born to another woman, who will come to call me “Mama” and feel the love of our family, who our son already calls “brother” and whose picture stays on our minds and in our
hearts. Our boy is waiting in Thailand, a country where we lived for two years, whose language lingers on our tongues and whose culture informs the way we live our lives.
We wait, patiently as always, for news that it’s time to meet him.
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 "heart." PROMPT: Write about a time when you, or one of your characters, experienced having your "heart grow three sizes." 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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