Dear ,
Just a quick reminder (and in case you missed hearing about it; i know life can get too busy to find time for the Word-zine):
The WordPlay Open House, an opportunity to meet other WordPlayers, from beginning writers to published authors (and their books), is tomorrow, Saturday, February 2nd (Groundhog
Day!)
It would be so nice for everyone attending if YOU could drop by between 1 and 5 p.m.! Details below.
Why Groundhog Day? Read on to find out, and take a trip down Groundhog Day memory lane with a clip featuring Bill Murray that starts with a reference to Chekhov. How good can it get? J
Wishing you a wonderful weekend, with time for a rendezvous with your own writing,
Maureen
P.S. Feel free, if you like, to forward this email to anyone you think would like to come. And thanks if you do. I'd appreciate it!
YOU'RE INVITED TO THE WORDPLAY
GROUNDHOG DAY OPEN HOUSE!
WHEN: Drop in between 1 and 5 p.m. (stay a little while
or a long while) on Saturday, February 2nd
WHERE: The Wordplay Studio, near Stonecrest Shopping Center
in Charlotte (email info@wordplaynow.com for directions)
WHO: Me, a number of WordPlayers, you (if you can make it),
and any friend/writing buddy you'd like to bring along
WHY: Because I’m thankful AND grateful for you
and your words! And because I'd love for some
of my other WordPlayers to meet you, and vice versa
WHAT:
- An opportunity to meet other like-minded people who love the written word and to share ideas, inspiration and fellowship
- A chance to celebrate your own writing successes as well as those of other members of the WordPlay community
- A time to share, if you like, what’s great about your own work and learn about books written by other WordPlayers
(There will be a 10-15-minute “Open Mic” at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30. You can sign up to read by emailing info@wordplaynow.com, or tuck a 500-word piece
of your writing in your pocket if you feel inspired once you
arrive)
- An atmosphere of thanks-giving, acknowledgment, gratitude, and encouragement
- Take-home writing prompts, book giveaways, and other fun
- Good, healthy things to eat and drink, including—wait for it—groundhog cookies!
- A celebration of my new book Tag, I’m It!: A Daily Journal of Thanks-Giving, Act-Knowledge-ment, and Gratitude
HOPE YOU CAN DROP BY! I'D LOVE TO VISIT WITH YOU!
RSVP to info@wordplaynow.com
for directions & details.
NOW, ABOUT THE GROUNDHOG DAY THEME:
Well, at first, I planned to I planned to have Tag, I’m It!: A Daily Journal of Thanks-Giving, Act-Knowledge-ment, and Gratitude ready for myself—and anyone else who would like to, on a
daily basis, become more present to the goodness her/his life holds—to start using on New Year’s Day. But given all the holiday hubbub, I didn’t pull it off.
Then I thought about how habits begun on New Year’s Days tend to unfold. Yep, when I Googled “statistics of people failing to keep New Year's resolutions,” this was my first hit: “80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February” followed by “Just 8% of People achieve their New Year’s resolutions.” Well! Clearly, New Year’s Day wasn’t a good day to start using the Tag I’m It journal anyway!J
Best to wait until we’re all settled into the simplicity of ordinary days that hold, hopefully, a bit of time for reflection. Which led me to think of my favorite February holiday: Groundhog Day. (It might be your favorite too if you grew up in Pennsylvania like I did and went to a university with a branch campus in Punxsutawney, home of legendary groundhog Punxsutawney Phil.) Yes, surely, if you were me, you too would think to Google “Groundhog Day Resolutions.” Guess
what? It turns out there is such a thing.
Then you’d Google “statistics of people failing to keep Groundhog Day Resolutions” and discover there were none! In fact, quite the opposite. A link to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina pins down that “failing by February” statistic to “80% of people who make [New Year’s] resolutions will have given up . . . by Groundhog Day.” In my mind, this makes Groundhog Day the perfect day to start.
And to top it all off, the Groundhog Day movie perfectly illustrates someone who’s learning to make each day the best it can be: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxFfzS7sbO0&index=17&list=RD8Bd1hqHrUPU). After all, the Tag, I’m It! daily pages do open with Emerson’s words, “Write it on your heart/that every day is the best day in the year.”
More WordPlay opportunities 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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