Volume VIII, Issue 7
February 18, 2019
Dear ,
I was excited to learn recently that Lyn Hopper, whom I've had the pleasure of working with at the John Campbell Folk School, has a new book of poetry out called Some Days Are Like That: A Year of
Haiku.
From the first time Lyn shared her words with our class, I could tell she has a gift for poetry. It's a pleasure to share two of Lyn's haiku with you here.
While I pulled the word-of-the-week, slowly, from Lyn's poem dated for tomorrow, February 19th, because it struck such a chord, it
occurred to me when I reread her haiku for February 18th, that, without her willingness to slow down to take in what was unfolding in front of her, this haiku wouldn't exist. Nor would any of the others.
This got me thinking about something I heard once about the Dalai Lama: Someone supposedly asked him how he was able to meditate daily when he has such a busy schedule. He replied, "On normal days,
I meditate for one hour in the morning. On really busy days, I meditate for two."
I am still working up to meditating even one hour a day, much less two, but I am practicing! And I am also practicing moving more slowly through my days so that I can enjoy them more. Lyn is a good teacher!
Here's a photo from 2013, when Lyn took my writing class at the Folk School. Lyn's right in the middle of the top row.
Can you tell from our faces how much fun we were having? (I'm teaching another class there this May and would love to share this wonderful
place with you. Details here and below.)
I hope you'll check out Lyn's beautiful and wise haiku—and consider trying your hand at it. It's a lovely way to slow down your own life on those days you wonder where the time
went.
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
THE SEVEN ENERGIES OF WRITING
A Holistic, Whole Brain Approach, With Accompanying Tools and Strategies To Enhance Creativity, Productivity, and Writing Pleasure
If you’ve ever had a hard time getting started writing, finishing what you’ve begun, or gotten stuck in the middle (AKA writer’s block), knowing how to engage in the most helpful “energy of writing” for you 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.
WHEN: Saturday, March 30th, 1 – 4:30 p.m.
WHERE: The WordPlay Studio, South
Charlotte
COST for Workshop and Materials:
$67
TO REGISTER: To register for The Seven Energies of Writing online, click here.
Or email info@wordplaynow.com for details on registering by check via mail.
Class size limited to 12
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WRITE LIKE A GENIUS
AT THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
(Expanding Our Creativity; Learning New Tools for Our Writing and Our Lives; Creating New Writing)
Discover your own genius as you learn to apply seven fascinating approaches of Leonardo da Vinci to your writing. These techniques enliven non-fiction, poetry and fiction. Expect fun, inspiration and writing galore in your preferred genre, with opportunities to share your work.
WHERE: John Campbell Folk School, 1 Folk School Road, Brasstown, NC 28902
WHEN: Sunday, May 26th – Saturday, June 1st, 2019
COST is $630 for one week-long session (lodging and
meals are additional – options can be found on the Folk School website)
TO REGISTER: To register, please click this link to register through the John Campbell Folk School website.
Class size limited to 8.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Maureen helped me understand how to achieve a pleasing flow from one poem to the next in a book of poetry, and I know my book is better because of her help.
Lyn Hopper lives in the mountains near Dahlonega, Georgia, with her husband of 42 years and a
cat with serious attitude. She published her first poetry chapbook, The Hum in Every Blossom, in 2016. Her poems have appeared in Summerfield Journal, Georgia Journal, Habersham Review, Poetry of the Golden Generation, The Reach of Song, The Stonepile Writers’ Anthology, and other works. She is an active member of the Georgia Poetry Society and two writing groups.
Lyn’s daybook of 366 haiku, Some Days Are Like That: A Year of Haiku, is available from Amazon here. It is dedicated to her Daily Haiku readers. (You can sign up to receive Lyn’s haikus 5 days a week by clicking this link: http://eepurl.com/cvXSmX.)
Lyn has priced Some Days Are Like That: A Year of Haiku at the cost of its production ($5.38) and asks that, if you order a book and enjoy it, you please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Georgia Poetry Society, www.georgiapoetrysociety.org.
You may also be interested in Lyn’s poetry chapbook, The Hum in Every Blossom, available from Amazon here.
Contact Lyn via Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/lynhopper
or by email at lynhopper@gmail.com.
What Lyn says about WordPlay
Nearly six years ago I had my first encounter with Maureen Ryan Griffin at the John C. Campbell Folk School. After a week-long class
with her, I was thrilled to be selected for a profile in her Word-zine, and I wrote the following as part of my Writing Success Story.
All that is necessary to break the spell
of inertia and frustration is this:
Act as if it were impossible to fail.
~ Dorothea Brande
“Everything you do is perfect,” insisted Maureen Ryan Griffin, my writing teacher at
John C. Campbell Folk School last September. And isn’t that true for all of us? We are perfect just as we are, and we must strive to be better. Holding these two thoughts simultaneously has always been difficult for me. But I’m getting there! And the writing workshop moved me closer. What a warm circle writers create when they work together under the right conditions. And Maureen created just the right atmosphere.
(from a post September 24, 2013 in the blog “Only Moment: Mindfulness in Everyday Life” at http://quotesqueen.wordpress.com)
Since that time, I have taken more of Maureen’s workshops, returned to the Folk
School to serve as her assistant for the writing class, and taken advantage of her expert guidance in putting together my first chapbook. Maureen helped me understand how to achieve a pleasing flow from one poem to the next in a book of poetry, and I know my book is better because of her help. I will forever be indebted to her for pulling some words from a poem in the manuscript and declaring, “This could be your title!” My working title, Sun and Shadow, became The Hum in Every Blossom: a magical transformation, and much more interesting and reflective of the tone of the book.
I’ve continued to write poetry regularly since then, and am happy to be now sharing my haiku with fellow WordPlayers.
February 18
fog in the valley
quiets even the morning chirp
of tufted titmouse
February 19
life is so short that
we must move very slowly
one step, another
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 "slowly."
PROMPT: Slow down and try your hand at haiku this
week. See if walking slowly outdoors for at least ten minutes, noticing what you see, hear, feel, and smell, will provide images and thoughts you can put into writing. In English, it’s typical for the first and third lines to have five syllables each, and for the middle line to have seven. Feel free to take liberties. Here's a nice introduction to what makes a haiku a haiku, and to some famous Japanese masters.
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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