Volume VI, Issue 7 February 13, 2017 Word of the Week: dessert Dear ,
Happy
Valentine's Day!
I am just back in town from a wonderful time at my first AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference! You'll be hearing more about it, but for now, after my long drive back from D.C., I'll just say that, besides all the learning and networking opportunities, the best part was seeing writers I love thriving, like WordPlayer Patrice Gopo, who was a participant
on one of the panel presentations. I'm so proud of her! Savoring the success of my students and clients is definitely the dessert of my job. And speaking of WordPlay successes, you'll meet WordPlayer Linda Clement in next Monday's zine, but I wanted to be sure to tell you about her book signing this Saturday,
February 18th, at Eileen Fisher (6800 Phillips Place Ct, Charlotte, North Carolina 28210) from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Linda, AKA LK Clement, is author of The Huguenot Thief, a thriller set in Charleston, SC, that has
garnered rave reviews. Hope you can swing by to meet her and her new book in person! (Tell her Maureen sent you.)
Linda participated in a "Project: Book Retreat" like the one I'm offering next weekend, February 24 -26 at Sunset Beach, by the way. If you'd like support in getting your book written and out into the world, check it out. I would love to have
you!
This week's featured WordPlayer, Cathia Friou, won today's zine spot with her essay "Eat Dessert First," which is not about what you think. How's that for a tease?
You'll get a good sense of Cathia and her work as a coach and facilitator from her featured writing below.
Wishing you love and all that's sweet, including your favorite dessert, real or metaphorical,
Upcoming WordPlay
PROJECT BOOK RETREAT:
GET YOUR BOOK OUR OF YOU AND INTO THE WORLD
(Writing / Publishing
Your Book-length Writing Project) A hands-on workshop for any writer who would like to write and/or publish a book and
1) doesn’t know how
2) doesn’t get around to it
3) feels
a) intimidated
b) confused
c) overwhelmed
d) uninspired
e) all of the above You’ll gain
clarity, confidence, direction, momentum, and working knowledge of the steps you need to take and the procedures and pieces that are necessary (overview, synopsis, outline, and all that jazz), as well as an introduction to today’s publishing world (major publishers, university presses, small presses, self-publishing, e-publishing, and print-on-demand). We’ll talk about marketing, too, whether you’re an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert. $378 (plus tax) includes retreat, lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch. Note: Class doesn’t include critique of your book manuscript, which is a separate service.
$378
for the weekend beginning Friday, February 24th through Sunday, February 26th. Includes Project: Book sessions, two nights’ lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included). Additionally, for those who might like to stay another day to work on their writing, or to just enjoy the beach, the Inn is offering Coastal Writing Retreat participants the opportunity to stay Sunday night, February 26th, at half
price.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 24 – Sunday, February 26, 2017*
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 or 910.575.1000 (if you would
like to handpick your room, view your choices here first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online.
*Also, please let the Inn know when
you call if you are interested in staying Sunday night, February 26, at half price. The Inn will hold your reservation with a credit card.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DELICIOUS MEMORIES WORKSHOP
FREE!
(Writing about Food in Any and All Genres) Food not only nurtures and sustains us, it’s a rich source of metaphor and memory! We’ll explore our connections with food as we write of when, where, what, with whom, how — and even why — we ate! You can use your food writings to create a family cookbook,
individual essays, stories, or poems, scenes in fiction or memoir, a food blog, etc. — or just for your own pleasure.
WHERE: Union
County Library (in the Training Room). 316 East Windsor Street. Monroe, NC 28112
WHEN: March 4th, 2017, from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
COST: Free!
TO REGISTER: To register, contact Lori Grem by phone (704-283-8184 ext. 224) or email (lgrem@unioncountync.gov). * Please be sure to specify
that you’d like to attend this particular workshop, as the library has many programs.
More WordPlay
opportunities here.
WordPlay Success Story
"Maureen creates a safe and nourishing space..." Meet Cathia Friou
Cathia is a leadership coach and mediator. She is also a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, which is a body of work based on the pioneering research of Brené Brown, exploring topics like courage, shame, vulnerability,
and worthiness.
A native Charlottean and former Manhattan dweller, Cathia is an adventurist at heart. She is a graduate of the North Carolina Outward Bound School, walked 200 miles along the Camino de Santiago, and is a former Latin ballroom dancer. She possesses an insatiable appetite for Jungian psychology and cartoons appearing in The New Yorker, and is a lifelong learner and
seeker.
And check out
her Daring Leadership™ and Rising Strong™ Course on Friday, February 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Click here to learn more. What Cathia says about WordPlay
I have been writing on and off my whole life, but it wasn’t until one of my first classes with Maureen that I was able to claim myself a writer. In an
exercise we did constructing our writing histories from childhood to present, I was thrilled to see concrete evidence, starting with a play I co-wrote in the 3rd grade. It was so affirming and a thrilling discovery…I am a writer!
I took my first writing class with Maureen in 2004, and have been coming
back to the table for more ever since. Maureen creates a safe and nourishing space, and I find the people she attracts to be particularly interesting. The WordPlay tribe is the perfect place to birth (or unearth) a writing project.
Back in 2011, I went sea kayaking with some fellow mid-lifers on an Outward Bound excursion in Florida. As one of the oldest and most
respected outdoor educators in the world, Outward Bound is specifically designed to get you outside of your comfort zone and is necessarily chock-full of obstacles, hardships, setbacks and frustrations of varying degrees. It’s also padded with knowledgeable and nurturing instructors, unparalleled nature moments and is one of the richest experiences I have ever had. (And I particularly loved being off the grid…true liberation of the highest order.)
Starting out in Everglades City, we kayaked the area known as 10,000 Islands. We paddled in the Gulf of Mexico each day and spent each night on one of several islands. This being an Outward Bound trip, think sleeping bag and bug tent, not Heavenly Bed™ and room service. The
accommodations were rustic (and I’m being generous here), the bugs relentless, the camaraderie among the group impressive and the opportunities to learn about oneself endless.
As part of the experience, we had a solo night in which we were alone for about 24 hours in an isolated section of the island. You get to have a whistle in case you need to call for help, but otherwise you are to be alone
with your thoughts and the elements. The near full moon that night was breathtaking over the ocean. Sadly, it also allowed for a much clearer picture of all the critters rustling about in my midst. Rational mind: they won’t bother me if I don’t bother them. Irrational mind: I’m alone in a poorly rigged bug tarp with no protection from a raccoon ambush.
I didn’t end up having to blow the whistle
that night but I did sleep with it around my neck. #justincase
In fielding a lot of questions along the lines of “Why on Earth would you want to go do something like that?” I was able to answer easily…for the experience. When is the last time you sought out a new experience, profoundly developmental or otherwise, just for the sake of doing something new/different? Given our comfort-addicted
culture (of which I certainly include myself), I’m imagining a lot of people don’t bother seeking out this kind of thing. Pretty understandable given people’s dedication to their profoundly comfy comfort zone – it’s how it got its name after all. It’s comfortable.
But what might it be like if you were willing to step outside of your normal routine and try something different? While the Outward
Bound experience isn’t for everyone (though it is a requirement if you are one of my daughters), there are myriad ways in which you can expand your horizons in the name of personal enrichment. While something as small as taking a different route home from work or rearranging your office can be a small step on the path I’m talking about here, what I’m actually suggesting is an experience that will take you out of your normal and predictable patterns as a chance to learn about
yourself.
While the brain craves order and finds comfort in patterns, it’s critical and healthy to throw ourselves for a loop every now and again, lest we find ourselves in a rut. I once read that the only difference between a rut and a grave is its depth. A rather ominous warning, don’t you think? These kinds of experiences provide time and space to see what’s working, what might need some
tweaking and what needs eliminating. It is most excellent time spent getting to “know thyself.”
What’s on your bucket list and when’s the last time you checked something off? It doesn’t have to be epic – you don’t have to bike cross-country or climb Kilimanjaro. You could decide to take up ballroom dancing or learn French or slip out of work to see a movie. The point is that you step out of your
normal routine and have the opportunity to mine the nuggets that a new experience inevitably offers up.
Don’t wait for terminal illness like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson did in the 2007 movie The Bucket List. Put another way…life is
short, eat dessert first.
To read more by Cathia, 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 "dessert."
PROMPT: Write about dessert, from your perspective or one of your character's. Choose a real dessert, like your mother's meringue "clouds" filled with ice cream and fresh strawberries, or your character's signature Key Lime Pie,
or a "bucket list" kind of dessert a la Cathia's Outward Bound experience above.
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. One of her long-held dreams came true in July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on The Writer's Almanac. 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! |
|
|
|
