Volume VI, Issue 8 February 20, 2017 Word of the Week: baby steps (okay, technically two words, but who's
counting?) Dear ,
I am
hereby declaring today as a day for basking: basking in the sweetness of a warm, sunny February day, basking in the love of friends and family, basking in satisfaction of noting how far you and I have come since our first, actual baby steps, and our first, proverbial baby steps in the things that we have grown very good at.
I promised last week I'd share more about the fabulous AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) Conference I attended in D.C., and I'm going to spend some time this week going through my notes to compile some resources, "good reads," etc. for you. Meanwhile, here's another photo, this one of me with my beloved WordPlayer and writer Marann Mincey, who moved away from Charlotte too many years ago.
We love having the horse at the Indian restaurant where we shared lunch prancing above our heads! Can you feel the basking?
It was baby steps that got us here, reunited, to share the fun of taking more baby steps
toward our next books.
Hopefully, you'll be inspired to attend a writers' conference yourself in the not-too-distant future. All the conferences I've attended have some kind of "bookfair" filled with exhibitors offering wares. At AWP, I took advantage of this, which was an assortment
of:
- Literary journals (yes, you can buy sample issues, and you can also chat with staff members about the kind of writing they're looking for, and if you, or one of your writing buddies, has been published in one of them, you can introduce yourself and say thanks. I got to do that at the Cincinnati Poetry Review.
Lots of fun, especially since I was born in Cincinnati)
- Book publishers (again, you can buy books, and again, you can make new friends, or, in my case, say hi to old ones, like M. Scott Douglass of Main Street Rag Publishing Company, who had my Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong on display. That was lots of fun, too.)
- Writing programs, many of them MFA's. (I picked up a flyer for a short writing program happening in Iceland. Pairing learning more about writing with the
Northern Lights—wow-za! Hey, a girl can dream, right?)
- Writing tools and products, including snazzy new software that can do everything but come up with the words to
use...
More soon! Now it's time to introduce you to the woman who inspired the "words-of-the-week," Helen Gardiner-Parks, a woman who has baby-stepped her way into a new business as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, writing all the while of things nutritional and otherwise. How I love this wise, warm, zany woman who brought our whole Gift of Memoir class to hoots of laughter and tears of empathy, often in the same writing piece. I think you're going to really enjoy her featured essay on baby steps, "Is it okay to put sugar on my Frosted Flakes?"
Bask in your own baby steps,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
PROJECT BOOK RETREAT:
GET YOUR BOOK OUR OF YOU AND INTO THE WORLD
THIS WEEKEND!
(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.
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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 has helped me realize that I have wings, that I can trust them, and that I need to use them." Meet Helen Gardiner-Parks
See Helen. See Helen write. See Helen grow. See Helen launch her very own business. Wow, Helen, wow, says Helen. See Helen thank her beloved community for their support. See Helen thank Maureen and the Wordplay
classes that allow Helen to use her skills with the one to spread awareness of the other. Thank you, Maureen, thank you, says Helen.
Helen Gardiner-Parks NTP already had a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, but decided she needed more letters after her name. She also decided it was time to put her passion for nutrition to work. Helen became a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and, just in time for
publication of this ‘zine, unveiled her website, www.wellnessrevealednc.com. Helen is now ready to help you save the world, one diet—one healthy fat, protein, and carb—at a time. Helen does health coaching with a unique hands-on component and offers focused nutrition presentations for the community. She also teaches a five-week series of classes about diet and digestion
called The RESTART Program (www.therestartprogram.com). Contact her for more information: heleng.ntp@gmail.com and (980)349-8690. You can also find Helen on Facebook at Helen Gardiner-Parks NTP.
Helen lives to the north of Uptown Charlotte in a house variously full of human and creature animals, along with a reasonable amount of clutter (just enough!) and plenty of pet hair (more than she would like, but a dog has to do what a dog has to do. And the cat, too, to be fair).
What Helen says about WordPlay "Many years ago, when our children still squalled if I left the room, my partner graciously agreed to stay with them all day so that I could attend an event called a “Seasonal Writing Retreat” with a woman named Maureen Ryan Griffin. Little did I know that my innocently placed bid on this particular church auction item would do so much to enrich my life.
The selling points of the event were threefold: writing, retreating, and staying close to home. Ever since the age of eight and a certain—very pink—strawberry-shaped notepad, to the endless composition books with which I am now surrounded, I have always journaled. The retreat part was a no-brainer as a mother of three, and, wonder of wonders, the location was my family’s
church—Maureen used to host her seasonal retreats at Piedmont UU Church in North Charlotte.
Not advertised in the very welcoming description she crafted for that church auction was my fear. I had never shared my writing with folks other than teachers, neither had I spent time in a circle of people who actually
called themselves writers, nor was I anywhere close to being comfortable with my own voice. But I wanted what I detected in the group around me, so I plunged into the sacred space created by Maureen and I have not looked back.
Fast forward more years, workshops, and classes than I can probably count (I do notice
there is less squalling at home when I leave now) and I declare, “I am a writer,” when folks ask what I do. Maureen has helped me realize that I have wings, that I can trust them, and that I need to use them. So here I am—come fly with me!"
Featured Writing Is it okay to put sugar on my Frosted
Flakes?
by
Helen Gardiner-Parks
“Is it okay to put sugar on my Frosted Flakes?” Dajon asks, his eyes bright behind large, wireless specs. “It’s not a big spoon I
use.”
“Well, what do you think?” I turn the query back to him rather than laugh in his face, rather than say, You’re kidding, right? Something tells me it’s not appropriate for the guest presenter to deride one of the seventh graders.
The classroom teacher interjects, “Thumbs up, or thumbs down,
class?” I feel uncomfortable with the implicit judgement in this question. I’m impressed by Dajon’s willingness to admit to sugaring the already quite sugary and I want to encourage the honesty, not shut it down.
We had just uncovered the fact that a can of Coke has almost twice the amount of sugar we are meant to consume in one day, so this was a brave question, I thought, and jumped into the
fray, throwing Dajon a lifeline: “Baby steps, Dajon, baby steps. I would love for you to stop sugaring your Frosted Flakes, but I know it’s hard. How about using a smaller spoon? And then only filling it part of the way, and then, less, and less? What do you think?”
Baby steps, we must take baby steps. We
must begin where we are, and move on from there. Mother-may-I take one step forward? Sometimes we backslide. But that’s okay, the game’s not over until it’s over, so we keep trying.
I had just been telling the class that the World Health Organization wants us each to have no more than 25 grams, or about 6 teaspoons, of added sugars per day. If you’re sugaring the already sugary, you’re
not going to get much food for those 25 grams.
As a class, then, we did a calculation: It turns out that, based on 2013 numbers, each one of us—man, woman, child—is drinking and/or eating about 40—yes, you read me right, 4-0—teaspoons of added sugar per day. The World Health Organization would be appalled, but all is not lost. I believe we can right this ship before it tips completely over.
It’s all about education and reading labels—or avoiding foods which have labels. We can take those baby steps with Dajon and, Mother-may-I, instead of three spoons on our Frosted Flakes, we can put just two, and instead of two, we can use just one, and instead of one, we can just eat Frosted Flakes, and then, instead of Frosted Flakes, Mother-may-I, we can eat nutrient-dense,
properly-prepared, soaked, gluten-free, local, organic oatmeal with fresh (or cultured), whole, grass-fed, raw milk or cream, along with a handful of fresh, local, organic berries, and maybe a splash of local, raw honey—organic, of course.
Oh. That was a giant step, but what the heck, Mother-may-I? 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 "baby steps."
PROMPT: Everything you (or one of your characters) have ever accomplished came about through a series of steps, many of them baby steps. Take some time to write about all the small steps that led from the first glimmer of
"I want to..." to the completion of a goal or dream.
Next, make a list of a few things you (or one of your characters) would like to accomplish. Pick one, and make a list of baby steps you could take to move toward
it.
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! |
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