Volume VI, Issue 23 June 5, 2017 Image courtesy of http://bib.ge. Dear ,
Happy June! Do you have a favorite color? Mine has always been green, so I had to share this small poem from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's
100 Love Sonnets with you today:
Green was the silence, wet was the light the month
of June trembled like a butterfly.
Fifteen years ago, just hours after I lost my mom, I had a dream brimming with butterflies, a symbol of transformation and new life if there ever was one. And just weeks ago, on Mother's Day weekend, at Well of Mercy, 15 years after I created the farewell ritual for her there that would grow into Praying You Goodbye and How Do I Say Goodbye?: A Companion in Grieving,
Healing, and Gratitude, I found SIX swallowtail butterfly wings on the trail, one for each decade of my life—a synchronicity if there ever was one, since in all the years I've been going there, I've never before found even one butterfly wing... what sweet good
fortune.
And speaking of fortune, I was fortunate to be able to begin my June teaching at the beautiful John Campbell Folk School in the
North Carolina mountains, and to have this view to write by each morning from a rocker on the porch of the Farmhouse where I stayed. So many shades of green!
And here are the wonderful writers I had the privilege of spending the week with, just after our reading on Thursday evening. Their writings brought the house down!
(Note the beautiful green pottery pieces on the mantel behind us. Don't you love it when the Universe conspires with our plans, in ways both large and small?)
My gratitude to each of them for their embodiment of the "Godspell Mantra" (from Godspell the Musical, which opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971), this week's featured writing.
The simple words you'll find below, spoken by the original Godspell
the Musical cast nightly before they went onstage have been a mantra for me since I first heard them in 1973. (Godspell's lyricist and composer, Stephen Schwartz, composed the music and lyrics for Wicked as well.) Stay green and keep growing! And keep telling your stories, too. Upcoming WordPlay
WRITE YOURSELF!
Reap writing’s
benefits—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Give yourself the gift of exploring how creative writing (journaling, memoir, poetry, fiction) can enrich your life, and what your writing can provide for others. You will learn and practice a number of fun, easy tools and methods to help your words flow, whatever your particular interest. Whether you have published widely, sometimes write in a journal, or haven’t written anything since your senior year of high school, you will enjoy
this lively, informative workshop.
WHERE: Matthews Branch Library. 230 Matthews Station St. Matthews, NC 28105
WHEN: This Saturday, June 10, from 10:30 a.m. –
noon
COST: Free! TO REGISTER: To register, visit the Matthews Branch Library registration page here.
WRITE YOURSELF! (for teens)
WHERE: Scaleybark Library. 101 Scaleybark Road. Charlotte,
NC 28209
WHEN: Tuesday, June 20, from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
COST: Free! TO REGISTER: To register, visit the Scaleybark Library registration page here.
-----------------------------------------------
CLASSES AT CHAUTAUQUA
INSTITUTION
WRITE YOURSELF (Week 1)
Reap the benefits writing can provide – physically, mentally, emotionally,
and spiritually – in this class in which you’ll learn and practice whole brain methods for using writing as a transformative process as well as a creative one. These techniques can be used to create essays, poems, memoir, fiction and/or nonfiction. For beginners and seasoned writers.
WHERE: Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. Hall of Ed. (Sheldon) Room 204
WHEN: Monday, June 26th – Thursday, June 29th, 2017. 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
COST: $82
TO REGISTER: Please visit the Chautauqua Institution registration page here.
MEMOIR: TELLING THE TIMES
OF YOUR
LIFE (Week 2)
Our life stories are a precious legacy. Writing them is a gift, not only to ourselves, but to those who love us – they’ll be treasured for generations to come. Come learn engaging, easy-to-use tools and techniques to retrieve and record your adventures, loves, losses, successes, and more with ease and enjoyment, no matter where you
are in the process, and whether you are writing for yourself, your family, or to publish for a wide audience.
WHERE: Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. Turner 105
WHEN: Monday, July 3rd – Friday, July 7th, 2017. 2:00 to
4:00 p.m.
COST: $82
TO REGISTER: Please visit the Chautauqua Institution registration page here.
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Featured Writing from
Godspell the Musical
by
Stephen Schwartz
The Godspell Mantra
(Spoken by the original Godspell cast nightly
before they went onstage)
Keep the corners of your mouth turned up.
Speak in a low, persuasive tone.
Listen; be teachable.
Laugh at good stories and learn to tell them...
for as long as you are green, brother, you can grow.
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 "green."
PROMPT:
This week, try Sprinting with the word green (or another color word). It works
like this:
- Choose an amount of time you will write (anywhere from three to thirteen minutes) or a number of pages you will fill (one to six.)
- Set a timer, or, if you’re going with a
certain number of pages, draw a finish line on the page for yourself.
- Begin with the word green, or your chosen color word, and write, keeping your hand in motion the entire time.
Run with your color word, exploring any association you have with it. (Or, if you like, let it run with you.) If necessary, write your color word over and over until something comes to you to say. Do not—I repeat, do not—stop until you reach your finish line, or hear that timer go off. Often, wonderful
words show up in that final stretch when you think you have nothing left to say.
- Finished? Take a few deep breaths, stretch a little, and then read your words out loud. Did you surprise
yourself?
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! |
|
|
|
