Volume VIII, Issue 20
May 20, 2019
Dear ,
Sometimes, the very best way to communicate our love for someone is through a letter—literally written letter by letter, word by word, sentence by sentence. Do you have any letters tucked away for safekeeping, letters that deeply touched you? Have you written letters
others treasure?
This week, I'm sharing three very special letters with you, written across continents, from North Carolina all the way to Bangkok. Written from a mother, a father, and a brother to their new family member—a little boy named Boone who hasn't had a family. Until now.
The mother is WordPlay's very own operations manager Morgan Sprinkle, whom you may have already gotten to know via email. She's currently on family leave, and she, her husband Daniel, and their son Ben flew to Bangkok earlier this month to meet Boone, and bring him home.
Here's a photo of Morgan and Boone looking out their hotel room in Bangkok together for the first time. "It took his breath away," she said, "because we were so high!"
And here's a picture of big brother Ben and his new little brother Boone bonding over books and
Lego's.
My heart is so full of good wishes for all four of the Sprinkles as they learn and grow together as a
family. Whether or not you've "met" Morgan via WordPlay, I think you will enjoy the sweet letters to Boone she and her family have generously shared with us here, both in words below and via video. Scroll on down to read and, if you like, you can see and hear Morgan, Ben, and Daniel read excerpts from their letters here: https://vimeo.com/333195297.
I hope they'll inspire you to write out some "lettered love" of your own.
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
WRITE LIKE A GENIUS
AT THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK SCHOOL
STARTS THIS SUNDAY!
(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.
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CLASSES AT CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
WRITING OUR WAY TO HAPPINESS
(Week 2)
Come explore research-tested ways writing can increase your happiness level. You’ll learn how to use writing as a tool to increase your sense of well-being, as well as jumpstart your pen and provide inspiration and knowledge about the process of creative writing, whether you want to write memoir, fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. For writers of all levels, including beginners, who are interested in expanding their
writing practice—for personal fulfillment or for publication.
WHERE: Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. Alumni Hall Poetry Room
WHEN: Monday, July 1st – Friday, July 5th, 2019. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
COST: TBA
TO REGISTER: Register directly through the Chautauqua Institution website
here
TELLING YOUR LIFE STORIES WITH GRACE
(Week 7)
Our life stories are a precious legacy, imbued with grace we can often see only in hindsight. Capturing these stories “gracefully” in words is a gift, not only to ourselves, but to those who love us – they’ll be treasured for generations to come. Come learn engaging tools and techniques to retrieve and record your adventures, loves, losses, successes, mistakes, and more with ease and, yes, grace, no matter where you
are in the process.
WHERE: Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. Hultquist 201B
WHEN: Monday, August 5th – Thursday, August 8th, 2019. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
COST: TBA
TO REGISTER: Register directly through the Chautauqua Institution website
here
DELICIOUS MEMORIES
(Week 9)
Food not only nurtures and sustains us, it’s also a rich source for writing. We’ll explore our culinary connections as we write of when, where, what, with whom, how — and even why — we ate. We’ll also learn from the work of accomplished writers. You can use the tools you’ll learn to create a family cookbook, individual essays, stories, or poems, scenes in fiction or memoir, a food blog—or just for your own
pleasure.
WHERE: Chautauqua Institution. 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722. Hultquist 201A
WHEN: Monday, August 19th – Thursday, August 22nd, 2019. 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
COST: TBA
TO REGISTER: Register directly through the Chautauqua Institution website here
More WordPlay opportunities here.
Daniel, Ben, and Morgan Sprinkle
Morgan has worked as Maureen's operations manager for four years, and has likely exchanged an email or two
with you! She also teaches part-time at a Montessori school in the mountains of western North Carolina.
She and her husband enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, splitting firewood, raising animals and teaching their son Ben about the importance of taking care of the woods that surround them.
The Sprinkles are now home with their newly-adopted son, getting to know him, introducing him to their happy home, falling in love with him and making up for three years' worth of lost time.
Morgan's Letter:
Hi sweet boy,
I haven’t even met you yet, but I’m already so in love with you. I know you’ve only seen our pictures and don’t know how it will feel for us to hold you or what it will sound like when we sing to you, but you will soon. We are so excited.
You are living halfway around the world, going to sleep as we’re waking up and eating dinner as we’re sitting down to breakfast. Your Daddy and I lived there once, too. We spoke your language, ate your food, walked the streets of Bangkok and swam in the Andaman Sea. We left our home and everything we knew to travel halfway around the world. I think all of this was leading us to you. You will be our
forever-connection to Thailand. The country of your birth will always be a part of our family culture. You are worth traveling halfway around the world for. I’d travel to the moon for you.
We love you and talk about you every day. Your daddy is funny and energetic. He can’t wait to build you obstacle courses, teach you about trees, and show you what it means to be kind. Your brother is loving and fun. He will teach you the rules to baseball, cheer you up when you’re sad and spend hours with you in the woods.
And my love, I’m your mama. I will snuggle you when you’re sad, cook you your favorite meal on your birthday, believe that you can do anything you set your mind to and that you are the most incredible son. I’m not the mama who gave you life, but I am the mama who will love you forever.
We’re so lucky you’re going to be ours.
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Ben's Letter:
Hi brother,
These are all the things I’m excited about:
You coming home
Playing baseball with you
Riding bikes with you
Meeting our dog, Dolly
Sharing a room with you
Playing outside with you
Playing board games with you
You’ll learn my language
You’re going to be safe with me. Don’t be scared.
Love, Ben
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Daniel's Letter:
Sweet boy,
There is so much we don’t know about this big beautiful world. Why are we here? Where are we going? How do we get there? For every fact that we know about the universe, there are a million questions that have no answers. But that is the beauty of life. There is so much to explore.
I’m sure that your little heart is reeling with its own mysteries. Leaving everything that you’ve ever known to live with some strange-looking people that you’ve never met must feel...impossible. Who are these people? Where will I sleep? What can I eat? Will I be safe?
There are questions that I will not be able to answer for you. I will not be able to unravel how our lives ended up so intertwined. I can’t explain why I already love you so much. I will never be able to spell out just why the cat prefers to sleep on your mom’s face.
However, as you head out on your big, beautiful, scary journey to a new life on the other side of the world, I can do this; I can tell you the very few things that I know for sure.
You will be loved. We may not live in extravagance, but through everything we drink deeply from the wellspring of love. You will make mistakes, and drive us crazy, and push every button we have, and we will love you more every day. Your big brother has been working so hard to learn how to love you with kindness. And the depth of your mother’s heart is truly infinite.
I know too that you will be safe. This home is a place of kindness and understanding. You can mess up. You can test your boundaries. You can be wrong, be right, be angry, be sad, and be yourself. Because, here, at the end of the day, no matter what life brings, you can come home to a warm bed and a family that loves you unconditionally.
And perhaps the last thing that I know is that, no matter how strange it may seem, you belong here with us. Call it hope or faith or sheer force of will, but deep in my soul, I know that you are meant to be my son and I am meant to be your father, and it will be amazing.
So rest your heart, sweet boy. Because though the world of the unknown is vast and frightening, you will never have to seek those answers alone. Find solace in the few truths that we know for sure. And know that for the rest of your life, we will unravel the mysteries of the universe together.
If you haven't yet, you can see and hear Morgan, Ben, and Daniel read excerpts of their letters to Boone here: https://vimeo.com/333195297.
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 "letter."
PROMPT: Travel writer Pico Iyer said once that
"Writing should ... be as spontaneous and urgent as a letter to a lover, or a message to a friend who has just lost a parent ... and writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger."
Good food for thought, for sure. The best writing does feel spontaneous, urgent, intimate. And we can work at creating these qualities, no matter whether we are creating fiction, poetry, essays, memoir . . . But sometimes, for ever so many reasons, an actual letter from one human being's eyes and heart straight to another is the very best thing to be
writing. This week, make a list of people you could write a spontaneous, urgent, intimate letter to (or make this list on behalf of one of your characters). Then pick one person off the list, and write that letter. Bonus: after writing it, if it's from you rather than one of your characters, mail it.
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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