Volume IX, Issue 06
February 5, 2020
Dear ,
Greetings from the Sunset Inn, where I'm enjoying some writing time before my Coastal Writing Retreat this Friday.
Besides the peace and solitude to write, what I love most are the sunrises and sunsets, which are both beautiful here, since Sunset Beach faces south. Here's yesterday's sunrise.
And here's yesterday's sunset, during which I did a lot of thinking about my mother. I believe I got my passion for sunrises and sunsets, at least in part,
from her.
In fact, I'm working on a piece about her love of sunsets now. While it isn't finished yet, I'll share a small excerpt:
Leaving her home of thirty-five years to move to a retirement home was sad for Mother, especially as she knew it was because her disease was worsening. It would only be a matter of time before she went from the two-bedroom apartment she would share with my dad to a unit for patients with severe dementia. Mother made the best of
it, arranging her furniture and accessories in her new home with the help of my sister Mary. It wasn’t the home she knew and loved, but she found the good in it. One of these was the sunset view from their fourth-floor windows.
Each time I visited, Mother marveled at the sunset, exclaiming over what she called “the colors that you can’t see anywhere else.”
It occurred to me, witnessing her enjoyment, that Mother had always marveled at sunsets and I just hadn’t noticed. in fact, looking back, I can remember Mother, in the midst of cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, pausing to dry her hands on her apron and hurry outside to catch a glimpse of the evening sky as the sun was going
down. And I found these words in a letter she wrote me in the autumn of 1978, an autumn she described as “glorious”:
I saw a fantastic sunset on my way to CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) class. It was a “puzzle-colored” sky I’d always thought looked fake. There it was, though, all gray, purple and gold.
It was such a comfort, during the last years of my mother's life, to see her looking upward and finding beauty there. (Below, you'll find another sunset at Sunset Beach picture on the cover of my Lenten Tag, I'M It!
Practice, which I'm offering at 10% off during the month of February.)
After this morning's sunrise walk, I had an "upward" moment of my own when I encountered Julia Cadwallader-Staub's glorious (yes, it truly is) poem "Blackbirds" on The Writer's Almanac.
It's so gorgeous that I changed my mind about what I'd planned for this week's zine. I found a beautiful illustrated copy on Julia Cadwallader-Staub's website to share with you below. If you need a bit of uplifting, a sense of hope, to feel that tenderness and mercy do
still exist in our world, this poem is just for you.
Love and light,
Maureen
The "TAG-I'M IT" Lenten Practice
10% off from now until February 29th!
(on sale for $8.99)
Thanks to an invitation from author Kim Love Stump, I created a Lenten journal, available on Amazon now: The TAG, I’M IT! Lenten Practice: An Invitation to Draw Closer to God through Thanksgiving, Acknowledgement, and Gratitude, that offers, in no more than ten to fifteen minutes, a simple way to grow closer to God throughout Lent by noting the grace at work in your life and honoring the blessings and gifts
that you receive each day, as well as acknowledging the actions you’ve taken that bless others and bring more goodness into the world.
This is an adaptation of the regular Tag, I’m It!: A Daily Journal of Thanks-Giving, Act-Knowledge-ment, and
Gratitude (also available on Amazon),with 366 pages formatted especially for this process, each hold a quote to inspire you.
More WordPlay opportunities coming soon. Stay posted!
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 “upward.”
PROMPT: Write about a time you, or one of your characters, "turned [your] face upward" to see something beyond yourself.
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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