Word of the Week: stretch
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...can change your writing (and your life) for the better.
Dear ,
There sure are a lot of ways to stretch, aren't there?
We can feel stretched thin (December is famous for that), though I hope you're not. There's not any "better" in that.
But we also can, like the Grinch, allow our hearts to stretch into loving what we once thought was unlovable.
We can stretch our minds with a new idea.
We can stretch our spirits with a new endeavor.
And we can stretch our bodies, which can actually stretch us in all the ways I just mentioned (including thin, actually, though a different definition of same).As a writer as well as a writing coach and teacher, I tend to spend a LOT of time in my head, and in a seat, on a daily basis.
I bet you do too. It's one of the few hazards of the profession! And in December, I spend even more time there.
But I know full well that all good writing, and all good lives, for that matter, require a balance of all four of what I call the "elements" of human being -- heart, mind, spirit, and body.
And since my body has been the element getting short-changed this month, I've been making a point of, not only taking at least a few moments every day to write, but also some time to stretch. Does that sound good to you?
I thought so! That's why this week, instead of a 500-word writing piece to read, I'm giving you a 13-word quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes -- you now have a little extra time to stretch ;), in whatever manner feels best to you.
You may want to try the yoga position shown above, "downward dog." And if the writing woman in the photo above makes it look too hard, here's a less intimidating model! Your version can be anywhere between the two.
Notice how much better you feel when you take a stretch break on a regular basis. Stretch up, stretch down, stretch out. Take a good, brisk walk and notice how your brain, as it takes in the sights and smells and sounds of the season, solves that pesky problem in the last paragraph or figures out what story is best to tell next.
Go ahead -- stretch yourself. And don't forget to breathe,
Maureen
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Upcoming WordPlay
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WINTER WRITING RETREAT
Renew and delight yourself. Seasonal retreats are opportunities to create new pieces of writing and/or new possibilities for our lives. Enjoy various seasonal prompts; they have not failed to elicit beautiful material that can be shaped into essays, poems, stories, or articles. After a communal lunch, you'll have private time which can be used to collage, work with a piece of writing from the morning, or play with a number of other writing prompts and methods. You'll take home new ideas, new drafts, and new possibilities. $97 includes lunch.
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
When: Saturday, December 22 10 am - 5 pm
TO REGISTER: Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in.
Or register online: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=NMECPYT88NT6W
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Featured Quote "One's mind, once stretched
by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
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 "stretch."
Have you stretched yet? If not, stretch up high for the sky, stretch down and let your arms dangle as close to your toes as they'll get, stretch your arms straight out as far as you can without hurting yourself. There! Feel better? Now --
- Write the word "stretch" in the middle of a blank sheet of paper.
- Moving out from that center, free associate words and phrases for ten minutes, letting one lead to another. (I call this the "Sprawl.")
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When one strand of your Sprawl runs out, come on back to the center and go out in a different direction. You may want to circle your center word, or all your words. You may want to connect your words and phrases with lines. Experiment.
- Look over your Sprawl. Pick the most evocative idea and Sprint until you have explored it as fully as you can.
- Craft your Sprint into a piece of writing.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
Send in a piece of your writing that you think could inspire other WordPlayers to write. 500-word limit, please.) You can send something inspired by this writing, or anything else of your choosing. Email your words
to WordPlay here and your piece may be chosen for a future Word-zine.
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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 two collections of poetry, 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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