Word of the Week: fashion
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Having trouble viewing this zine in its proper format? Read it online at http://www.aweber.com/t/OzdUoDear ,
When was the last time your world turned upside down?
This happened for me a little over a month ago when my husband Richard accepted a job offer at North Texas University in Denton, Texas -- an offer he couldn't refuse.
The job he had at CPCC was a wonderful job. He often called it "the best job I ever had." But this new job is bigger and better, his "brass ring" arriving out of the clear blue at age 59. And how could I, whose business tagline is "Take your dreams seriously. Play with them" possibly tell him not to grab it?
When your world was disrupted, you may have realized quicker than I did that a world turned upside down is a world that, as poet Mary Oliver says, "offers itself to your imagination."
It took my imagination awhile to figure out a plan that would support my husband's dream, allow me to continue to serve my North Carolina WordPlay clients and students, and provide me time with both my husband and all the family and friends I have in Charlotte, and... for writing of course.
For now, at least, that looks like three weeks of teaching and family and friend time in Charlotte each month, and ten days (one week plus the weekend on each side of it) for me with Richard in Texas, along with a monthly weekend with him in Charlotte (plus holidays), with writing routines in both locations.
Dates have been set. A house sitter, dog keeper, and cat keeper have been secured. Trusty Mica is managing mail along with her other support roles. And here I am now, typing my zine to you from a little duplex a block away from Texas Woman's University. It's a place I'd never heard of. And I already love it.
On Monday, as I walked into the TWU library with my laptop in my backpack for my first "Texas writing appointment" with myself, feeling almost as excited as I did when I started college, the phrase "fashion a life" popped into my head.
"That's what we do when our lives get turned upside down," I thought. "We fashion new lives for ourselves. And, even if we do this from a place of loss, we still have the opportunity to fashion a life we love.
"Hmm, 'fashion.' That would make a great word of the week."
I almost burst out laughing (not allowed in a library, of course!) when I walked up the spiral staircase to the second floor and saw this:
It's an exhibit devoted to Les Wilk, a fashion designer who taught at TWU and created clothing for at least one "Miss Texas", as well as Texas Governor Ann Richards. What a great synchronicity as I begin fashioning a Texas life I love, which will definitely include many hours of writing at the TWU library!Examining Les's designs, I found all the ingredients needed to fashion a lovable life -- beauty, form that follows function, careful attention to detail, and more than a touch of flair and whimsy. (And some sparkle, too!)
How about you? Have you already a fashioned a life you love? Are you ready for a new design or two? Would you like to add any of the above ingredients? What will that look like?
If taking on a writing project -- or just giving your writing some time and space -- is something you'd like to add to your life design, I hope you'll consider one of the three WordPlay opportunities that start next week -- the "Step into Your Dreams" Coaching Program, The Gift of Memoir, and Under Construction. More details below. Or click here. I'll be sure to throw in some literary "sparkle" along with the encouragement, tools, and inspiration.
Happy life fashioning!
Maureen
P.S. If you're wondering what my 2013 "question of the year" is, all was revealed on www.facebook.com/wordplaynow earlier today :).
Upcoming WordPlay
THE FIRST EVER WordPlay "STEP INTO YOUR WRITING DREAMS" COACHING PROGRAM (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing)
I'm so excited to be able to provide you, through an exciting new venue, with the same tools, strategies, and mindsets I've used to help my private clients "birth" books and other writing projects into the world! Here's what you'll get to support you in moving past that nasty, critical internal critic and bringing your writing dreams to life:
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Six weekly training/coaching teleclasses you can participate in via phone, web, and/or replay
a weekly laser-focused writer's craft lesson (our topics are voice, character, dialogue, setting, timeline, plot) - A weekly laser-focused "banish" lesson (our accesses to banishing writer's block are belief, action, inspiration, intention, support, and habit)
- Several live critique walk-throughs to model how you can revise your own writing (and how to give useful feedback to others as well)
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The opportunity to ask questions and/or request solutions for your writing challenges (via phone and/or webmail)
- Six weeks of "week-daily" coaching/writing lessons (presented in audio and written form)
- A private online group location where you can share writing questions, wisdom, and advice with your fellow participants
WHERE:
The comfort of your own home
WHEN: January 14th through February 18th, 2013
(The six training/coaching teleclasses you can participate in via phone, web, and/or replay are 7 to 9 pm, Mondays (or at your convenience, as these will be recorded)
TO REGISTER:
Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in. Or register online via PayPal or with a credit card by clicking:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=RD3WZ6PEZ9AES
(Or paste into your web browser.)
For details about more 2013 offerings, visit www.wordplaynow.com/current.htm.
Here are a few to whet your writing appetite:
GIFT OF MEMOIR (Preserving Family History through Personal and Family Stories). $207 for 7 sessions includes handouts and an audio recording of all classes.
WHERE: 1000 East Morehead St., Charlotte, 28204.
WHEN:
January 17, 31, February 14, March 7, 28, April 11, 25, 10:00 am - noon.
TO REGISTER: Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in.
Or register online via PayPal or with a credit card by clicking:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=UPZ9UC7QAV6HW
(Or paste into your web browser.)
UNDER CONSTRUCTION (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing) $397 for 12 sessions of inspiration, support, and feedback on your writing project. Top of Form
WHERE: 1000 East Morehead St., Charlotte, 28204.
WHEN:
Thursdays, 7- 9 pm, January 17 - April 25, 2013 (No class on February 7, 28 or March 21).
TO REGISTER: Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in.
Or register online via PayPal or with a credit card by clicking:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LD26F7KU4ERQG
(Or paste into your web browser.)
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT POETRY (But Were Afraid to Ask)
(Poetry Knowledge, Tools and Techniques). Introductory price of $97 includes a toolkit with 21 poetry-building tools!
WHERE: South Charlotte area. Details will be provided upon registration.
WHEN: Wednesdays, January 23, January 30, and February 20, 7:00 - 9:00 pm.
TO REGISTER:
Click here to download a printable registration form to mail in. Or register online via PayPal or with a credit card by clicking:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=66WGQ54T9J3YJ
(Or paste into your web browser.)
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WordPlay Success Story "Maureen has given me invaluable encouragement and practical writing advice. My book is finished except for some final edits and revisions
."
Meet Bridgett Bell Langson (and Bandit)
What Bridgett says about WordPlay
In 1985 I was lucky enough to participate in the UNC-Charlotte Writing Project for teachers, which helped me grow as a writer, but primarily helped me teach writing to my students in elementary school. Years passed. Although in theory I liked to write, I wrote little.
But, in the fall of 2006, I met Maureen at a Girl Scout camp reunion. A mutual friend raved about her as both a writer and teacher of writing. I was skeptical. So I took an afternoon "sample class" of Maureen's. My friend was right. Since then I have taken a variety of WordPlay writing classes and have participated in a number of semester-long Under Construction classes. I can now say that I have become a writer.
One of my pieces, "The Best Gift," was published online with The Charlotte Observer. Also, I have an essay in the anthology Imagining Heaven and a story about my dog, Bandit, in the Charlotte Dogs anthology. My tale, "Bandit and the Bone," won second place in a children's writing contest held by the Charlotte Writers' Club.
Winning this award and participating in Maureen's weekly classes inspired me to write a children's book about Bandit. Maureen has given me invaluable encouragement and practical writing advice. My book is finished except for some final edits and revisions. With Maureen's help, I will soon be able to say that I have submitted my book to publishers.
Featured Writing
In honor of our word-of-the-week, here's one of Bridgett's
micro essays on a fashion item from her childhood that she
has never forgotten.
My Coat
by Bridgett Bell Langson
My three sisters and I all wore hand-me-downs-and at times, hand-me-ups-depending on our growth spurts. I was part of the stair-step set, one sister a year older, me, then one a year younger. We were stuck with wearing each other's clothes. Yet one luscious velvet coat was mine alone. It was a dress coat, green and blue plaid, fitted at the waist. The collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps were solid forest green, as were the buttons. My parents let me choose that winter coat when I was seven and living in Chicago. I loved that coat.
My dad, frugal father, suggested I buy it a little large. Fine with me. Yes, I wore my velvet coat in second, third and fourth grades. Like Goldilocks, I delighted in wearing my gorgeous coat the year it fit just right. But unlike her, I wore it as happily the year it was too big and the year it was too small. I was not embarrassed at all, since my green and blue plaid beauty was mine, all mine. Decades later, the memory of my beautiful velvet plaid coat still brings me joy.
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 "fashion."
Sneak preview: Next week's prompt will give you a fun bit of practice in "fashioning a life you love." This week, we're focusing on fashion itself, namely the clothing we, or others we love, have worn. Check out Ilene Beckerman's charming Love, Loss, and What I Wore: My Life in Fashion as excellent proof that fashion is a great subject for our writing. It's recently been made into a Broadway play, in fact! Here's all you need to do:
1. Make a list of clothing that you remember wearing, or that someone you love wore. (One of my first published poems was a list poem about my mother's clothing inspired by Edward Hirsch's line, "My mother is dressed in a dress the color of crushed strawberries.")
2. Pick one item off your list and write an essay or poem about it, as Bridgett did. Or create a list poem, or larger project, by writing about a number of items on your list.
Want to be featured in a future Word-zine?
S
end 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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