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Dear ,
I do so love these words of Goethe's:
"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have believed would have come his way. Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it." ~
German Poet/Philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Today, when I thought of them, as I so often do, the word that leapt out was "grace." You see, today I'm awash with gratitude for the grace that brought me my WordPlay customer support specialist (and "Maureen support specialist" as well, I might add), who stepped forward out of the clear blue almost a year ago to help me.
At the time, I had "definitely committed myself" to a larger-than-ever number of WordPlay classes and workshops, and Mica was just the "material assistance" that I needed to administer them, with "grace" abounding.I very badly needed help with my business and has given 200% ever since.
She's done everything from transcribing audio files to preparing seasonal retreat lunches to maintaining databases to watering my plants in the heat of summer when I was traveling. (Here she is in front of my thriving rosemary bush.) And, oh, the thousands of emails she has sent and answered! You've likely gotten at least one or two of them yourself.
After our work session today, I thought about the way Mica had materialized after I was already committed up to my elbows. It seems like it always goes that way. We'd like the grace before we tackle our dreams, but that's not the way it seems to work.
So today, I'm inviting you to thoroughly commit to a writing dream of yours that you've been wanting to act on for a long time.
I mean really, no kidding, do or die commit. Jump in and begin even when you don't know exactly what you're doing. And then watch for the grace.
Because it will come. I'm convinced that Goethe knew what he was talking about. And I have a story that proves it. (See below.) I have a lot of stories about grace (sometimes I use Carl Jung's term, "synchronicity") but the one I'm sharing with you may be my very favorite. I think about it every time I'm afraid I've taken on something too big to pull off, and I remember that, if I just keep taking the small actions I see in front of me to do, "grace" in some form or other will show up at my door. (Or in front of my rosemary bush.) As it will show up for you.
Commit, act, and look for the grace that's sure to follow,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
COASTAL WRITING RETREAT AT THE SUNSET INN,
SUNSET BEACH, NC
(Writing as Renewal and Inspiration)
Back by popular request: a weekend writing retreat full of activities to reconnect you to your creativity. Renew yourself, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer. $378 includes writing sessions, two nights' lodging, two breakfasts and Saturday lunch (hotel tax and Saturday dinner at a local restaurant not included).
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, February 22 - Sunday, February 24, 2012
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here
first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon - this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available each weekend.
PROJECT: BOOK AT THE SUNSET INN, SUNSET BEACH, NC (Writing / Publishing Your Book-length Writing Project) / 1 weekend session
A hands-on workshop for any writer who would like to write and/or submit a book for publication and 1) doesn't know how, 2) doesn't get around to it, 3) feels a) intimidated, b) confused, c) overwhelmed, d) uninspired, 4) all of the above! In a beautiful coastal setting, you will gain working knowledge of the steps you need to take to write and publish a book and begin creating your own personalized plan.
Note: Class doesn't include critique of your book manuscript.
WHERE: The Sunset Inn, 9 North Shore Dr., Sunset Beach, NC 28468
WHEN: Friday, March 1 - Sunday, March 3, 2012*
TO REGISTER: Contact the Sunset Inn at 888.575.1001 (if you would like to handpick your room, view your choices here
first, then call). Because the Inn is holding rooms for you, our participants, they are blocked off as unavailable online. Register soon - this is a popular event and there are only 8 spaces available each weekend.
For details about more 2013 offerings, visit www.wordplaynow.com/current.htm.
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Featured Writing
Up to My Elbows
I've never been sensible. I've never gotten it through my head that having a well-thought-out plan is a good idea; waving my hand wildly, shouting "I'll do it!" with no forethought-and often no demonstrated skill or experience-is not. How much paper would it take to list the times I've found myself up to my elbows in trouble as a result? Following my college boyfriend to North Carolina, 600 miles from home and family, belongs on that list, even if I did have the wherewithal to secure a teaching job before loading up the U-haul.
The complications wasted no time arriving. Why hadn't I considered the possibility that my boyfriend would change his mind about marrying me, leaving me stranded in a city where I knew absolutely no one? It didn't help that my teaching job was in a small town 30 miles away, or that my fellow teachers lost no time explaining that a "Damn Yankee" is a Yankee who doesn't go back North where she belongs. Maybe they were kidding, but it felt like a bucket of ice water thrown on the already cold rain of my loneliness.
What could I do but throw my heart and soul into my students? These 47 middle schoolers were the closest thing I had to family. So, when Halloween came, I decided to treat them to a family favorite-pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting. The evening before, I mixed up a triple recipe in a large pot, plopped spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet, and slid it into the oven. I turned, as I always had, to fill another sheet as those were baking. It was only then that I realized there was no other cookie sheet. This was not my mother's kitchen, it was the kitchen of my own, pathetically furnished one-bedroom apartment, and one cookie sheet was all I owned.
I looked at the clock-8:49. Eleven minutes till the stores closed. (Yes, this was before twenty-four hour Wal-Marts.) Could I make it to the Richway a few miles away? But what about the cookies I'd just put in the oven? The scent of warm cinnamon made me want to cry. I was flunking adulthood; I was a fool who was going to be up half the night baking and frosting cookies. I was tempted to pitch the dough into the trash, pot and all. I may have been more miserable at some point in my life. At that moment, I didn't think so.
Just then, my doorbell rang. It took a minute for the sound to register-I'd never heard it before. The only person I knew in Charlotte was my ex-almost fiancé, and I was sure he wasn't at the door. Two high school kids were standing on my stoop. They were, they told me, with a program called Junior Achievement. "We learn how to run a business by selling something," one of them said, holding out a sample of their product. "Would you like to buy a cookie sheet?" How much paper would it take to calculate the odds that such a thing could happen? And how could I not believe forever after that some kind of grace blesses those up to their elbows in good intentions, if not good sense?
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 "grace."
1. Commit to a writing project that's near and dear to your heart, take action toward it, and look for grace! 2. Make a list of the times in your life that grace has "come knocking at your door." (The more you pay attention, the more of these moments you'll get.) Choose one incident off your list and write your story out. Then share it with someone.
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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