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Dear ,
Happy Mother's Day, whether or not you're a mom! This week's featured writing honors a mother whose memory lives on -- along with some haunting questions. My thanks to "Gift of Memoir" class participant Elaine Markmann Chernotsky for sharing her mother with us for Mother's Day.
If you're interested in writing memoir, check out the upcoming workshops! A few other WordPlay opportunities are coming up soon too. A mail-in registration form is attached if any of them are calling your name.
All best to you and your writing!
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
(Due to Internet difficulties, online links for these offerings will be available next week. I hope you can join me! Let me know if you have any questions.)
WRITE YOURSELF! (Writing Inspiration; Creating New Writing; Fueling a Current or Languishing Writing Project ; Rekindling Your Writing Passion; Getting Unstuck) $30/session or save 10%: all three sessions for $81.
WHEN: Thursday, May 30, June 6, and/or June 13, 7 to 9 pm
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
TO REGISTER: Mail in attached registration form. Or email info@wordplaynow.com to pay via credit card.
SUMMER WRITING RETREAT (Writing - and More - as Renewal; Creating New Writing; Recharging Writing Energy)
$97 includes lunch, handouts, and supplies.
WHEN: Saturday, June 8, 10 am to 5 pm
WHERE: South Charlotte (details upon registration)
TO REGISTER: Mail in attached registration form. Or email info@wordplaynow.com to pay via credit card.
GIFT OF MEMOIR (Telling Your Story; Preserving Family History; Writing for and about Your Family; The Art of Memoir) $30/session or save 10%: both sessions for $54.
WHEN: Thursday, July 18 and/or August 22, 10 am to noon
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
TO REGISTER: Mail in attached registration form. Or email info@wordplaynow.com to pay via credit card.
DIALOGUE CRAFTSHOP (Strengthen Your Writing: For All Writing Genres)
$77 / 2 sessions includes audio and 86-page resource toolkit. Your choice:
IN PERSON: Tuesday, July 16 & 23, 7 to 9 pm (South Charlotte: details upon registration)
ONLINE VIA PHONE OR WEB: Thursday, July 18 & 25, 7 to 9 pm or via replay anytime
TO REGISTER: Mail in attached registration form. Or email info@wordplaynow.com to pay via credit card.
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WordPlay Success Story
"Maureen's knowledge and support are abundant and endless. I was continuously inspired by her and the wonderful writers in the class.
"
Meet WordPlayer Elaine Markmann Chernotsky
As the family historian, where would I begin to write and tie together an assortment of stories? Last summer, an article in The Charlotte Observer
about Maureen caught my eye. Her website announced a class: "The Gift of Memoir," and there was room for me. A class in creative writing both excited me and filled me with terror not experienced since freshman year. Maureen's knowledge and support are abundant and endless. I was continuously inspired by her and the wonderful writers in the class. When I wasn't looking, my stories increased into double digits. The original plan was to collect and write family stories for my daughter, nieces and nephews. Maureen and the class encouraged me to extend this piece about questions I wish I had asked my mother. This is in her honor.
MORE ABOUT ELAINE:
I am a Counselor and Educator and have experience with all age groups. As a child of Survivors, the Holocaust and human rights issues have been a central part of my personal and professional life. I have presented at the national meetings of the American Counselor Association and the Association of Jewish Family & Child Agencies. Since 1998, I have worked with older adults and teach a class "Exercise of the Mind" whose focus is enhancing the lives of seniors. I have always been drawn to art therapy and am certified in SoulCollage(r). Additional interests include memoir writing and the Butterfly Project, which promotes Holocaust education.
ELAINE'S SOULCOLLAGE (r) CARD FOR HER MOTHER, RUTH FELDMAN MARKMANN
Featured Writing
Mom Questions by
Elaine Markmann Chernotsky
Mothers are invisible; they are like familiar and ever present wallpaper. My mom died suddenly in 1993 and I was unprepared for such a loss. I was 42, and had been too busy with my life to consider hers. I didn't think enough about her to consider her many lessons that were hardwired in me. When I now listen to the words of other Holocaust survivors, I realize I don't know her whole story. How did I miss that? Inspired by friend and fellow writer Pam Pellegrino, I've written down some questions I'm left with that I didn't get to ask: * What was it like to grow up without a mother? (Hers had died when she was 11 months old) * What was Grandmother Rose (who raised her) like?
* When did you know that your stepmother would not be good to you? * Who taught you to sew? (Mom was a seamstress) * Was it hard to leave Germany and later, Czechoslovakia and come to America? * How did you learn English? * When did you know you wanted to marry my father? (He insisted that she had chased him). * Who taught you to be strong? * What did you regret?
A few weeks after Mom died, I went to see "The Joy Luck Club", a film about mothers and daughters. In one scene, June, a newly grieving daughter, claims she is uninterested in her mother's life as they had nothing in common. One of her wiser, older aunties said in response, "Your mother is in your bones." This line shook me then (as it does now) because of the truth that it holds. We daughters are often arrogant in our quest to create separate and independent lives. My mother's death reminded me of our visceral connection.
My mother's "wallpaper" is more visible to me now as I have gotten older. I look in the mirror and see her face and know that I am not as original as I once thought. The white shawl she made me is my imagined white light of protection at the end of a yoga class. I embrace her lessons and honor her memory every time I pick up a crochet hook, use creative skills, work for others, or stand strong in a crisis. I have come to learn that everything happens in its own time. At 42, it never occurred to me to find out more about her, so I am left with a shorter back story. It is up to me to fill in the blanks and find the answers to the questions I never got to ask. It is part of Mom's legacy and it is now my work to do.
Dedicated to Ruth Feldman Markmann, of blessed memory
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 "honor."
Honor someone you love (maybe your mom, but not necessarily) by making a list of questions you'd like to ask. Think about the gaps of knowledge about her life, thoughts, emotions. If the person is still alive, take this exercise a step further and find out the answers!
(If you write fiction, this is a great exercise to do for one of your characters, by the way. You can either ask questions of a character or write the questions one character has about another.)
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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