Word of the Week: whirlwind
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Dear ,
You may well wonder if I dropped off the continent! And if so, here's a bit of what I've been up to since the last Word-zine:
I've taught writing for a week at Chautauqua Institution in Western New York, visited with family and friends in my old hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, shuffled off to Buffalo, New York, to spend precious time with my uncle and two aunts, whom I am lucky enough to still have here in this world to tell me stories (this time it was my parents' wedding and the wondrous whirlwind polkas my aunt danced at their reception).
I meant to send a zine out. I meant to post lots of pictures on Facebook. I meant to edit at least one or two pieces of my memoir. And what I did instead was take in a concert of the
Brass Band of Columbus, the second ever performance of composer Glenn McClure's "Emancipation Oratorio," the opera "Peter Grimes," virtuoso vocal performances along with the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra, an evening of ballet with the North Carolina Dance Theatre (yes, they summer in Chautauqua!).
And how cold I not spend all the time I could with my brother and his family, who are moving all the way to New Hampshire at the end of the summer,
hang out with fellow poets and longtime Chautauqua friends, strike up a new friendship with a kindred spirit from Buffalo who stayed at the same guest house, swap stories with a grade school friend I'm still close to, savor black raspberries fresh from the farmers' market, attend a fancy, five-course dinner for the winner of the Chautauqua Book Prize, map out five days' worth of ways to write ourselves to happiness, and oh-so-much more?
I zipped on my bicycle from one exhilarating experience to another, all the while doing my best to keep up with the emails and phone calls from clients and family and other loved ones back here in Charlotte. It was a whirlwind, and I bet you've had at least one vacation, working or otherwise, rather like it. Like me, you were no doubt grateful for each wonderful person whose company is precious and each pleasurable, stimulating activity.
And, like me, what you might appreciate most in the end is an opportunity to find the still center in all the whirlwind to consider the wonder of all this gloriousness. It's a gift that Chautauqua has so many pockets of loveliness, like this little garden, where I could do just that. This still wonder in the center of any whirlwinds you may be experiencing -- glorious or otherwise -- is what I wish for you.
If you're free tomorrow morning or evening, Thursday, July 18th, check out the Upcoming WordPlay just below -- these writing workshops are a great way to experience that "still center" within the whirlwind of your own busy life.
And this week's writing prompt, based on a poem called "The Word" by Tony Hoagland is designed to give you a bit of that "still wonder" wherever you are. The result of my WordPlaying with this prompt is the featured writing below. What will you come up with?
Peace be with you as you take some time for stillness amidst the whirlwinds that blow your way,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay THE GIFT OF MEMOIR:
WRITING PERSONAL AND FAMILY STORIES (Writing for and about Your Family / The Art of Memoir)
Our life stories are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift to all who know and love us-they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. It is also a gift to ourselves. As best-selling author Rachel Naomi Remen says in her book Kitchen Table Wisdom,
facts bring us to knowledge, but stories bring us to wisdom. If you are interested in writing family and/or personal life stories, as well as preserving everyday moments from times past or present, come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.WHEN: Thursday, July 18th and/or August 15th, 10 a.m. to noon
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Want to come? Just print out and mail in the attached form or use PayPal or credit card with this link (or, if you'd like to come tomorrow morning, shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com and you can pay at the door):
WRITE YOURSELF!
(Writing Inspiration; Creating New Writing; Fueling a Current or Languishing Writing Project ; Rekindling Your Writing Passion; Getting Unstuck) If you have always wanted to write, or used to write, or have just forgotten the joy of engaging in language as a tool of creative growth, join me in this workshop filled with WordPlay. After all, play is the way we learn best -we're free to question, to experiment, to break through to something new, all our own. Surprise yourself! And reconnect with the power our words have to shape our very lives. WHEN: Thursday,
July 18, 7 to 9 pm
WHERE: South Charlotte near Stonecrest Shopping Center (Details provided upon registration)
Want to come? Just
use PayPal or credit card with this link
(or, if you'd like to come tomorrow morning, shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com and you can pay at the door):
Write Yourself July 18More dates/locations to choose from are below, along with registration details. The time (7 - 9 p.m.) and cost ($30/session; 10% off 3 or more sessions) is the same. You have two registration choices: * Mail in the attached registration form. If applicable, go ahead and deduct the 10% from your total.
* Click on the appropriate PayPal link(s) below. If you've earned a discount, I'll refund it via PayPal - it's too complicated to set up separate links for all the combinations ;).
WHEN: Thursday, July 25th, 7 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: South Charlotte near Stonecrest Shopping Center (Details provided upon registration)
LINK: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5SFC32TFNZR64
WHEN:
Tuesday, July 30th, 7 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
LINK: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=BNKBCFMS7CXMS WHEN: Thursday, August 1st,
7 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: South Charlotte near Stonecrest Shopping Center (Details provided upon registration)
LINK: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LGG5SSWE46AJJ
WHEN: Tuesday, August 6th, 7 to 9 p.m.
WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
LINK: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=CWR9KFPM6ZKC2
See attached registration form for more offerings.
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Featured Writing Clueless
After Tony Hoagland's "The Word"
Happily, merrily, gladly clueless
about anything
that does not
have room in it
for light, for time
to sit out in the sun and listen,
for any task
that does not allow for
love. It's time
to take my mother's
advice: "Be sure to
save room for pie -- I
save room for
the knowing
that time and light
are
kinds of love;
I sup and sip and
savor each
precious
bite.
~ Maureen Ryan Griffin
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 "whirlwind."
Today, relax and let another writer's work lead the way through a process I call "The Gather."
* Draw a square in the center of a blank piece of paper. I like to think of this square as a magnet that will pull just the right bits of language to itself.
* Listen to this poem by Tony Hoagland. (Just click the blue words after the *, then click the word "LISTEN" on the upper left. Don't think or analyze, just listen to the sound and music of the words.
* Listen to the poem again, and this time, as you listen, "Gather" words and phrases from the writing at random, grabbing them as they go by. Again, don't think or analyze, just write random words and phrases around your magnetic center. Put them anywhere you like, arranged any way that pleases-clockwise, counterclockwise, higgledy-piggledy. * Read over your words and phrases, and let one of them, or a few of them in combination, suggest a writing subject or working title to you. Go with whatever shows up in your brain. You can't do this wrong.
* Write your theme, topic, or title in that square in the center of your paper. Stare at it, sitting there, surrounded by words and phrases. * Rewrite your writing subject or working title on a separate piece of paper. Keep your Gather beside it for the next step. * Set a timer for four minutes, and assemble a piece of writing from your Gather. (For the applauding timer I use,
just click here.) Use as many or as few of your Gathered words and phrases as you like. Add anything you care to. Note: This process, like many of the others, is designed to be done without thinking or analyzing. Don't think or analyze. Just write. * Read your finished piece out loud, and enjoy the "still center" of your own voice and words amidst any whirlwinds you may be experiencing.
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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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