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Dear ,
I spent last weekend at one of my favorite places on earth, a retreat center near Harmony, North Carolina, called the Well of Mercy. On Friday evening, there was a prayer/meditation gathering in their beautiful round chapel during which Donna, the facilitator, asked us this question: "What is saving you right now?" We pondered this as a gorgeous piece of violin music played, and I gave thanks for the many forms of "salvation" that sustain me day in and day out.
My friend Dede was on my list, and I felt blessed to have her in the circle with me, as she was also on retreat. Afterward, we walked together out a nearby country road, discussing our writing, our faith, our lives. Some mile and a half to two miles later, our conversation was interrupted by an insistent mewling that turned out to belong to a kitten stranded in the midst of miles of cornfields. Was it from a nearby farm? Had it been dumped out onto the road by someone who didn't want it? We couldn't tell.
And we didn't know what to do -- but the kitten did. It followed us, running on its short, little legs, all the way back to the retreat center (a place of quiet refuge, I might add) meowing loudly all the way. We gave it milk before we left it outside for the night as the two women who run the Well of Mercy asked us to do when we showed up at their door with our dilemma, and in the morning, the kitten came running when we walked outside to check on it.
Neither Dede nor I is in a position to take on a kitten right now, and there was the more immediate question of what to do with this very noisy kitten who had invaded a spot where people had come for peaceful contemplation. The nearest no-kill shelter that was open was an hour and a half away, and this was supposed to be a retreat weekend for us both. Dede and I were discussing options, all of which involved our leaving the Well of Mercy, when another woman on retreat, Amanda, came walking by.
Turns out she was leaving at noon instead of the next day, as we were. Turns out that she was on her way to visit a friend who had just lost a cat she'd had for nineteen years. She texted a picture of herself with the kitten on her shoulder to her friend, and told us that, regardless of how her friend responded, she'd take the kitten with her and find it a home. Perhaps she'd even keep it. While Amanda went off to walk the labyrinth and drink in the grace that the Well exudes for a few hours, Dede and I rounded up a box for transport and lined it with an old, soft towel, then kept the kitten company on the screen porch. We fed her, named her (Mercy, of course), and Dede managed to calm her into some much-needed sleep. Mercy asleep in Dede's lap
As I gave myself over to a very different kind of morning than I had planned, I thanked God for the gift of this time of soft conversation and loud purring. At one point, I said to Dede, "If this kitten were asked the question 'What is saving you right now..." and Dede burst into laughter. "Us, of course." That's how it is to be alive, right? We are saved, moment by moment, by the love that surrounds us, and we save what is given to us to save -- if we are paying attention, if we are willing to give up our own agendas, at least once in a while.
When we're lucky, this salvation is honey sweet, like the locust in Mary Oliver's poem below that speaks of what she can "almost say saves her, and daily." This week's prompt invites you to reflect on what saves you -- and what you have saved/are saving, whether it's a kitten, your daughter's outgrown toys, the receipt from your last meal in Paris, a lovely seashell, or even a Word.doc of an essay on its way to completion. Below, you'll also find one last opportunity to come "Write Yourself" and a few other WordPlay opportunities coming soon. And there are more at
www.wordplaynow.com. Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
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.
Thursday, August 15th, 7 to 9 p.m. AT Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Want to come? Just shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com
to let me know you're coming and pay at the door
OR use PayPal/credit card with this link:
Write Yourself August 15th (single session for $30)
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.
Thursday, August 15th, 10 a.m. to noon AT Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204 Want to come? Just shoot me an email at info@wordplaynow.com
to let me know you're coming and pay at the door
OR
use PayPal/credit card with this link: Gift of Memoir
August 15th (single session for $30)
GIFT OF MEMOIR Seven-session series on Thursdays, September 12 & 26, October 10 & 24, November 14, December 5 & 19, 10 a.m. to noon
AT Covenant Presbyterian Rec Center, 1000 East Morehead, 28204
Gift of Memoir Fall Series
(seven sessions for $207)
($207/7 sessions includes audios and resources)
UNDER CONSTRUCTION: YOUR WRITING (Fulfilling Writing Dreams & Goals; Creating New Writing; Revising & Polishing Your Writing)
This class is designed to fulfill your writing dreams and projects. You'll set goals and support structures and watch your writing flow! You'll also get feedback on your work (any genre) and learn revision tools. Jumpstart your pen and receive the knowledge and inspiration you need to write, whatever your preferred genre. Each week, writing prompts will generate material for new writing or further a piece in process. Through examples of accomplished writers, you'll learn techniques to aid you right where you are in the process. $397/12 sessions includes class audios. You'll need a copy of Spinning Words into Gold, available for $23.54 in class. WHERE: Covenant Presbyterian Recreation Center, 1000 East Morehead St., Charlotte, 28204.
WHEN: Thursdays, 7 - 9 pm, September 5 - December, 2013 (No class on September 19, October 31, November 7, or November 28) Want to come? Just print out and mail in the attached form or use PayPal or credit card with this link:
Under Construction Fall Series (12 sessions for $397 -- includes class audios and resources)
See attached registration form for more offerings.
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Featured Writing Mary Oliver's "When I Am Among the Trees"
A medium (~12-15 foot tall) honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) tree
planted on the grounds of the Mary Hill Museum, Washington, USA.
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily....
~ Mary Oliver You can read "When I Am Among the Trees" in its entirety here:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2012/06/23
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 "save." "What is saving you right now?" Answer this question in any way that feels right to you, whether it's a "Sprint" in which you keep your hand moving for seven minutes, a list, or even a poem. And if you're writing fiction, try letting one of your characters answer that question.
Then make a list of what you (or one of your characters) have saved/are saving. Choose one and write about it. 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. |
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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