Volume XI, Issue 3
January 19, 2022
Dear ,
Are you easily moved to tears, whether they are from deep joy or sorrow, or even from laughing yourself silly? Or do you find tears hard to come by?
Yes, I am speaking of tears today, inspired by one of my favorite quotes about the importance of tears to writers: "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." (from poet Robert Frost's gorgeous essay "The Figure a Poem Makes") And also inspired by WordPlayer Diann Cockerham's new book, Exquisite Tears, which I was fortunate enough to be able to support her in writing. Here we are, celebrating its birth into the world.
I, like Diann, have always been a crier, and I found all the research, insight, and stories about tears she shares in this book fascinating. I think you will,
too. Scroll on down to read the first part of her introduction and for your weekly prompt.
I've shed a number of tears in the past year, having lost several friends very dear to me. One of them was wordsmith and artist Michelle Joy Handler, who died far too young this past September. I had the great privilege of Michelle's presence in a number of writing classes and retreats. Michelle's passion for life, her rich laugh, her generosity, and her creative
talent did truly make her a joy to be with. I'm forever grateful that the gallery director of Florence Art School, Joni Ray, created this video of Michelle speaking from her home art studio on her creative journey as an artist. So much of it applies to a writer's life as well. I'm holding a special writing workshop in her honor on Saturday, February 5th. Details below. I'd love to have you join me. I can't promise there
won't be tears, but I can promise that you will leave with words written and gratitude for the gifts that engaging in the creative process provides.
Love and light,
Maureen
Upcoming WordPlay
NEW!
WRITE NOW!
Whatever you're meant to do, do it now.
The conditions are always impossible.
~ Doris Lessing
I found the above quote in an essay on writing that artist and wordsmith Michelle Joy Handler gave me back in 2014. Use it as your invitation to pick up your pen again. Your words are waiting for you. We'll each pour out our own, together, with ease and grace (and laughter, because no one could be with
Michelle for long without at least one good laugh) through writing prompts designed to help your writing flow.
WHERE: From the comfort of your own home, via Zoom.
WHEN: Saturday, February 5, 2 - 4 p.m. EST
COST: $35
TO REGISTER:
1. Email info@wordplaynow.com to let me know you're coming.
2. Make your payment:
- To pay with PayPal or a credit card: Click here
- To pay with Venmo, find me here: @wordplaynow
- To pay via Zelle (online banking), find me here: MRGatWordPlay@gmail.com
- To pay via check, or for more information, please email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions.
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COASTAL WRITING RETREAT AT SUNSET BEACH
Friday, February 24th - Sunday, February 26th
OR
Friday, March 3rd - Sunday, March 5t
Renew yourself and reconnect with your own creativity, whether you are a practicing writer, closet writer, or as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer! The techniques and prompts we’ll use will spur your imagination, and can be used to create nonfiction, fiction, and/or poetry—the choice is yours.
Give yourself time to write in community with others who love words and ideas, and time for solitude, too. There’ll be ample free time to savor your beautifully appointed private room at The Sunset Inn, with king-sized bed, private bath and balcony, and the coastal setting the Sunset
Inn provides. You’ll return home refreshed, with new ideas and energy for your writing — and your life.
Full details here: https://www.wordplaynow.com/coastal-writing-retreats-early-2022/
TO REGISTER: Please call The Sunset Inn at 1-888-575-1001 to reserve your spot.
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NEW!
WRITING OURSELVES WHOLE
WRITING WORKSHOP & RETREAT AT WELL OF MERCY
Tuesday, March 29 - Thursday, March 31, 2022
In this retreat you’ll learn and practice simple yet profound ways to use words to heal, to transform, and to grow, as well as to reflect on the way Spirit is working in your life. These methods can also be used to create stories, poems, and/or essays.
Our time together will be ideal for beginners as well as for seasoned writers as we renew and deepen our relationship with God, self, and others.
Well of Mercy offers a beautiful space to connect with yourself, nature and Spirit. Take this time and space for yourself.
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POETRY ROCKS!
Would you like your writing — prose and/or poetry — to be more graceful, powerful, beautiful? Do you sometimes find poetry confusing or intimidating and wish you could “crack the code”? Or do you enjoy writing and reading poems, but want a more thorough understanding of what makes a poem good? Then this poetry extravaganza is for you. Expect a good time exploring what makes a poem a poem, gaining the knowledge
you need to confidently create and revise poetry, and strengthening your writing skills in all genres. It would be a joy and an honor to share what rocks about poetry with you!
You'll receive 23 poetry creation tools, delivered one per day (Monday through Friday) to your inbox — in honor of National Poetry month. Use them as you get them, use them when you can, use them over and over to create poems. Each tool zeroes in on one aspect of poetry and provides an innovative method to approach writing a poem.
Learn more about these tools, and the course, here.
WHERE: From the comfort of your own home, via the web.
WHEN: Any time you want! And once you receive all 23 tools, they’re yours to keep, which means that you can keep using them for years to come.
COST: $45
TO REGISTER: To pay via Zelle, Venmo, or a check via mail, email info@wordplaynow.com for instructions.
To register for Poetry Rocks online, click here.
WordPlay Success Story
"To write with Maureen is to write
what you were destined to write."
Meet Diann Cockerham
Diann Cockerham, EdD, is a consultant and career counselor who went from secretary to cum laude BBA graduate and on to winning national awards
selling medical products and serving ten years in healthcare management. Then everything changed. With God’s loving help, she adjusted, and went on to spend twelve years as a successful college administrator guiding hundreds of college students in finding their career path. She is a nonfiction author, a skier who dreams of living in the Colorado Rockies, and a researcher of emotions who thrives on helping others find their unique, God-ordained path through life and all the changes along the way.
She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband. Their family of four adult children and eight grandchildren is their everything.
Connect with Diann at her website: www.dianncockerham.com
Purchase Exquisite Tears here.
What Diann says about WordPlay
I never thought I wanted to be a writer. I just stumbled into writing as a student. This sounds benign except please understand that I have spent most of my life as a student. From kindergarten to recent postgraduate
college courses - lots of writing. Then during the last ten years I got a glint of an idea to go from academic writing to writing nonfiction about a subject close to my heart. That little shimmer, that vague notion, slowly became an obsession. The Holy Spirit took me by my hand and by my heart and said, “Come with me. Let’s make a book together.”
That’s how I found Maureen, who became my coach, my mentor and dear friend. She welcomed me in the beginning with my ideas, my pages and pages of very rough notes, and with an open mind and a wide-open heart. Maureen’s support and nudging to “make it more personal” took me from academic writing with my head to nonfiction spiritual writing from my heart—just what the Holy Spirit had in mind and what abundant joy it
has been creating Exquisite Tears.
Maureen has that rare gift of being able to combine her professional prowess with her tender charm while guiding her clients and classes. Her friendly approachability along with her candid forthrightness come together in amazing ways to bring out those hidden gifts, those special words that say what your heart, your soul, and yes, even your head, are longing to say.
To write with Maureen is to write what you were destined to write.
The eyes have one language everywhere.
—George Herbert
I have always, even as a little girl, wondered what I was supposed to be. My teachers and friends would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and with each question came a different answer. When I learned about dreams and making them come true, I tried to decide what
would make me happy as a grown-up so that I could dream about it and make it come true. I had a hard time deciding and changed my mind daily. My parents would try to help by pointing out all the ways I was special and all the things I did well. Mother said I should be a teacher because I did such a good job taking care of little sisters and kids in the neighborhood. Daddy said I should use my imagination because I always played make-believe and loved creating a new song or a new something to do
every day. They both said that with whatever I did when I grew up, it would be important that I learn not to cry so much.
That’s right—I’ve always had a unique connection with emotions and tears. There are many reasons why. One of them is that I have not been able to control my tears through the years. The truth is that tears actually control me in many ways and have a special place in my heart.
Tears have come with almost every important event in my life and even some not-so-important ones. I have also experienced a deeply emotional phase when tears just would not come for me. This was difficult to understand, and with all of this came a fascination with emotions and feelings, along with the eyes and tears that tell the story. Perhaps this sounds familiar, or maybe you have had a different experience with tears. Tears may not come easily for you or not at all. And yet, however unique
we are as humans, tears are as much a part of who we are as anything, and I have learned that they have a special purpose.
Back when I was a curly-haired, five-year-old tomboy, I adored my daddy. All that he said and all that he taught me was absolutely golden. He was an optician who crafted and sold eyeglasses for a living and he was extremely creative, a true artist in many ways. Along with his
beautiful singing voice and drawing skills, one of his magical gifts was his talent for creating hand-painted, artificial eyes for people who had lost an eye.
In those days right after World War II, there was a special need for these artificial eyes. Daddy’s creations were beautiful and so realistic. He took hours and hours to painstakingly craft each precious eye to perfectly match its mate—the other eye now giving “sight” all
alone. They were made of special plastics and after measurements were taken, as with pottery or porcelain, they were baked in plaster molds. Those exquisite works of art would sit right up there on our mantel while they cured in the molds waiting for the finishing touches that would result in a precise fit. I can see them now.
We were never allowed to touch them, but those beautiful, delicate eyes were captivating and came to life when they seemed to wink at us in the flickering firelight. While my sisters and I looked up at them, Daddy would tell us stories of the brave soldiers and how they lost
their sight fighting for our freedom. He would explain how the magic of tears made it possible for the new artificial eye to move. Although it would never see or shed tears of its own, it would fit right in as a partner to the unharmed eye. My sisters and I loved his stories, and our imaginations took us away to the battlefields and bedsides and made us so proud of Daddy and what he was able to do for those brave men.
That is one reason I chose to write a book to explore and share with you the nature and spiritual characteristics of tears. A far more important reason, however, is that I believe God has given us tears as valuable clues and hallmarks of emotion. Imagine the first man and
woman communicating and expressing their feelings using words, body language, touching, singing, and dancing—all the wonderful ways of expression that we embrace without even thinking what they might tell us about ourselves. Right up there with these means of expression are tears. What do they tell us about ourselves? . . .
from the Introduction to Exquisite Tears
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 "tears."
PROMPT: What has brought you, or someone else, real or fictional, to tears? Write about tears, your own or
anyone else's, in any genre—or just explore this rich topic through journal writing.
It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats here.
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 three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, 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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