Volume XI, Issue 4
January 26, 2022
Dear ,
What a beautiful spirit we lost this past Saturday. And yet peace activist and author and Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk Thich Nhat
Hanh continues to grace us through his writing and his work. ("Please Call Me by My True Names" is a poem of his that exemplifies both.)
What a gift a Thich Nhat Hanh was, is, and will be to so many as his words and teachings and practices live on.
This photo and announcement are from the website of the International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism, which has much information about Thich Nhat Hanh, including online memorials. Find it here: plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/
This week's featured writing is a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh. "Please Call Me by My True Names," along with the story behind its creation. No words of mine can capture its beauty and
power, so I will leave you to experience for yourself. Thank you for being here. May compassion, peace, and joy be your companions this week.
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.
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow —
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly. . . .
Read the rest of the poem here: plumvillage.org/articles/please-call-me-by-my-true-names-song-poem/
You will also find a recording of Thich Nhat Hahn reading his poem, and the story behind the poem, which is both incredibly sad and incredibly inspiring and transformative. Also short, simple, and filled with compassion and wisdom. Truly not to be missed, so here's the link again: plumvillage.org/articles/please-call-me-by-my-true-names-song-poem/
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 "name."
PROMPT: Thich Nhat Hanh's story of how he came
to write the above poem ends with the words: Can we look at each other and recognize ourselves in each other? The title of the poem is “Please Call Me by My True Names,” because I have so many names. When I hear one of the of these names, I have to say, “Yes.” Beyond your given name, what name/s do you claim as your own?
Write about a name or names, your own or anyone else's. Use metaphor, be literal, or both. Write in poetry, or prose, or both.
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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