June Missive #1: PLAYFUL

I hope June has begun nicely and, if it has not, then I challenge you to find one thing to smile or laugh about ASAP. This is very easy for me, because I have a silly kitty. (See photo)

I hope she makes you smile too. She's the only lady I allow in my husband's pants. 😂

Last month, we got into some heavy work and I thought this month we could look at being PLAYFUL writers - it will be a good balance of energy and a delightful way to begin the summer season.

Welcome!

I wanted to welcome Ellie and Elizabeth and Annice to our Circle! We have such a wonderful crew and I'm so excited for all the fun we're going to have this summer.

The June Missive #1

Many writers I know - myself included - struggle to be playful in the writer's seat. It's almost like they're in the end of Act 2 of a novel about them as a writer, where all seems like it's lost.

Some of us aren't naturally playful, so the word might feel forced. I encourage you to create a synonym that works for you - curious, delight, silly, etc.

I chose PLAYFUL for myself because it feels active, like something I can intentionally engage in. One of the ways I can quickly access that is through Yoko Ono's ACORN book that I shared with you all a while back.

This week, I encourage you to just notice your level of play and to get a sense of when you're in a playful mood in and out of the writer's seat. (You may want to journal about this!) If you're not finding you're playful, then that is really something to look at, right? Lots of chances to open up this summer.

How does playfulness show up in the body?

What is the ripple effect of that playfulness on your writing and your day?

Do you have props or specific activities that help you feel playful - knick, knacks, coloring books, etc?

Our June Writer's Koan - muse on this, collage or write or dance about it. What can this teach you about your playfulness? I really had no choice - it had to be a brain-bender from Alice in Wonderland....

“Who are you?” said the Caterpillar.
This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, “I—I hardly know, Sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.”
“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar, sternly. “Explain yourself!”
“I ca’n’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir,” said Alice, “because I am not myself, you see.” —Chapter 5, Advice from a Caterpillar

How is this a playful response to last call's work with the Who Am I? meditation???

One way that I am working on the page to be a bit more playful this month - even though I am writing a literary Novel About War - is to warm-up with some flash fiction to get into the emotional space of my scene.

My favorite approach, which many of you heard about in The Well or saw in my 31 Days of Writing PDF, is based on Erin Morgenstern's Flax Golden Tales project on her website, which you can read for free.

Here is the PDF and the work begins on Page 10. When we meet together this month, we'll get to do one together. I'll find a juicy image to have us all write one about.

Here we gooooooo!

Heather (who was a playful cat in a former life)

May Pick-me-Up: Passing The Baton

One of my grad students mentioned Viola Davis's new book and I went poking around and saw this on her Instagram. WOW. 

Writing prompt for you some time soon (when you have a chance to breathe!):

Write about all the yous that passed the baton....All the yous in the midst of this thought-traffic....

I got chills hearing her speak about this. It's exactly how I have experienced my own journey, and why YA was so big for me for so long -my 17-year-old self had passed me the baton. 

Missive #3: May 2022

SIMPLIFY

Hello, friends!

Last night was a new moon - symbolizing new beginnings! So I hope you get to draw on some of that new moon energy for this month.

Here we are in Month 2 of our journey. I am just giddy after last month's connections and knowing you are all out there sharing with and supporting each other.

You've all received your writing buddies, so I hope you have fun getting to know a new person. I know May is a weirdly busy month, so just be gentle with yourselves and be up front about your bandwidth.

I am so excited about this month's theme - I'm in a very spring purging simplifying mood, but not so much with my house (I mean, that too), but with my tech and all the tabs open in my head. I'm really looking forward to cracking the code a bit with some of this stuff.

I thought it could be fun to get a little crafty and make mindfulness glitter jars.

Here's a video where I explain what that is. I think sometimes it's nice to have a visual demonstration of what you're trying to do internally (and externally).

Less glitter, more spaciousness.

Also, remember to keep a running list of all the things that are diluting your attention. Just write them down. We'll work with them as we go along, but let's see what all those open tabs are in our minds that are taking up our creative energy.

Our May Writer's Koan

For this month, the koan that immediately came to mind is a scrap of Rumi poetry.

It is:

Who am I,

standing in the midst of this

thought-traffic?

I went to look it up to make sure I was using the proper translation and OH MY BLESSED - would you believe the poem is called "The Well"?! I love when magical things like that happen.

My recommendation is to not read the poem. I'll share it at our first meeting, but I think just sitting with these words in meditation, on walks, in traffic....

I am going to be doing a practice - and invite anyone else to join me - in writing the koan at the top of a journal page each day and seeing what comes up (each day - how interesting if the idea of who you "are" feels the same or different...).

This is deep, deep inner writing work. We're going to the source. To....wait for it....the INNER WELL. (I'll be here all night, ladies and gentleman).

And, of course, you'll want to see how this connects to our word of the month...SIMPLIFY.

Intention Setting

Take a few moments today or tomorrow and set your intention for how you want to show up for your writing in May. Take your whole life into account. If you have health problems, travel, busy things....just note that and see what feels good for you about how you show up for your writing.

If you love tarot, you may pull a card for the month and see what that brings up.

Meeting Times For May

I took in all the feedback from everyone about how to work things out with the busy Sundays this month, so this is what I came up with (remember, I will always record):

Meeting 1: Tuesday May 10th 7:30 - 9:00 pm EST

Meeting 2: Tuesday May 24th 7:30 - 9:00 EST

Generally I think Sundays might be best, but with summer coming...maybe not? Let's see how this goes this month. Please give me feedback. I'm also super happy to do a lunch time meeting, if that works for a lot of people. I know many of you work remotely, though not all.

Okay, here we go!!!

(And if these days I chose based on what people told me are absolutely no-go's, please email me ASAP. I tried to take what everyone was saying into account and it seemed Tuesdays were good).

H

Missive #2: April 2022

Hello, ladies!

We're already halfway through our first month - I hope you're feeling nourished by the reading, by the writing, by having a writing buddy, etc.!

Tonight is a full moon, which symbolizes RELEASE. What needs releasing right now? What do you want to bring in? I love taking these chances twice a month with new and full moons to reflect. And it feels witchy and divine feminine.

In last week's Zoom, we dug a bit into our writer's koan....

In our hearts we are the ocean

but we are islands in our minds

It was really lovely to see how it impacted us all differently, and next week in our Zoom, I'll be curious to hear what came up for you with that, our theme3 of kinship, and the reading from last week (Jenny Odell).

I wanted to offer some ways to explore further:

- on the whiteboard above my desk, I like to write the koan and then add some images from magazines or whatever to support it

- Draw a tarot card, or choose one that illustrates what the koan has come to mean to you (By chance, I drew the 10 of cups - so incredibly perfect!)

- write the koan over and over

-practice Lectio Divina (see my last post-Zoom email)

- talk about it with your writing buddy

- dance it, run it, walk it, sing it

To support other ways of looking at this koan, I've attached a piece from Yoko Ono's Acorn. I recommend actually doing this! But also thinking about how it relates to our koan.

How might this relate to the concept of I / Thou (the Odell reading)?

Practice: Find something, an object or creature, and see what shifts if you relate to it as I/Thou. How might this show up on the page for you? Do you have an I / Thou relationship with your writing.

I can't wait to see you all next Sunday (if you can make it). Don't forget to give your writing buddy your work this week!

In kinship,

Heather

Missive #1 April 2022

Kinship

“...we all seem need at least one refuge of Deep Being where we have the ongoing freedom to tell our truth safely and truly be heard, where we can find the support we need to follow our thread, where the epiphanies can come. We need a place that will help us find that grain beneath all that bark.”

- Sue Monk Kidd, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

Welcome to your first-ever missive for our Well Writing Circle!

I swear I didn’t plan it this way, but today—April 1, 2022—lands on a new moon. One of my favorite practices over the past few years has been taking a bit of time on each new and full moon to get centered, clear out whatever isn’t serving me, and just have some one-on-one time with the universe.

The new moon symbolizes new beginnings (what?!), and I’m feeling like our circle is all kinds of auspicious. At the risk of sounding extra woo, I pulled a tarot card for the month and got the 3 of Cups, which is all about creating community.

For a personal inquiry, I like to journal / pull tarot cards and otherwise reflect on the freshness of new beginning on ye olde new moon.

Other than this circle, are you feeling any new beginnings blossoming? Spring tends to invite that. Is there a ritual that might support starting fresh, getting some inner spring cleaning? I’m going to do Yoga with Adrienne’s “Yoga Rinse” on her April calendar today. Pull a card. Sage the house (woo with an extra side of woo). I’ll be meditating at the Zen center for our once-a-month Friday sit. What about you?

April Theme: Kinship

I really love this word, and it’s what I hope to have us all foster in our circle. A deep, abiding sisterhood that has the chance to go beyond writing, to, in fact, use our writing as a vehicle through which we walk through this very difficult time on the planet together. Writing as a spiritual practice. You can call us a coven, a small group, a sisterhood, a secular prayer group. Whatever. I’m here for it.

In my next missive, I’ll be sharing a short reading that discusses philosopher Martin Buber’s I/Thou way of seeing. This is an ultimate form of kinship with all things, a bit in line with what the Zen master Thich Naht Hanh called “Inter-Being.”

In short, if we look at the world through an “I / It “ lens, we are looking at whatever “It” is (a tree, a desk) as something to be used by “I.” It’s a kind of subjugation, something to be consumed. There is no relationship there (which is how we got into so much trouble with the environment). It’s not generous, very, what can you do for me, huh?

However, if we look at everything with the intimate “thou,” we expand our ability to be in relationship with our surrounding world (useful for writers!). I don’t know about you, but my favorite books feel as though they are sentient beings. I would never throw or burn or deface them. If we can begin to cultivate this quality of I / Thou, imagine how much richer and complex and interesting our characters and their relationship to the world and all that is in it will be!

This all relates to writing because the more we can open up our own lines of empathy, presence, community, and connection, the more we can bring these qualities to the page for our readers in a world that is becoming more painful by the day.

I chose our writer’s koan because it jumped out at me as something that needed to be turned over in my head. I felt what I thought it meant, but want more time to puzzle it out and articulate it. There was the initial resonance, but I’d have a hard time succinctly telling you what I think it means. And I thought maybe all of you would enjoy doing this work too. It also seemed to fit with this inquiry into kinship and I / thou.

April Writer’s Koan

In our hearts we are the ocean

But we are islands in our minds

(From the Cloud Cult song, One Way out of a Hole)

I have provided a PDF for you explaining what the heck a koan is and how to work with them.

Because this koan comes from a song, here is a link to have a listen. I recommend laying down and letting the gorgeous lyrics and orchestral drama wash over you. I love Cloud Cult and, if you haven’t heard of them, you are in for a treat. Their origin is so interesting, their lyrics are the most soulful and inspiring I can imagine – truly, this is medicine, especially now.

I went to their concert last night, where they were backed by the Minnesota Orchestra - yeah, it was epic and spiritually healing.

Here is a WONDERFUL interview from a few years ago with the lead singer / founder, Craig Minowa, on the On Being podcast. It’s a gorgeous interview that deeply moved me.

As far as what to do until our Zoom call next Sunday…

•   Connect with your writing buddy!

•   Work with this koan

•   If you want to dig deeper, listen to the On Being interview

•   Maybe do some new moon journaling and refreshing

Here’s to a beautiful kinship!

Heather

• April
• Exercise
• June
• May