Julie, both the Merwin prompt and your description of what happens in communal writing feel completely Spirit-infused to me. I've felt that sacred stir when writing with others, with physically together or online--and it's truly holy. Thank you so much for describing what "writing in company" can be!
I feel this on so many levels. Thank you for your words. I’m also a pastor who is not serving a church and one who finds the holy in writing and writing in community.
The Merwin poem is lovely, and I’m so grateful for your workshop. I’d always imagined I would panic (I took an improv class once and hated it!), but you create a safe space for letting go of performance.
“When I’ve shared a prompt, and the writers bend over their journals, scritch-scratching away, something changes in the room.”
Just restacked. It is a sacred space. It is a gift. And it does change us. Thanks for this. The adult memoir class I teach is Wednesday nights, so your writing is usually pretty timely.
My friend Kay—the curator of our bereaved mothers’ writing blog—reminded me of a gorgeous piece of art made by our gifted friend Peggy, in response to this Merwin poem. She used scraps from her daughter’s clothes, literally threading love through every memory. https://fartheralongbook.com/2014/05/17/transformation-rebeccas-clothes/
"to be in the room when others experience the way writing can bring us right up close to the truth of love." This is beautiful. Thank you, Julie
Julie, both the Merwin prompt and your description of what happens in communal writing feel completely Spirit-infused to me. I've felt that sacred stir when writing with others, with physically together or online--and it's truly holy. Thank you so much for describing what "writing in company" can be!
I feel this on so many levels. Thank you for your words. I’m also a pastor who is not serving a church and one who finds the holy in writing and writing in community.
The Merwin poem is lovely, and I’m so grateful for your workshop. I’d always imagined I would panic (I took an improv class once and hated it!), but you create a safe space for letting go of performance.
Thank you for this beautiful and apt description of what happens in the room. And I will write again to the Merwin quotation today.
“When I’ve shared a prompt, and the writers bend over their journals, scritch-scratching away, something changes in the room.”
Just restacked. It is a sacred space. It is a gift. And it does change us. Thanks for this. The adult memoir class I teach is Wednesday nights, so your writing is usually pretty timely.
My friend Kay—the curator of our bereaved mothers’ writing blog—reminded me of a gorgeous piece of art made by our gifted friend Peggy, in response to this Merwin poem. She used scraps from her daughter’s clothes, literally threading love through every memory. https://fartheralongbook.com/2014/05/17/transformation-rebeccas-clothes/