Memories and Memoirs Newsletter | August 2009

"Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Summer's Call

Summer calls us outside to nature, whether we are planting a garden or hiking. It is a time when the landscape around us inspires us, entering minds that are full of i-pod music or TV or the many words that fill our days and nights. Words -- they fill our heads and are part of our tool box as writers, but there are times when we must allow the words to smooth away into contemplation, into experiences without words so our souls can be soothed. Time in nature allows us to tune into another aspect of life, one that moves more slowly, one that beckons us to stop the chatter and rush, and to turn our attention to the earth's messages. What do trees have to say about the world, rocks? How do they speak to you?

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful: they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul."...Luther Burbank

Perhaps you like to listen to the earth as you dig in your garden, cultivate the soil, get your hands dirty. I grew up with a great-grandmother who taught me about the garden. She got up at 5 AM and worked hard until 7 when she came up and rousted us up for breakfast. My grandmother, her daughter, was not an outdoor type nor an early riser, but she'd try on those summer Iowa mornings to sit and stare at a cup of thick coffee to listen to Blanche boast about her strawberries, her tomatoes, and how the eggshells she tossed into the soil made everything grow just right!

There was a kind of listening I learned as she dug at the weeds, promoting the good growth and getting rid of the bad. The watering, glorying in it. Soon boiling on her wood cook stove--in August!--were caldrons of tomatoes to be canned. In August in Iowa, everything was ripening, coming into fruition, a visceral, body experience to see and taste the earth directly and without any civilized filters.

What is your connection to the earth, the seasons, to this kind of subtle listening? It is from these quiet moments that we are refreshed, our creativity fed and watered like the plants. During your hike or your gardening, look at your world thorough fresh eyes. My grandchildren wander outside with their mouths open, looking, drinking in every detail. "Nana, see that bird! Wow, what a pretty flower. See the interesting rock." They remind me to slow way down and to see the unfolding world through open and curious eyes.

Listening to the Earth

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.--Pablo Picasso

Within us are worlds of creativity and passion, though the light may seem dim in the constant stream of busy-ness and responsibility. But if you are interested in writing, chances are your secret self has been writing, and reading, for a very long time. There has been a voice, a force that you have been listening to and it is demanding your attention. That is another definition of the Muse.

Tips for Painting Your Memories on the Page

  1. Write brief stories, vignettes, at least once a week.
  2. Don't spend a lot of time pondering where to start. Just jump in and grab an image, a strong feeling that you have right now. Start with that and see what spins out.
  3. Be willing to learn from the story. Dr. Pennebaker, the researcher about how writing heals says, "Stories are a way of knowledge." It's true! Allow the story to shape itself.
  4. Write from photos or even magazine pictures that speak to you, that give you a special feeling of reminiscence or longing. Writing from a feeling, jumpstarts your story.
  5. Your stories can be written in a letter to a friend, telling them your experiences. Paint pictures of your memories. Let it be personal, intimate, in your own storytelling voice.

New Workshops accepting registrations:

Anyone who's been part of a critique group knows the challenges: sharing your writing with others, absorbing and understanding feedback, taking that feedback back to your manuscript for revision. A strong critique is a gift to a writer, but nobody ever said hearing it or working with it was easy...Read more

Take a gallop back in time, to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with author, ghostwriter and historian Kim Pearson, and discover how you participated in and contributed to the events and trends of those times. Yes, if you were 7 or 77, what you did, thought, felt, and witnessed mattered - to history! Anchor your memoir in time with historical context, adding depth and color to help your future readers understand "where you're coming from.".... Read more

As a group, we write about the important moments in our lives--childhood memories, careers, love and family, and spiritual quests. Some writers use poetry and prose to capture memories and to explore the richness of life. We write about important turning points-the lighter, humorous moments along with the dark nights of the soul... Read more

This retreat offers a chance to immerse yourself in writing from your heart and exploring where your stories come from--memories, dreams, and "moments of being," as Virginia Woolf calls them. Whether you write memoir, or fiction, our retreat gives you time to focus on yourself and capture the stories that make you who you are...Read more

Rabindranath Tagore: Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.