Early Registration Advised

Spaces Are Limited

 

NEW EVENT LISTING!
July 21-22, 2012
Women, Writing and Soul-Making
North Carolina Arboretum
Asheville, North Carolina

NEW EVENT LISTING!
August 3-5, 2012
Zen Mind, Writer's Mind
Alexander, North Carolina

 Sept 30 - Oct 7, 2012  

The 10th Annual
Fearless Writing on the Blue Ridge Retreat
Early Bird Deadline Extended to July 20, 2012!
Canton, NC (Lake Logan)



November 10 & 11, 2012
Follow the Pen: A Two-Day Journey to Fearless Writing
Montreat, North Carolina

 
Visit the website
for more details and
all things ClarityWorks

Practice Makes Possible

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Process before product.

Writing requires silence, solitude, space, and the courage and awareness to search our shadow side.

Write from the belly, not the brain; write from the heart, not the head.

The body with its intuition and our willingness to listen to what the body says are our greatest assets as writers.

Writing and publishing are not the same thing. If we write, we are writers. If we publish what we write, we are published writers. A published writer is not a better writer. A published writer is simply a writer who is published.


-Peggy Tabor Millin
excerpts from

Women, Writing, and Soul-Making

Wordly Wise from Peggy Tabor Millin

A Month of Blessings

This Wordly Wise is part Thank You note and some Big News.

Thank yous come first. On  April 28 a celebration was held to honor me and the 10th anniversary of ClarityWorks.

This event came about because of Kevin McIlvoy, an author and mentor to writers. Mc and I had never met; he knew me only through my students, the "fruit of my labor". He told the students that in his 25 years of teaching and writing, he'd never seen a community of writers like the one inspired by my work. "We should celebrate her" was his conclusion.

Karen, Beth, Peggy, Ginger

Three women took up the challenge: Karen Lauritzen, Ginger Graziano, and Beth Parrott. They had behind-the-scenes support from many others.

Some of you know the "I accept!" story that I tell to encourage women to open their hearts to compliments and positive feedback. Mc's observations and suggestions took me to a whole new (and deep) level of "I accept!"

Accepting the accolades from people at the celebration required me to open my heart to myself so that I could acknowledge the essence of me to myself. How fortunate I am to experience this blessing. Several people commented that such affirmation of a person's life usually occurs only after they die.

Another amazing insight I had as I sat in the throne chair with a crown on my head and my family beside me as court, was that all the women in that room understood that they too were being celebrated. Looking out at the faces, I watched expressions change as they acknowledged themselves. The web of connection was right there, alive and pulsing. Although I am the spark, the participants are the fuel and the flames and the light from that fire can be seen from afar.

Unfortunately not everyone could be invited or could attend. This community goes far beyond Asheville, reaching to all fifty states, Canada, South  American, Africa, Australia and beyond to women writing in English. We were all in that room.

The gift I asked for and still ask for from this community: please send me a note, artwork, or other creative expression (poem or story) that expresses your connection and benefit from participation at ClarityWorks. I am collecting all these in a scrapbook. I have received emails over the years that say "thanks for what you do." Such feedback fuels my passion to keep reaching out.

Thank you! My cup runneth over and it is all because YOU are there with your notebook and pen, your curiosity and desire, your persistence and open heart. I am so very grateful.

The new edition of  Mary's Way: Cultivating a Peaceful Heart in Trying Times is out in soft cover and e-book formats, and you can download a free sample.

My blog, Writing Out of Bounds is live with my first post, Stepping into Thin Air.  Take a peek and leave a comment.

There's still time to meet the Early Bird Deadline for the Lake Logan Fearless Writing Retreat. The deadline is extended to July 20, 2012.

Keep Writing!