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It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.
Rachel Carson
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Gratitude Box
These newsletters include a sidebar to cultivate the practice of gratefulness: for writing, for the natural world, and for all the gifts of Life.
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My Gratitude:
The rain that fell...
The buds that remain full of potential...
The sun that glints off the frosty early morning grass...
The colors of the sky at dusk...
So many waxwings in the still-leafless ash...
And the inspiration these offer to my writing, my work in service to others, to the beauty-making we all can take part in.
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Gratitude Practice:
Gathering Stones
Go outside and gather into a sack a pile of beautiful small stones, twigs, seeds, cones, or whatever else is plentiful and convenient near your home. Place this on a shelf or table you use every day. Find a clear vessel and place it beside the bag of natural items. Consider one small thing in your life for which you are grateful right now. Choose one item from the bag and place it in the see-through container. Continue this practice as frequently as you wish. Watch your gratitude beautify your space as the container becomes filled with the natural items.
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In the Client's Words
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"I worked all day until 7:00 to meet my deadlines. [Then] I decided to write [my book], and I have just busted out 30 minutes, and I'm still going..."
This is the joy of a client who experienced how writing can flow amply and easily, even at the end of a 14 hour work day.
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Books
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Common Ground Between Crafts Collectives and Conservation
Weaving a Network
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The holidays have been over for a long while now - and yet my clients and friends are telling me how challenging it has been this past month to get back into the swing of responsibilities and routines. Lingering houseguests, severe flus, catching up on business, impending tax season, winter weather impediments, and a general malaise seem to be prevalent. There is a felt sense of uncertainty in the re-settling that is immersing people around me in a disorganized, frazzled experience of daily life. I feel this too as I empathize with my clients and as I search for my own writing rhythms. This certainly impacts our writing. What better time than ever to create structures that will help to hold the container of our writing, even amidst the ungroundedness we feel! So the focus for this month's newsletter is 'getting organized.'
Blessings,
Jennifer Wilhoit, Writing Mentor
TEALarbor stories
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TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, and
beauty; inform about the connection between story, the natural world and all things writerly; and promote our professional offerings.
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Stone Piles
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For years I have seen stacked or piled rocks as I wander through the outdoors. What I understand about them is inherent to the process by which they are constructed, namely - that they are laid down one by one for a specific purpose. Here are some examples:
Buddy piles: During four-day solo quests in the wilderness, we erect stone "buddy piles" in a designated area as a way of marking to a fellow quester that we are alright. Stones are added one per day per quester; they demonstrate accountability.
Cairns: These short stacks of rocks are piled atop one another, often an impromptu act of honoring the land. They teach us about beauty and balance.
Rock walls: Integral to the history (and natural history) of places like New England, boulders were cleared from the land used for farming and built into fences along property lines. They are used as boundary markers to hold in or keep out, a designation of who is welcome there.
Burial mounds and headstones: Burial structures all over the world are made of rocks; they are markers of death, powerful rituals for those who live to remember.
Stone houses: Boulders, rocks, mortar as glue...They offer safety, shelter, refuge; they symbolize solidity.
Labyrinths: These sacred "mazes" mapped onto the land from stone are symbols of moving in and out in rhythm. They show us the way - literally, along the path and figuratively, to spiritual depths.
Rock walls, cairns, burial structures, markers, pathways...from all of these I learn how to live. I understand that these rock forms are built by humans seeking connection with nature and striving to create something of lasting value. In building with rocks, we discover the organizing principle which seamlessly weaves past and present, nature and human, profane and sacred.
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Spotlight: Getting Organized
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Someone came into my home office several months ago and exclaimed: "But where are all the stacks of paper??? I thought you were a writer?" I am, indeed, a writer. I am a writer who needs an uncluttered visual terrain in order to find the inner space from which to find my writing voice. My office is organized and my writing is compiled into a collection of notebooks containing labeled sections. I happen to prefer a spacious desk with a few beautiful items and my writing tucked cleanly into binders. This is what works for me.
We all have different working styles. Yet, so many people who seek TEALarbor stories' services also need support with organizing their writing, or organizing their life around their writing project. This is not always welcome news to the client for whom getting organized is an unpleasant, confusing, labor-intensive task. However, with the support of writing mentorship, clients can tidy up the process of writing, as well as the multiple electronic and paper files that plague those clients who have more extensive, long-term writing projects. I offer clients very specific and detailed direction for managing their writing endeavors including:
- electronic file management,
- hard copy organization strategies,
- reference material sorting,
- notes compilation,
- calendaring that supports a writer's individual rhythms for writing,
- writing log instructions,
- journaling formats,
- deadline management
Like with a rock structure, we begin to lay down the pieces one by one; we build upon it until there is a solid foundation for the project and for our writing lives. This framework offers a structure for the day, a sacred honoring of the deep and oft-difficult work of writing, a mirror of how we are strong and well-supported in our work. We craft something solid so that the writing has a safe haven in which to flourish and dwell.
We even work toward cultivating friendliness toward order and sound organization. The structure we build is tailored to the individual needs of the client; we lift and place stones into a shape that fits that particular client's style.
In sum, together we organize large, complex (and perhaps overwhelming) projects by parsing them into reasonable ("do-able") size tasks. This tangible organization also serves to reduce the emotional stress ("overwhelm") of writing.
If you ever thought writing was a messy endeavor, you're right; but it doesn't have to be an insurmountable heap of papers or e-documents scattered across your desktop. Let the stones remind you to build accountability, teach you about balance and beauty, offer you boundaries, ritual and refuge.
To learn how TEALarbor stories can help you organize your writing, please send an email to: tealarborstories@gmail.com
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Workshops
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Second Tuesday Writing Workshops
Come prepared to write the inner/outer landscape, bringing unlined paper and pens. All Second Tuesday workshops have a limit of ten seats. Drop-ins are welcome, however a seat can't be guaranteed without pre-registration. Contact Jennifer with questions, to hold your seat, or to learn more about the early sign-up discount for the monthly series: tealarborstories@gmail.com.
February 11, 2014 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM
at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street. Drop-in fee $20.
Stacking the Rocks: Getting Organized
Build the stone pile that will become the foundation for a particular writing project and for writing in general. Learn how journaling and time in the outdoors can give shape and structure to the next steps in writing.
March 11, 2014 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM
at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street. Drop-in fee $20.
Diving into the Stream: Actually Writing
Immerse yourself in the cool waters of your writing project. Experience firsthand a number of ways to simply begin getting the words onto the page.
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News & Updates
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Website Changes
The TEALarbor stories website is now a dynamic one! This means that changes are continually in progress.
Check out a few of the most recent improvements including the News & Events page, revised home page, embedded links, additional testimonials and photos, and more...TEALarbor stories website
If you previously created a bookmark for the site, please delete that bookmark; it will no longer take you to my site. You can click on the link just above and add a new bookmark to the site page that comes up.
In the News
Check out my just-released member spotlight on the Napa Valley Writers website blog.
Please read about TEALarbor stories in the local newspaper article -December 2013.
See the Worldwide Who's Who VIP press release about my writing - October 2012.
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| Please Support TEALarbor stories | |
Forward this newsletter to someone you know.
Sign up for a workshop.
Give TEALarbor stories' Story & Nature Guiding ©, mentorship or editing services to a friend or family member.
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TEALarbor stories' mission is to support people as they discover and convey through writing their deepest Stories.
The nature-based, creative processes help individuals to:
write for insight, write as rite, write for outcome.
Offering mentorship, editing, story & nature guiding ©, tutoring, workshops and more...
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