| |
In the Client's Words
|
"I have experienced great revelations when ideas are presented to me in spaces that are not my own."
|
|
Gratitude & Compassion
| |
Practice:
"Yes, TreeHugging!"
|
Compassion and gratitude extend beyond the social human realm. With what nonhuman species will you make gentle contact: extend a caress, an open palm, your gentle spirit?
|
|
Books by
Jennifer J. Wilhoit
| 
| |
Common Ground Between Crafts Collectives and Conservation
Weaving a Network
Available on Amazon or by order at your local bookstore
|
Quote for the Month
|
Everyone needs beauty as well as bread, places to play and pray, where nature heals and gives strength to body and soul alike.
John Muir
|
|
|
TEALarbor stories'
mission is to compassionately support people as they discover & convey through writing their deepest stories.
Offering:
Writing Services
Story & Nature
Guiding ©
Life Transition Support
Mediated Conversations
|
|
|
Winter Greetings!
I hope you have been paying attention to the sunrises and sunsets recently. I sure have! The winter brings in splendid salmons and golds that seem to get forgotten as summer's reds dominate the skies in later months. I told myself yesterday afternoon that one photo would be plenty, that I really did not have to take a picture of every single phase of each day's rise and set, that I could practice taking in the beauty to my heart - where memory abides strongly and clearly.
Bittersweetly, now I can see the western sky from my office window. A week after our relocation, a team of men came into the yard to remove a huge, healthy pine that a neighbor felt threatened their property. I understand the need for safety and forethought. This did not stop my tears as the chainsaw chewed into the beautiful bark - first severing limbs, then felling the thick trunk in bits. I went out alone to touch and sit with one of the rounds after the first day's work; I noticed the sap running down the rings. "A tear," I thought. Or more like blood, the lifeblood of the tree. ( See image.)
Sometimes it is a challenge to hold grief simultaneously with glory. But they are not always parsed out in our lives in logical or manageable sized bits: the opening in the skyscape from my office window now affords me a wide swatch of the west where I revel each afternoon in the shining textures and brilliant hues. The cones I gathered in homage to the felled tree catch the light of sunset.
We live life from the inside out and from the outside in. The focus for this newsletter is "from everywhere"; we also write from within and from without.
Blessings,
Jennifer Wilhoit, Writing Mentor & Guide
TEALarbor stories
* * * *
TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, and
beauty; inform about the connection between story, the natural world, and all things writerly; and promote professional writing, guiding, and mediation services.
|
Spotlight: Writing Everywhere
|
We need to write from everywhere and anywhere. I mean this quite literally: office desk, waiting room, parked car, living room, backyard, on a hilltop, at a friend's house, on vacation. In our pajamas or business clothes, with a kleenex for our runny nose. We write during blizzards, heat waves, torrents or tornadoes, or the weather that most pleases us.
I also mean that we write from the inner conditions and spaces of our lives. It is easy to fool ourselves that we need very specific, particular spaces and times to write. And sometimes this works for us. But it is also easy to forget that everything we are going through can support and inform our writing. No matter what we are composing, the fullness of who we are is in dynamic interplay with our process of writing. How could it be otherwise? There is no division between outer and inner (although we pretend our body marks the edge of self and other).
So, we learn to write out of (and through) our:
anguishing grief,
pervasive ennui,
tenacious fear,
inescapable changeability,
great wisdom or diminishing naivety,
time, money, and structural constraints,
in verbosity or quiet speechlessness.
And we do so in whole acceptance of whatever actually is our experience in that moment.
This is how we write - from everywhere and anywhere within and outside of us.
Please consider how TEALarbor stories can support you as you move forward with your writing projects, as you traverse a life transition, or as you face a difficult situation of conflict; I welcome your inquiry via email.
|
|
Workshops & Events
| |
Workshops 
February 10, 2015 from 6 - 7:30 PM
Second Tuesdays at Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street. Fee $25.
Stacking the Rocks: Getting Organized
Pre-registration is required. Contact Jennifer.
Please note the change in price and the pre-reg requirement. Due to our offices' relocation, I need at least 24 hours advance notice for all Bookmine workshops.
March 21, 2015 from 9 - 11 AM
Spring Equinox on the Land: Writing for Balance
March 21, 2015 in Sebastopol. Fee $40.
Regain the balance in your life through writing in natural landscapes.
Do you and a few friends have a specific aspect of writing you'd like to practice or learn, tailored to your unique needs? You're in luck! TEALarbor stories can provide just this in the form of a small group workshop via Skype (or in person where geography allows). Email for details.
|
|
Did You Know?
|
Every first Monday of the month, TEALarbor stories' blog posts a writing tip or practice to help you move deeper into the ecotone of inner/outer landscapes. Check out February's!
|
|
News & Updates
|
Updates
It is done! We are "official"; certificated mediators are now on board with TEALarbor stories, ready to offer Mediated Conversations Services. Specifically, we offer conflict support/coaching (a one-on-one process with individuals facing difficult life stories/situations) as well as facilitated conversations (compassionate support to foster communication between parties facing conflicts).
Why not put compassion at the center of your life?  Start by checking out my partner page and the main Charter for Compassion site.
Did you know you that past Second Tuesday Writing Workshops are available as a one-on-one option at a time convenient for you? Enjoy the writing, poems, insights and activities from the comfort and privacy of your home, via Skype. Email for details.
Check TEALarbor stories' blog for new posts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
In the News
My proposal to present at the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California (ADRNC) Annual Conference was just accepted. On March 14, 2015 at CSU East Bay, I will be offering a hands-on writing workshop/presentation entitled, "Stories of Conflict: Writing for Insight as a Tool for Mediating."
|
|
| Please Support TEALarbor stories |
 Like TEALarbor stories
 Follow @TEALarbor  Connect
Forward this newsletter.
Sign up for a workshop. (You do not have to be nearby to participate; contact Jennifer to learn how.)
Give TEALarbor stories' writing services, story & nature guiding ©, or life transition support to a friend or family member.
|
|
|
