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In the Client's Words
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"I was in awe of how much I wrote."
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Gratitude & Compassion Practice
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Gather a few beautiful items from nature: stones, fallen petals, shells, cones...
Wrap them in a small piece of pretty cloth, tied with a ribbon, & give them to somebody in need of treasures.
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Jennifer J. Wilhoit's Books
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Common Ground Between Crafts Collectives and Conservation
Weaving a Network
Order through Amazon or your local bookseller |
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TEALarbor stories'
mission is to compassionately support people as they discover & convey through writing their deepest stories.
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Greetings!
Happy Summer Solstice, June 20th!
Over the recent long weekend, I took ample time to reflect on the season to come, took stock of my work projects, sought out creative pursuit and rest. I also spent time each day moving across cobbled beaches, slogging through mud flats, winding around forested hiking paths, sniffing out the sun warmed cedar boughs, and in stillness gazing at sunset-colored skies. I was restored by letting nature's beauty and bounty feed me. What felt disparate and fragmented before the weekend flowed back to rhythm and refreshment by the end of it. This is "wholeness."
Nature "wholes" us. When we seek restoration in the natural world we feel ourselves reconnected to our source, that from which we cannot be separate: air, warmth, nourishment, movement. We are smoothed out. Our parts are glued back into seamless flow by reconnecting our bodies (& spirits) with the flora and fauna of the outdoors. For we ARE inseparable from Nature and therefore need infusions of connection and time with it. And we know this already; this is in evidence when summer arrives and we seek outdoor adventure (playful bodies), beautiful landscapes (spiritual renewal), quiet hikes (emotional respite), or exploration of new places (learning new terrain).
We are restored back into a life dance that works for us; it's a transformation back to our wildest core. Sandra Alcosser says it beautifully in these phrases from her ode to the month of June, "What Makes the Grizzlies Dance":
"...grizzly bears swirl as they bat snags of color against their ragged mouths. Have you never wanted to spin like that on hairy, leathered feet, amid the swelling berries as you tasted a language of early summer?...have you never wanted to to waltz the hills like a beast?"
(Sandra Alcosser)
May you find the grizzly within and dance the longest day of the year with abandon!
Exciting developments are afoot at TEALarbor stories. In the boxes below, be sure to check out: the fast-approaching deadline (June 10th) for the summer solstice workshop, a free beauty-making ritual in mid-June, the kindness blog and hospice interviews, CEI course updates, and some exciting new offerings including call-in consultations and the development of online multidisciplinary courses.
Blessings,
Jennifer Wilhoit, Writing Mentor, Guide, Mediator
TEALarbor stories
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TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, & beauty; inform about the connection between story, the natural world, & all things writerly; & promote professional writing, guiding, & mediation services.
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Stories: Wholeness, Written & Lived
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Writing can "whole" us too. So can conflict resolution, seeking healing, or moving through a life transition.
Summer is the going outside time for many of us. Why not experience the power that arises when you merge your inner landscape with the outer one? Why not allow the land an opportunity to help hold your story and "whole" your sense of self?
Here are some simple ways you can explore this:
- Sit on the porch to work on your writing project.
- Share your heartwrenching conflict with a compassionate listener.
- Lie down in the grass or sit against a tree as you meditate.
- Walk a labyrinth by releasing something as you move toward the center and carrying a spacious openness as you return outward.
- Quietly stroll through the woods or on a beach just noticing that which surrounds you.
- Journal your way through an idea.
- Build something beautiful outside. Admire your handiwork.
- Actually pay attention to what the breeze feels like on your skin.
- Write a poem, or notes - or even something really messy and scratched out - immediately upon returning from an outdoor activity.
- As you mow, weed the garden, water flowers, or prune, listen deeply to your heart's voice.
Please email to learn more about 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.
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News & Updates
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Teaser: I'll soon be sending out a "save the date" for an exciting collaboration that kicks off this fall.
The Tulpehaking Nature Center's Arbor Day benefit, "Rooted," was a blazing success. Actors from NYC read writers' work against a backdrop of incredible artwork and spontaneous haiku. Click here to see the video of Virginia Thomas evocatively reading my piece. To see some of the photos of the lovely artwork, go to TEALarbor stories' Facebook page and scroll to posts on May 2nd.
I was recently interviewed by Christopher Fox of the Kindness Communication blog about how TEALarbor stories understands writing and listening as kind acts "within an ecological mindset." Click here to read the interview and to check out his other compelling posts!
New workshops, short call-in consultations, and other offerings are on their way ... Details forthcoming.
My online course for the Charter for Compassion's Education Institute (CEI) is in the final stage of preparation. A Natural History of Compassion: Growing Tenderness for Self and Other via Writing and Ecology will be accessible to an international audience. Please keep an eye on TEALarbor stories' News page or the CEI website for registration details.
I had so much fun creating the CEI course that I am ready to begin work on a larger curriculum, a series of online courses offered directly through TEALarbor stories. I will post updates on my website and in this newsletter.
Click here and scroll down to "Updates" to read and see more about my presentation, "Transforming Conflict, Transforming Lives: Re-writing and Re-rooting Stories" given at the Assn. for Dispute Resolution of Northern CA's Annual Conference.
The Windows Within Project's interview with me about hospice service work is available by clicking here. It's dated 2/1/16 and is entitled, "Jennifer Wilhoit & Discovering the Natural Landscape of Death & Dying, A Hospice Volunteer Spotlight: The Peace of Integrating Death Into Life."
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Upcoming Workshops & Events
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Writing for the Summer Solstice
Sat, Jun 18, 2016, 10 AM - 1 PM in Kitsap County
Registration deadline: June 10th.
Free, Optional Add-On to Sat, Jun 18, 2016 1 - 2:30 PM
Treephilia: A Global Earth Exchange - Making Beauty in Wounded Places Ritual in collaboration with Radical Joy for Hard Times and earth citizens all over the planet
Writing for the Fall Equinox
Sat, Sep 10, 2016 10 AM - 1 PM in Kitsap County
Grief & Writing for the Holidays
Sat, Dec 3, 2016 10 AM - 2 PM in Kitsap County
Writing for the Winter Solstice
Sat, Dec 17, 2016 10 AM - 1 PM in Kitsap County
Weekday workshop times are also available upon request.
If you have a venue and a group (large or small) that you would like to see participate in a TEALarbor stories workshop, please email me. With a quota of confirmed registrations or a venue we can use, you will attend for free!
Popular workshops include:
* Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape (introduction)
* Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape (five part series)
* Grief and Writing
* Writing for the Equinox/Solstice
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Did You Know?
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TEALarbor stories presents at a variety of venues throughout the year. You can arrange to have Jennifer present her work about writing and the inner/outer landscape, or conduct a workshop tailored to the needs of your group.
The work of deep storying that is at the center of TEALarbor stories has served individuals and groups on all seven continents. (Yes, even Antarctica.)
© 2016 TEALarbor stories - Jennifer J. Wilhoit, PhD
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