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In the Client's Words
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"This is really a big moment in my writing."
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Gratitude & Compassion Practice
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Open up to someone you care about. Share one small vulnerability about yourself. Listen to their response.
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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!
I hope this summertime is holding you well. With four weeks to Labor Day and children's return to school, I am eagerly anticipating the shift that will come. I have enjoyed the long, light, warm days and I crave the outer quiet that eases me closer to inner calm.
Yes, I am looking for changed outer conditions. Apparently, so is just about everybody with whom I've been in contact in recent weeks. Waiting for something to "be over with," pushing transitions more quickly than they are naturally apt to unfold, focusing on outcome at the expense of process: these are at the center of my professional and personal conversations.
We are looking for the "the right conditions" to write, to make peace, to feel peace, to finish our project, to seek wholeness...when what would serve us better is stepping into "the ripe condition" to live our stories.
"Right conditions" focus us on the outer world, where we have less agency than we would like; ripeness focuses us back on the inner life, the locus of being and behaving with heart and soul.
A few minutes ago the beautiful mist that had been hanging low above the land gently swept downward to kiss the August-dry ground. In that instant, I was transported back to the place within that had been thirsty, but was sated by the moisture. That's a ripe condition!
New things are happening at TEALarbor stories. In the boxes below, be sure to check out: a training for local mediators, workshops coming in autumn, a video of a professional recitation of my writing, the kindness blog and hospice interviews, course updates, and other new projects.
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: Ripe Conditions,
Written & Lived
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We all have stories, but they are not just oral or written; stories are lived day by day.
"Deep storying" work is not as dependent on the right outer conditions as it is on the ripe inner ones. We find the courageous hero within ourselves who will step into these inner depths, who will acknowledge how our "truth" might shift as we learn more, who can admit we might not have the "whole" story. To speak, write, live in the moment allows that which is whole within us to have a voice.
I invite you to open up to the ripeness within. To embrace just this one moment as it actually is. To understand that where there is longing, therein lies the impetus for moving forward.
These are not vague concepts. It means taking action now, allowing the nudge toward to be your compass point.
*Write, even if you only have a few minutes and are in a chaotic space.
*Tell what you do understand of your story, even if you don't know the ending yet.
*Take a step toward resolving conflict, even if you don't quite feel ready.
*Spend five minutes on your project, even if you can only accomplish a small part of one task.
*Trust process, even if you really dearly crave completion of the whole big thing.
Can you open your heart, peer within, and find a mustard seed of courage?
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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Upcoming Workshops & Events
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Weekday workshop times for most of the following are also available upon request.
Writing for the Fall Equinox
Sat, Sep 10, 2016 10 AM - 1 PM in Kitsap County
Stories of Conflict In-Service: Calming Practices Rooted in Ecological Writing
Wed, Sep 14, 2016 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County
Writing as Life; Life as Writing
Either Sat, Oct 15 or Sat, Oct 29, 2016 - choose your preferred date and location (even via Skype!)
Seeking Quiet Within & Stillness Without
Sat, Nov 12, 2016 10 AM - 3 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
Storying through the Inner/Outer Landscapes
A 3-day retreat at the beautiful Whidbey Institute in Spring 2017.
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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News & Updates
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New workshops and offerings are scheduled and on their way to you as listed in the box above and detailed on the website.
I've been invited to write posts for a few blogs, one focused on hospice service, another on gratitude and awe. I have also accepted the invitation to write a short guest essay that will appear in the first published volume of essays by one of the co-founders of a nature-based leadership institute.
Click here to see the video of NYC actress Virginia Thomas evocatively reciting my written offering in celebration of Arbor Day at the Tulpehaking Nature Center.
I was recently interviewed for the Kindness Communication blog. Click here to read how TEALarbor stories understands writing and listening as kind acts "within an ecological mindset."
I've developed my online course, A Natural History of Compassion, for the Charter for Compassion's Education Institute (CEI) This has inspired me to begin development of a broader curriculum reflecting the practices and values that characterize TEALarbor stories' work. Please keep an eye on the News page for updates. (Courses for CEI will be offered gradually over time to best serve the needs of our global audience.)
Click here and scroll down to "Updates" to see our Global Earth Exchange act of beauty made of natural materials on a low tide beach just prior to the summer solstice.
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..."
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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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