Beauty & Ruin
Originally Published September 11th, 2017
Let's talk about the many things that break: waves, light, fevers, losing streaks, hearts. Last week, my two daughters each left for their current homes: one in Oregon, one in China. Three weeks earlier, my son left for his new home in Connecticut. That's a lot of leaving. A lot of breaking.
A heap of beautiful breaking. Isn't that just like September? To sear into us with its quietly devastating ruin, the ruin of change, the ruin that precedes forced rest and renewal? This is my favorite time of the year, by far, as the weight of so much natural abundance curls in on itself and melts away again in some kind of alchemical miracle. This is the season that reminds me how searing beauty can so sweetly ache.
And friends, this is the perfect season for writing, the best season, if I do say, and we have a few opportunities for you to join us in the coming weeks.
First, I'm excited to say I'll be reading from my novel at the River Falls Lit Crawl on Saturday, October 14. I'll be reading with Dave Wood and Dan Woll at 1 PM at Gallery 120, if you're in the area, I would so love to see you there!
Second, one last spot in our first-ever remote writing workshop, Art of the Fractured, where we will explore the mighty art of fragmented writing, looking at the works of giants such as Cheryl Strayed, Claudia Rankine, Melissa Febos, and many more, while also producing several short and two longer works during the eight-week course. Read more about it here, and grab that last spot while you can, as the class begins September 20.
Next, we had one cancellation for our most popular weekend writing workshop, Write for Your Life, October 6-8 in Minneapolis. This is an intense, deep-dive into the techniques, devices, and ways of seeing that bring life writing alive on the page and move it away from the pitfalls of self-absorption toward powerful shared themes and universal meaning.
Finally, mark your calendars for The Heat of Autumn, a one-day creative writing & meditation workshop on Sunday, October 29 at the gorgeous Theodore Wirth Pavilion. I will co-facilitate this short but intense retreat with my friend & Buddhist monk Tyler Lewke. Registration for this autumnal day of spiraling deep into the senses and beneath the currents of consciousness, during which we will cycle between extraordinary creative writing exercises, guided meditation, and sensory awareness activities including sound baths with Tibetan singing bowls, will open at the end of this week. I'll send out one more invitation then before online promotion begins.
Oh, and my private mentoring roster is full now, but I have a waiting list for January and would love to add you if you believe the focused attention of a private mentor may help you move your work forward. Just contact me at elephantrockretreats@gmail.com to request information or to be added to the queue as a candidate for this work in the new year.
I do look forward to writing with so many of you so very soon!
Warmly,
Jeannine
