Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Getting Faster

Set a new personal record for 3 miles today at the gym - 28:24. Yay! I can't wait until the snow and ice is gone so that I can run outside.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Confronted With The Truth

I had the privilege of attending an all-day writing workshop today with my poetry group. I wasn't really looking forward to it, because I was tired and I wondered how we could possibly fill 6 hours with writing.
I am so glad I went.
The day turned out to be so much more than I expected. It was challenging, inspiring, and at some points rather emotional.
Lynda Monahan led the workshop, and focused on writing bravely and honestly, with courage. It might seem obvious that one should always write the truth, but if you sit down with pen and paper, you will find that it is a lot harder than it sounds. We went through a series of exercises designed to help us dig deeper into ourselves and find the stories that we really wanted to tell but were afraid to, for one reason or another.
Sometimes we don't write because we're afraid of hurting or offending someone; sometimes it's just too painful to deal with past hurts and losses; sometimes it's a matter of not wanting to admit the truth to ourselves. There are myriad reasons for not being still and getting the truth out onto the page.
I was blown away by the level of honesty in some people's writing, the way they laid themselves bare and faced incredibly difficult issues head on. (Part of the exercises was reading what we'd written to the group.)
I haven't reached the point of complete openness in my own writing, but I feel like today was a giant push in the right direction.
I feel honored to be a part of this amazing writing group, and blessed to call them my friends.