The biggest difference between a writer and a would-be writer is their attitude toward rewriting. . . . Unwillingness to revise usually signals an amateur
— Sol Stein
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* “An epiphany is a sudden realization of a significant event. At that special moment, a life meaning becomes clear to you —an insight into your personality, a discovery of something you value or believe in, an acute sense of where you are in life.
Here’s an Epiphany Tale one elder told to her family:
I must have been around seven or eight. It was summer, and we were visiting my aunt Clara up at Crystal Lake. I was alone, lying on my back by the banks of the lake, looking up at the sky, and I had my harmonica in my mouth. I was just breathing through it, in and out, not playing a melody, simply breathing. And suddenly, I was overcome with this wonderful feeling of connection to everything in the world. I’d say now it was a spiritual feeling. I listened to the sound my breathing made through that harmonica, and I thought, I am part of the noise of the world. I am part of everything . . . I’ve had that feeling again, from time to time, throughout my life — a certainty that I am part of the universe —but that was my first time. I think that knowledge is one reason I’ve never found the idea of dying very frightening.”Your turn: Write about an epiphany you or your fictional character has had.
* Excerpt: From Family Tales, Family Wisdom — How to gather the stories of a lifetime and share them with your family, by Dr. Robert U. Akeret with Daniel Klein
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Guest Blogger Jean Grant-Sutton writes:This time of year I am reminded so pertinently of the glorious messy imperfection of life.
I see it in an amass of leaves on the ground that are so exquisitely beautiful in their array of color, but they make for a lot of clean up and clutter in the yard.
Great in the compost to make nutritious soil — glad for that.
I take comfort in reality.
Life is made up of much glorious messy imperfection.
I feel like I’m one of them
And I continue to practice acceptance for that.
It takes courage to be imperfect.
Click here for a great article by Roger Allen on this topic. I hope you enjoy it.
Integrative Yoga Therapist, Jean Grant-Sutton loves to share writings that stem from an understanding of life based on the ancient art and science of Yoga. She writes to connect and relate with others about the journey of being a human being.
Jean Grant-Sutton ERYT/1000, CMT is a teacher and educator of yoga. She is currently the Yoga Program Director at P.O.S.T. Wellness by Design in Petaluma Ca. Her many years of practice and experience as a retreat leader, studio owner and director of teacher trainings award her the talent to construct transformative experiences in her classes. She skillfully brings depth, clarity, ease, and joy to this ancient bodywork practice. Click here for more information about Jean Grant-Sutton and yoga integrative therapy.
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It’s a very deep experience for so many people to read ‘Wild’ and feel what they feel, because of course they’re not feeling it about my life, but about their own. And that’s what art does. It reminds us that we are more alike than different and that our common humanity connects us really profoundly.
— Cheryl StrayedCheryl Strayed, author of “Wild.”
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We write for a variety of reasons:~ To tell a story, or what happened as we remember it
~ To create a fictional story
~ To tell a fiction story, based on truth
~ To journal what happened and our feelings about what happened
~ To write non-fiction: share our knowledge or to tell what happened
All of this involves what we learned, what changed us, what impressed us.
It doesn’t matter why you are writing. It is important that you write.
No matter the motivation for your writing . . . Just Write!
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Today’s prompt: Pressure. -
Norman Mailer“In writing, as in so many pursuits, it’s not the most gifted but the most determined who succeed.
— Norman Mailer -
Write about a secret. Either a secret you hold, or write from a fictional point of view.You can take your personal experience and write it as fiction.
If you want, change the gender, age, details of the main character.
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There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
— Maya Angelou
Okay, friends. . . you heard The Lady . . . Write!
From Marlene: Don’t keep your story bottled up inside you. Write it out.
Don’t know what to write about? Check out the prompts on The Write Spot Blog. Choose one. Set your timer for 15 or 20 minutes and Just Write! You can also find writing prompts here.
