Writing from a recent workshop — and an invitation to try it yourself
Recently in a writing workshop I wrote in response to an excerpt from "Self-Elegies" by Martha Silano, and a simple writing invitation: to write from memory or imagination, beginning with Because why not?
I wanted to share the piece with you today:
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Why not dream of writing pages and pages with pencils or pens and then gather them up, stitching them together with aqua gold thread to make stories and fables?
Why not then dream of placing those pages, the ones that come from your hand and through your heart but are not your own, into a satchel, along with a few provisions—a few slices of bread and a flask of tea.
Why not wander out to one of the hills out back, the ones at Blood Run that overlook the Sioux Valley, with that vista wide and breathtaking. And once there, why not find a spot under that oak tree? You know the one—the one who's seen the prairie grasses bend to the wind for centuries. The one who's seen the peoples come and go. The one who reaches wide to encircle those who visit.
Why not lay out a blanket, arrange yourself on a cushion, and smile at that grandmother tree? And why not then begin to speak the words from those pages aloud, letting them float on the breeze, freeing them to sing in the summer's air.
Why not believe they will reach who they need to reach that way—shepherded in the arms of the divine and then given over to the world?
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So here's my invitation to you today: Why not try it yourself? Start writing with: Because why not?
The Online Writers' Studio offers writing workshops and co-writing sessions for women who want to make time for their writing. This piece came out of one of those workshops. If you're curious, you can find out more here.