The month of May always feels like a time for recommitting and reconnecting: recommitting and reconnecting to creative work, to writing projects (especially those set aside), and to ourselves and the people we write with and for. There’s an invitation to start again, as spring is in full bloom and the promise of summer awaits. It’s not that the everyday efforts end, but there’s the potential of more levity with longer days stretching ahead. There’s the potential for writing to stretch us as well.
In the midst of everyday efforts to block harm, build capacity, and be with ourselves and others — to show up for what we love and fiercely want to protect — writing can take many shapes and play many roles. In the past week alone, for example, I’ve found myself journaling, drafting poems, reading and responding to others’ writing, signing petitions, sending letters, reposting others’ statements, framing questions, taking notes, coordinating with neighbors, managing to-do lists, and ghostwriting statements of support for a local organizing effort. If you were to make a similar inventory, what would your current writing list include?
When there’s an extra intensity to life and, therefore, to writing, it can help to pause, breathe, and ask ourselves:
- What writing am I doing?
- What writing am I not doing?
- What writing am I ready to do?
- What writing do I want to rest or resist?
- What writing do I want to rest or resist no longer?
- What writing am I longing to do?
- What writing am I longing to release or to bring into the world?
- How can I act on those longings?
With the longing to write comes the opportunity to recommit and reconnect. This summer, what might recommitting to your writing and to yourself as a writer involve?
Now Is the Time to Write
There are many ways to recommit and reconnect with ourselves as writers. These might include writing community, groups, retreats, coaching, and even developmental editing. I share below a few ways to connect for writing support, and I hope you’ll reach out with questions or requests anytime.
And this photo, a mural in downtown Raleigh (from my recent visit to Candace Epps-Robertson, Ph.D.) shows writing out in the world with a combination of eyes, plants, and a butterfly, along with the text: “There is beauty in the mundane” and “slow down and look inwards.” The colorful mural by @nadasink sits alongside street signs, stickers, and the alphabet written in the upper right-hand corner.
My hope in sharing this scene is that we may notice how much writing we experience and create in our everyday lives. Writing is all around us, so isn’t now the time to act on desires to write? May we dedicate more time for the writing we’re longing to do. May we recommit to our writing and reconnect with ourselves as writers.
Summer Writing Support
Candace and I have several offerings this summer, and we hope you’ll both register for what feels right and share with friends:
- Candace is offering a no-cost practice with writing prompts and space for reflection: “Reflect and Reconnect,” starting May 19th.
- Summer writing groups resume on Friday May 30th with Beth facilitating and Candace serving as the sub-facilitator. We’ll meet weekly on Fridays 10am-1pm ET through August 8th.
- Candace hopes to run summer writing camps with drop-in writing sessions.
- There are six upcoming writing retreats, including back-to-back dates May 21st and 22nd ~ in case you’d like to create a mid-week retreat space for yourself.
- Both Candace and I enjoy working one-with-one and with small groups. Reach out anytime about 1:1 coaching, developmental editing, or writing support packages. Read more about our approaches to coaching here and here.
It’s 100% possible to join multiple offerings, any that feel like like a strong yes. Because summer often means different rhythms and pacing, we hope it helps to have many options. And it helps us if you register soon. Or let us know that you plan to register.
We also appreciate invitations to friends. Referrals make this work possible, so please share with anyone you know who’s seeking writing support.
Other feedback? We really appreciate questions, suggestions, and requests for the future. Reach out anytime.
And, yes, I got to visit Candace. Here’s a photo of us together outside CAM Raleigh, where we visited the exhibition Look to the West of Western North Carolina artists reflecting on “the ways that art can process, protest, and prevail in the aftermath of disruption.”
Wishes for writing in many ways, in the midst of everyday life. Wishes for recommitting and reconnecting with writing.
Beth
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Beth Godbee, Ph.D. (she/her)
Heart-Head-Hands: Everyday Living for Justice
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