July 11, 2006
Title: Jennifer Lauck's Writing Workshop
On June 23, 24, 25th
About a month before this writing workshop I was scrolling through the Healing Waters and Sacred Spaces website and my attention was roped in by this writing workshop by Jennifer Lauck. I had never heard of her or of her book, "Blackbird" before. I clicked on her website and read snippets of her story, some of her blogs; I had never even heard of the word blog, didn't know what a blog was. What I did know, was, as I read Jennifer's material on her website, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise up. I devoured her words, and as I read my heart pounded loudly in my chest; I felt it racing. My eyes teared up; there was a joyous leap inside me. I knew this was where I was meant to be. I knew I had found a haven.
I signed up for the writing class early to be assured a spot, however, the chatterer inside me kept rattling me with questions like:
"How can YOU justify spending THAT much money on yourself?"
"How do you know you'll like this woman?"
"How do you know you'll like the people you'll be stuck with for a whole long weekend?"
"How do you know these people will like you?"
All I could say was, "This is an investment in myself."
Oh, what an investment! It has returned a thousand percent more back to me! Somehow, I feel more alive, more in attunement with myself and my environment. My perception is heightened. I hear and see the children in the preschool on a deeper level. I hear the words not adequately expressed in their vocabulary and help them to speak their feeling or to understand it. In their eyes I see the reflection, "I was heard!" or the veil of uncertainty is lifted and the light of understanding shines through from the eyes, in the smile and in the giggles.
This deeper level of communication carried over into my adult relationships. Those I had difficulty communicating with before were looked at with new eyes. "What were the unspoken word between spoken words?" I asked myself.
"Oh, are you saying______________?" I would ask. The look of relief that crossed their face; their smile spoke volumes.
As I listened to the people that came to the workshop I felt as if something shifted inside me that opened me up to a higher level of understanding, of our oneness, our wholeness.
What sort of people were at this workshop? People, humans who were willing to let their guard down and help create a safe space to "present" the real self, in both its fraility and its majestic self. We learned more about writing. We learned how to be more expressive, so that the reader is brought into the visual or feeling context of the words. We shared our writings, our stories, our laughter, our tears, our meals, our lives; we were so supported by one another. There was no judgement. We were struck by how much more we shared in common than our differances.
What was Jennifer Lauck like? She is a woman that manfests great strength and courage. She wrote a best seller, "Blackbird," was on the Oprah show and yet, was so grounded in spite of her accomplishments. Literally she took us all under her wing and so graciously gifted us with her presence...presents of wisdom and hospitality.
With Jennifer Lauck was her assistant, Carrie Link. Carrie helped to create a room that was warm and inviting to enter. Incense burning, candles, crystals, and tapastry cloths were all arranged to create an aesthetic feeling for the senses and promote peacefulness. Carrie was so helpful in so many ways and she is instrumental in starting me blogging.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to be here with this group of people this particular weekend. When one throws a pebble into a pond, one is famililar with the circular ripples the pebble makes as it hits the water. The pebbles that were thrown into the pond at this workshop will create deep ripples into my life and will bring changes for my better growth and development. Those who know me, Just Watch!
Oh my gosh, it's almost 2:00a.m.; I have children arriving at 6:30a.m. I absolutely delight in these hours for writing...there are no interruptions! However, seldom am I awake to write at this time.
Namaste
Title: Jennifer Lauck's Writing Workshop
On June 23, 24, 25th
About a month before this writing workshop I was scrolling through the Healing Waters and Sacred Spaces website and my attention was roped in by this writing workshop by Jennifer Lauck. I had never heard of her or of her book, "Blackbird" before. I clicked on her website and read snippets of her story, some of her blogs; I had never even heard of the word blog, didn't know what a blog was. What I did know, was, as I read Jennifer's material on her website, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise up. I devoured her words, and as I read my heart pounded loudly in my chest; I felt it racing. My eyes teared up; there was a joyous leap inside me. I knew this was where I was meant to be. I knew I had found a haven.
I signed up for the writing class early to be assured a spot, however, the chatterer inside me kept rattling me with questions like:
"How can YOU justify spending THAT much money on yourself?"
"How do you know you'll like this woman?"
"How do you know you'll like the people you'll be stuck with for a whole long weekend?"
"How do you know these people will like you?"
All I could say was, "This is an investment in myself."
Oh, what an investment! It has returned a thousand percent more back to me! Somehow, I feel more alive, more in attunement with myself and my environment. My perception is heightened. I hear and see the children in the preschool on a deeper level. I hear the words not adequately expressed in their vocabulary and help them to speak their feeling or to understand it. In their eyes I see the reflection, "I was heard!" or the veil of uncertainty is lifted and the light of understanding shines through from the eyes, in the smile and in the giggles.
This deeper level of communication carried over into my adult relationships. Those I had difficulty communicating with before were looked at with new eyes. "What were the unspoken word between spoken words?" I asked myself.
"Oh, are you saying______________?" I would ask. The look of relief that crossed their face; their smile spoke volumes.
As I listened to the people that came to the workshop I felt as if something shifted inside me that opened me up to a higher level of understanding, of our oneness, our wholeness.
What sort of people were at this workshop? People, humans who were willing to let their guard down and help create a safe space to "present" the real self, in both its fraility and its majestic self. We learned more about writing. We learned how to be more expressive, so that the reader is brought into the visual or feeling context of the words. We shared our writings, our stories, our laughter, our tears, our meals, our lives; we were so supported by one another. There was no judgement. We were struck by how much more we shared in common than our differances.
What was Jennifer Lauck like? She is a woman that manfests great strength and courage. She wrote a best seller, "Blackbird," was on the Oprah show and yet, was so grounded in spite of her accomplishments. Literally she took us all under her wing and so graciously gifted us with her presence...presents of wisdom and hospitality.
With Jennifer Lauck was her assistant, Carrie Link. Carrie helped to create a room that was warm and inviting to enter. Incense burning, candles, crystals, and tapastry cloths were all arranged to create an aesthetic feeling for the senses and promote peacefulness. Carrie was so helpful in so many ways and she is instrumental in starting me blogging.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to be here with this group of people this particular weekend. When one throws a pebble into a pond, one is famililar with the circular ripples the pebble makes as it hits the water. The pebbles that were thrown into the pond at this workshop will create deep ripples into my life and will bring changes for my better growth and development. Those who know me, Just Watch!
Oh my gosh, it's almost 2:00a.m.; I have children arriving at 6:30a.m. I absolutely delight in these hours for writing...there are no interruptions! However, seldom am I awake to write at this time.
Namaste
posted by Learning Lollipops | 10:47 PM
2 Comments:
Angelina,
You certainly have captured the way I felt at the workshop. Thank you for sharing that special honesty you possess.
Me too...me too! I am sending this to some friends because I couldn't put how I felt into words...and you did. Now they will be able to understand what I was talking about!
Thanks Angelina!
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