Volume XI, Issue 37 September 14,
2022 Dear ,
Some days it's easy to be Thankful for Now (the title of today's featured writing, a poem by Todd Davis). And some days, at least for me, it's a real challenge. How about you? How often are you thankful for now? And, to segue off last week's zine, how often do you use "now" to write? Hearing Todd Davis read his poetry at Chautauqua Institution back in August inspired me to get back to my own TAG, I'm It! Daily Journal practice to cultivate again a sense of thankfulness for now, and to write that thankfulness for moments of beauty, kinship, connection. You can learn more about Todd, who, as author of seven full-length books of poetry, clearly spends a good amount of "now"
writing, at www.todddavispoet.com/. He teaches environmental studies, as well as creative writing and American literature at Pennsylvania State University's Altoona College, and his love of the natural world shines through his work, as
you'll see when you read "Thankful for Now." And you'll have an opportunity to write out your own thankfulness in this week's prompt. Love and light, from Native Species
by Todd
Davis Learn more about Native Species and purchase here. WordPlay Now! Writing Prompt This is
WordPlay—so why not revel in the power and potential of one good word after another? This week, it's "now." Choose one beautiful moment from the past week and capture it in writing, in poetry or prose. Flesh it out with specific sensory details, including color, movement, sound (spoken words are often a part of my most thanks-filled now's). Reread Todd Davis's "Thankful for Now" first, noting examples. It's fun to play with prompts in community with fellow writers, and to be able to share the results when you're done. You can find out about WordPlay classes, workshops, and retreats
here. MAUREEN RYAN GRIFFIN, an award-winning poetry and nonfiction writer, is the author of Spinning Words into Gold, a Hands-On Guide to the Craft of Writing, a grief workbook entitled I Will Never Forget You, and three collections of poetry, Ten Thousand Cicadas Can't Be Wrong, This Scatter of Blossoms and When the Leaves Are in the Water. One of her long-held dreams came true in
July of 2015 when Garrison Keillor read one of her poems on The Writer's Almanac. You can listen to it here. She believes, as author Julia Cameron says, "We are meant to midwife dreams for one another."
Maureen also believes that serious "word work" requires serious WordPlay, as play is how we humans best learn—and perform. What she loves best is witnessing all the other dreams that come true for her clients along the way. Language, when used with intentionality and focus, is, after all, serious fuel for joy. Here's to
yours! |
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