Lighting the Candle

Yesterday's read-around of the Circle was the biggest yet. We had eight writers come together for a memorable morning at Wellington Square.

The Circle begins with lighting a candle. As Mary Pierce Brosmer writes in her book, Women Writing for (a) Change:  A Guide for Creative Transformation, a lit candle symbolizes hospitality.  It also means that we have entered the Circle  - "stepped out of the ordinary into the charged space of creation."

I felt this energy yesterday as we read our "Ugly Me" essays, stories of vulnerable, hurtful moments in our lives.  This exercise helps with the tough work of "digging deep" - of  putting ourselves out there in memoir, rather than standing back in a detached way. It can also be healing. What we view as ordinary or unimportant are the very words that other women often long for and need to hear.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to announce that Mary Pierce Brosmer will facilitate a workshop with me, "The Art and Practice of Memoir" the weekend of October 15 and 16 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Glenmoore, Chester County, Pennsylvania. This is an opportunity to commit to yourself and your writing.  I will post a separate page on this workshop in the coming days.

For more information about Mary or to obtain a copy of her beautifully written book, go to: http://www.marypiercebrosmer.com/

All the best to my Sisters in the Writing Circle.
Susan