Stories Restore and Renew

Women gather around a bookshop coffee table eager to read their stories and poems.  Before we start, I light a candle.  My words are always the same because there is a process to this.  "We light the candle to shut out distractions of the outside world and commit to our writing for the next two and a half hours."

I respect the ritual that brings us together; one carried down throughout centuries.  Women have always gathered in a circle to share their intellectual and emotional lives, committing time to themselves without apology.  The circle often became symbolic for a special occasion or celebrating a new journey. 

Writers groups, particularly among women, are growing in numbers and our group is no different.  On average we have a dozen women coming to the monthly read-arounds, far more than when I started the Circle in 2009 and there were three women and myself. Many come and listen, rather than read.  Whether we are the creator or the recipient, the stories restore and renew.  

We mourn and grieve, we celebrate the life that is to come, we search for "the truth" of our stories; that place between the remembered and the invented.  We give ourselves and each other a pat on the back and a "job well done" after reading aloud. Together, we weave our stories into one tapestry. 

NOTE:  The Women's Writing Circle will not hold its monthly read-around in September due to the Art of Life Writing Workshop which  is the second Saturday of the month, September 8.  We have several slots open and would love for you to join us.  See how to register below:

http://www.susanweidener.com/2012/06/art-of-life-writing-workshop.html

We resume our read-around at Wellington Square Bookshop on Saturday, Oct. 13. In the meantime, I offer a writing prompt for your consideration.  Take all the names of the women in your family and make a text or poem out of them.

Happy Writing!

Susan