Women Weaving Words

Following a successful workshop in nature last September, I had planned a follow-up. However, given the current situation, I was wondering if it would work online, and do you know what? It most certainly can. So, Sunday 12 April, I will be hosting a 'Virtual' Women in Nature session. We will begin with a check-in at 8am (I know it seems early, but it's so much nicer when everywhere's so quiet) - there will be a meditation and some reflective writing prompts. I will then send you off into your nearby faraway: this could be in your home, looking out of a window, in your garden, street or nearby park. You will be armed with some prompts to take with you. We will then rejoin as a group online at 11am, for more writing, group reflection, then finish at 12pm. If you want to know more, please do get in touch.

You may like to use this 'in-between' time of Christmas and the New Year to tackle one (or all) of the following prompts. Set your timer for 10 minutes and...go! What matters to you most at this time of your life? With the season in mind, what traditions are meaningful to you? Or, what seasonal / spiritual traditions do you need to let go of? Who or what has had the greatest impact on you this year? Have fun and I look forward to seeing you across the page or table in 2018. Image: pixabay.com

Another successful writing circle this morning (on St Andews Day). The theme was 'objects' which took us in a variety of directions. One attendee bought a poem to share, which we used for some inspirational writing at the end of the morning. The poem can be viewed on the link below: Miracle on St David's Day - Gillian Clarke

Today was the monthly women's writing group and the theme was Reflection. As in previous sessions, the interpretation of the theme from writing prompts was very varied and the writing that was produced was wonderful. To add a little variety, I introduced a video towards the end of the session to invite a different response and to also show that we can take inspiration from just about everything around us. Whilst I'd love to share what was produced, I can't due to confidentiality of the group, but suffice it to say the work shared will have a resonance for a while to come. In keeping with the theme of reflection, the group were invited to pause at the end of each writing exercise and take a few mindful breaths. Then, after reading through what had been written, they then wrote a reflection sentence based on one of the following prompts: "Reading this I notice _____ " "Reading this I am surprised by ____ " Interestingly, further jump off po...

On my recent family holiday to Devon, I had the pleasure of revisiting Plym Wood, which captured my heart a couple of years ago. It is a magical woodland (to me anyway) and offers cycle pathways, many, many walks, as well as areas to simply sit to meditate and of course write! Here I am really writing wild - in fact the writing created at the time this photo was taken has proven to be very helpful for a personal writing project I'm currently engaged in. Of course, we don't need to go great distances to enjoy the elements of nature to nourish and inspire us. We can of course make a pilgrimage to our local park area - go at different times of the day to avoid the 'busy' periods, unless of course you need support with characterisation, in which case, you will want the busy-ness it offers! Writing prompts are all around us and we can take our cue from just about anything our world has to offer.

Monday's women's writing group was themed on 'Dreams, Hopes, Visions'. It bought together a wonderful group of women, who each wrote so differently, but with strong themes coming through all the prompts that we used. We can use the prompts in any way we see that serves us in the moment. Sometimes writing from the personal and at others it may be fiction or poetry that emerges. Either way, it produces a rich blend that has once again left a resonance, an echo if you will, of words and sentences that were shared. The theme has not yet been set for our next group meeting on Monday 21 August , but whatever is decided upon, I'm sure that again it will provide depth and insights for all who attend. You are welcome to join us. We meet at Watford Quakers Meeting House, 150 Church Road, Watford WD17 4QB from 09.30 to 12.30. There is a fee of £5.00 which is payable upon arrival.

I don't know about you, but when I'm online, I often see snippets of things here and there, or an image may provoke a writing idea. I either have to copy / bookmark the page to come back to it, in order to save it before it's long gone in my browsing history. Recently I discovered Evernote - this is still in its trial phase with me, but is proving to be very useful, especially given that I can sync my devices. Therefore I can save items on my phone, and the same clips will appear on my desktop version. Great! I can jot down notes - they are saved instantly, so you don't even have to worry about having pressed a save button. In addition, I have the extension on Google Chrome which allows me to clip as well as do many other things with items I discover whilst online. As a writer, it can be an invaluable tool, and it also becomes a mobile journal as well. Irrespective the genre you write in, you can organise all your snippets into suitable files for ...

On Friday I attended WOW (Women of the World) Festival at London's Southbank. An annual event that hosts workshops and sessions on so many aspects of being a woman as well as the difficulties and prejudices we face. One of the sessions I attended: The Genius Gap - Women & Creativity , was very compelling and inspiring. Creativity is how we employ our imagination, make use of inner resources, bring together amazing projects through writing, song, design, dance, music, sewing. The list is endless. An issue that many of us face is finding the time, or having time amidst EVERYTHING else that we need to still take care of. As a result, we have to work so much harder to be noticed or even try to achieve a semblance of what our male counterparts appear to. Our social system is geared towards male creativity. It doesn't compromise for needing to finish earlier in order to complete the school run. Difficulty in seeing something through due to a child's illness. The list o...