Thoughts that Roar, Words that Sing - Call out Your Inner
Writer
A two-day workshop with Lindsey Dawson
Enjoy your creativity, get to know
your strength and boost your confidence in expressing your
own truth.
Course outline
Welcome to Thoughts that Roar, Words
that Sing – a two-day weekend programme that aims
to lift your spirits and increase your confidence in expressing
what you have to say and write.
This is a time in history when many people
are seeking to grow and stand tall rather than just go along
with the herd. Because writing is such a great tool for self-discovery,
this weekend could be a turning point in your own search for
greater fulfilment. I bring to this course all I've learnt
in 30 years of writing and editing, along with insights gleaned
on my own long search for what it is I'm supposed to be doing
in my own life.
That is word spinning. And story sharing.
And truth telling. I'd love for you to come and take part
in a process that will help all of us take a step up in “owning”
who we are, with all our rich talents and interesting foibles.
We should we do this? After all, in these
high-tech times, most of us get our entertainment and soul
food ready-made, courtesy Hollywood and the news networks.
But many people still love picking up a
pen or settling at the computer and filling blank space with
words that well up from that mysterious place inside us called
“me”.
The trouble is that we're being “got at”
every day by modern media and so much of what we absorb is
trite and shallow. It still affects us though, whether we're
aware of it or not, and so when we sit down to write all that
usually comes out of us is a welter of lightweight fluff or
bleak cynicism.
Don't you yearn to express yourself in words
that are honest, real and true? We have no less need than
our ancestors did to pour our hearts out on paper – sometimes
just for our own pleasure but also for public consumption.
This means including fun and laughter as well as earnest debate.
It's important to realise that life is one big sit-com with
us playing all the parts!
Writing meaningful words means creating
sentences that ring with authenticity. They reveal who you truly
are. This workshop will strengthen your courage to record deep
feelings, big joys and ardent dreams in a way that comes straight
from your soul or higher self.
The weekend will:
- Discover blocks that may be cramping your flow
- Affirm your inner strength
- Create safe space in which to recall and relish your life's
experiences
- Learn to value your wisdom
- Encourage gratitude for your life – even the hard parts
- Reveal what a shining light you are
The mood will be relaxed and friendly.
I'll supply drinks and snacks for breaks but you bring your
own lunch on Sunday, or maybe take a break at a local cafe.
There'll be some good group and one-on-one discussions and,
of course, time to write from the heart. You can also expect
to be ‘heartened' by the contributions of everyone on the
course. Somehow, a little magic seems to happen when like-minded
people get together like this.
DAY ONE
Session One – Connecting With Each
Other and With Language
Saturday, 9.30 am - 4pm
In this first session we'll start to get
to know fellow participants and set in place our wishes and
intentions. We'll begin to pull out of our head space and
more into the heart area as we set out on the voyage of learning
to use writing (or indeed any other form of word-based communication)
to express our inner wisdom and gain fresh appreciation for
the drama of our lives.
During this afternoon we'll also expand
our minds to wonder at the development of words and how much
they have contributed to the development of civilization.
It's all about realizing that a world without language is
unimaginable and that when we dismiss, ignore or mangle them,
we are depriving our lives of meaning.
Session Two – Cracking the Shell,
Going with the Gut
Sunday, 9.30 am - 4pm
Today we'll really get cracking on writing
meaningful things. Sometimes, the barriers to creativity and
honesty lie in hurtful moments from earlier in your life.
During this session we'll hark back to feelings that constrict
or limit you and take steps to rid them of their power. We'll
explore the close connections between how the feelings in
our hearts lead to physical expression, learning how even
inarticulate sounds can perfectly and enjoyably express what
we're thinking and feeling. We are human and yet so often
put our human-ness aside in our bid to be seen as sophisticated
and ‘successful'.
The day will also allow time for talking
about writers whose work blows us away, and why. We'll also
realise what mighty strengths we've also been building as
we've lived our lives. And how important it is for us to share
the great words that can come out of our own hearts and minds.
At day's end we'll reflect on some of our
discoveries and then wind up the workshop in a way that will
help you reinforce your strength to keep working at your writing
and all the other things you love to do in life.
Best of all, now you'll be penning words
that glow.
Hope to see you there! Best wishes,
Lindsey Dawson
PS I recently read Barbara Kingsolver's
“High Tide in Tucson” and was struck by a passage on the delights
of written expression. In this book of collected articles
she writes about how as a teenager she longed to ride glamorously
on motorbikes – but those yearnings faded into insignificance
when she discovered the even more seductive power of words:
“It came to pass in two short years that
the walls of my high school dropped down, and I caught the
scent of a world. I started to dream up intoxicating lives
for myself that I could not have conceived without the books.
So I didn't end up on a motorcycle. I ended up roaring hell-for-leather
down the backloads of transcendent, reeling sentences. A
writer. Imagine that.”
NB For more info contact Lindsey at lindseyoutloud@xtra.co.nz
or phone her at (09) 4264362
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