Third Daughter
I have recently had a collection of my poetry published. The poems are divided into four sections--three of which are reinterpretations of popular myths--Psyche and Eros, Arthurian legend, and Tam Lin, all stories we have worked with at Diana's Grove in past years. The fourth section is poems about Montie Jean, a composite of my grandmothers.
You can preview the first 10 pages of the book.
"Follow Your Bliss."
One of Joseph Campbell’s most popular phrases is “Follow your bliss.” I think this phrase is very appropriate for writers--and for anyone starting a journey of self-discovery.
One way we can do this is through writing. Writing is a journey. Writing is a way of following one’s bliss—even for people who don’t consider themselves writers or perhaps don’t even like to write. We all know the effect that others’ words can have on us, and so it’s no surprise to me that my own words can affect me, too.
The journey in words can be a journey inwards. Journey in Words is the concept I use to facilitate classes and workshops in the art of journeying into ourselves and back out again to put that journey onto paper, into words.
Every year, I faciliate an online writing class through Diana's Grove, a retreat center for personal growth and leadership development. With Journey in Words, you can create your own writing experiences. You may decide to write poetry, short stories, essays, a novel, a play, or journal entries. The type of writing you do is up to you. We will have various writing exercises, and you will be given the chance to have feedback on your writing—and that feedback will be structured according to what you feel will serve you best.
For more information please read on or email me: Shaun.
The hero’s journey is the archetypal pattern for the process of personal growth, the process from innocence to experience that continually repeats itself. The main three stages are departure or separation, initiation, and return. Most stories follow this pattern, and most human lives do, also. Using this pattern as we write can bring both form and illumination to our words. It does not matter if what you write is for an audience or not—-the pattern calls forth a rhythm and the rhythm speaks to your soul.
One of the journeys I continue to take is the journey in words that began when I was a child. I remember going to the county library in the summer with my mom, who was friends with the librarian. There were four of us kids, and we were allowed to check out 10 books apiece. I can still see those piles of books on the back seat of the station wagon and then again on the coffee table at the end of the two weeks when we had to take them back.
From a love of reading came a love of writing. I began writing poetry not long after I learned to write. When I went away to college, I changed my major eight or ten times until I finally decided that what really interested me was writing, poetry in particular. And so I came away with a bachelor’s degree in English, and not being able to do anything with that immediately, I jumped into graduate school and continued my journey into creative writing. After a change in graduate schools, I wound up with a master’s degree in liberal studies.
Eventually, I went back to school to get teaching certification, and for the past twenty years, I have been a teacher of composition, literature, speech and creative writing. I have taught high school and college students. I facilitate online creative writing classes for Diana's Grove. I have co-authored two books, and my poetry has been published in various literary journals.
In the past 5 years, I have also developed my skills as a storyteller and have been doing professional storytelling for the past 2 years. I have told stories for events at regional, state, and national events. I love to tell stories to groups of people of all sizes and ages. Please contact me if you are looking for a storyteller for your event. I specialize in stories about Oklahoma myths and people.
In one of the Power of Myth videos Joseph Campbell discusses the wheel of fortune as a symbol for the natural pattern of life. We ride that wheel into fortune and misfortune, beginnings and endings, over and over. However, if we happen to be the hub, the immovable center of the wheel, we are in the same place all the time, and we will never find our bliss.
Journeys are inescapably full of ups and downs, if we take them for what they are. If we try to rig the path we take too closely or narrowly, we will find ourselves like the hub of the wheel, locked in stasis, perhaps outwardly strong and constant, but also not open to change and transformation.
I began my journey in words because I had something to say, something to express. I loved words, the sound of them in my head and the feel of them on my lips. As a child and teenager I wrote for myself, and I never allowed anyone to see those poems and stories. In fact, I had a metal box that I kept them locked in. In college I was forced to workshop what I was writing. Sometimes the creative workshops I was in were very helpful, sometimes painful, always insightful. As an adult I desired to share what I was writing, and my work has since been published in literary journals and in two books.
It has occurred to me that as a child I was journeying inward with my writing. As an adult I was taking the journey with others. For the last few years, I have been combining the two and the work has led naturally into my teaching and storytelling. Writing, teaching, storytelling: in this triad is where my bliss lies. If you are searching for yours, perhaps Journey in Words will help you find it.
