Focus Workshops These are
weekly or one day workshops that have a specialized theme. The prompts
are meant to fine-tune your focus on a specific aspect your writer,
emotional, and spiritual self, be it grief, father-daughter, birth
story, or your college application essay.
Sacred Story Writing with Dawn Thompson 5 Wednesday evenings, January 20 – February 17, 2010 Time: 7:00-9:00pm Location: Multnomah Village Garden Sanctuary Cost: $95.00 women only workshop
"Human beings are natural storytellers, and we are most captivated by the stories we tell ourselves." –Victoria Castle You have a sacred story. The sacred story of your life is one of a kind. There has not been one exactly like it in all of human history. You are its author, constantly writing its unfolding. Each of us live our lives according to the stories we tell about ourselves and the world. These stories determine what we pay attention to as we go about our day to day and consequently create the reality we experience. Our stories can be useful and empowering. However, they can also be oppressive and limiting. These limiting stories have more power over us when they remain unconscious. In this five-week workshop, we’ll use visualization and writing to become aware of the limiting stories we are telling ourselves about who we are and what we’re capable of. Once we identify these limiting stories we can upgrade them! We can write new stories in alignment with our highest potential and happiness. Becoming conscious authors of our stories is one of the most empowering acts we can perform, both for our own healing and wholeness and for the well being of our collective community. All levels of writing experience welcome.
Writing the Wounded Healer: A women’s writing & astrology workshop with Emily Trinkaus and Dawn Thompson Saturday, January 23, 2010 Time: 10am-2pm Location: Multnomah Village Garden Sanctuary Cost: $70 women only workshop
Contact Emily for more info or to register: etrinkaus@gmail.com, 503-288-7097 The asteroid Chiron -- representing the archetype of the Wounded Healer -- is part of a rare planetary conjunction in 2009-2010. Join us in exploring the meaning of this archetype, find out where the Aquarius "super-conjunction" is happening in your personal birth chart and learn how to work with this powerful, transformational energy. Combining astrology with Sacred Story work - a technique using guided visualization and writing to recreate our lives - we will release the old story of our wounded self and will create space for the empowering story of our inner healer. 8 participants max; no previous writing or astrology experience required.
Writing for the New Year: 2010with Rhea Wolf
an astrology and writing workshop
January 23, 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Location: Sellwood Spiritfeathers
Cost: $70
women only workshop
In this afternoon workshop, we will discuss the important astrological events for 2010 and look to see how they might impact our own lives. Powerful themes such as transforming fear, rediscovering heart’s desire, and creating more authentic relationships will rise to the surface in the year ahead. Using our Natal Charts, Rhea will offer guided writing exercises to help us understand these personal and global energetic trends, and then create intentions to make the most of 2010. No previous writing or astrology experience required. Limited space, so register soon! (Participants must provide birth data to receive personal Natal Chart.)
Contact Rhea for more info or to register: rhea@pdxwomenwriters.com, 503.234.8996.
Writing Our Stories of Loss and Grief with Dawn Thompson 5 Thursday evenings, January 28 – February 25, 2010 Time: 7:00-9:00pm Location: Multnomah Village Garden Sanctuary Cost: $95.00 women only workshop To register email dawn@pdxwomenwriters.com
"The only real guarantee is change. The very cells in our bodies are constantly dying and being re-born. We must learn to honor that which is leaving so that we can embrace the new life." Each of us carries within us profound stories of loss. These stories are part of the contours of our heart. They are the very substance of our bones. These stories are gifts that deepen our capacity to experience the full range of what it means to be human. Our stories of loss and grief come in many forms. The death of someone we love. The ending of a relationship. Illness. Leaving home. The aging of a parent. The loss of freedom when a a child is born. The unexpected letting go of an old way of being. These stories call to be honored. They call to be shared. By giving them voice we release them from the realms of our unconcious and invite them to help us move forward on our own path of healing.
In this workshop we'll create a safe space to explore our stories of loss and grief, both as profound material for our writing and as a rich well for our personal evolution.
All levels of writing experience welcome.
Poetry, Perception and Play with Dawn Thompson 6 Wednesday evenings, March 3 – April 7, 2010 Time: 6:30pm-9:00pm Location: TBA Cost: $120 women only workshop
“I think what we lack isn’t science but poetry that reveals what the heart is ready to recognize.” - Joseph Campbell Poetry reminds us to feel. It whispers to us to stand still in front of the tree we pass every day and reclaim our capacity for awe. It journeys us deep so that we know ourselves better, and it profoundly connects us with the simple beauties, the ordinary moments. It calls us to be fully present, fully alive. Poetry heals. This is a workshop for those who have written poems and for those who have never dared. During our 6 weeks we’ll play with the basic good ingredients of all poetry– simile, metaphor, image, line breaks and word choice. We’ll experiment freely, using words as clay to sculpt what was not visible before, to capture the essence of a moment, a place, a knowing. Together, we’ll practice developing poetic perception, which will deepen our lives and bring color and vibrancy to all of our writing. All levels of writing experience welcome.