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The Guest House by Rumi

Posted by Diane Morrow on April 16, 2016 in

Here are the first twelve lines: This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, Who violently sweep your house Empty of its furniture, Still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out For some new delight. How wonderful is that? The image of sorrow and all the other emotions—joy yes—but also the difficult ones—anger—shame—fear—all as visitors—some pleasant visitors and some more difficult ones—and all of them guests. And guests with a broom no less. Sweeping through the rooms—clearing it. Rumi’s lines here resonate for me with those lines by Paul Simon from his song, “Sound of Silence”: Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again. But now I’m picturing Darkness with a broom. Full text of Rumi’s poem...

Months 9&10

Posted by Diane Morrow on February 20, 2016 in

The idea for these months springs from an essay, “The Good Part,” written by Dennis Covington and found in the anthology, The Healing Circle. Covington’s essay is such a good essay, funny and sharp. It asks and re-asks what I think are terribly relevant questions to writing and healing: What’s the good part? Have you gotten to the good part? The challenge, I think, when figuring out the good part in regard to some difficulty or pain is to figure this out without glossing over or suppressing what is painful and difficult. Mary Oliver, I think, strikes this balance in her poem, The Wild Geese. But you may also want to start with some research on figuring out the good part: Asking a New Question: More Research on Writing and Healing Writing and Healing and Breast Cancer Research on Shifting One’s Point of View in Writing Or with one of the pieces below that has to do with reframing–considering something or some things from a new perspective. The Healing Circle Anthology can be found...

Months 5&6: Developing the Habit of Writing

Posted by Diane Morrow on in

This is a task I didn’t have in the original framework of One Year of Writing and Healing, but as I’ve been working on revision I’ve come to think it’s important—finding ways to grow the habit of writing and make it part of one’s practice. Thus, I’ve given this its own room—and not just one month but two months in the scheme of the year. There are 3-4 books in particular that have been enormously helpful to me in growing my own habit of writing: Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg Writing without Teachers and Writing with Power by Peter Elbow You may also find it useful to use writing prompts to grow the habit. You can find all the writing prompts from this site here. And you can find the new writing prompts I’m posting at Twitter here. I’ve also included here below what is perhaps the easiest writing prompt with which to...

Months 1&2

Posted by Diane Morrow on in

The idea here is to begin the process of writing and healing—to ground the process of writing and healing—in a healing place. But you don’t need to live at the edge of a lake or at the foot of a mountain in order to do this. That’s the beauty of writing: you can begin by creating your own healing place—with words. And you can draw on the healing places of others to do so. The photo is of Lake Mapourika in New Zealand and is by Richard...

Introduction

Posted by Diane Morrow on February 21, 2015 in

WELCOME to One Year of Writing and Healing, a site designed to explore a myriad of connections between writing and healing—and to facilitate your own exploration. The site now has three primary doorways for exploration: Healing poetry Healing and writing ideas A one-year guide to writing and healing, progressing month by month This one year includes healing place (months 1&2) and making a place for grief (month 8) I’ve had this notion from time to time that it could be rather wonderful to open a bakery, or a café, or perhaps a whole house, where a person could come, find a table by the window—get a cup of coffee or tea—and just write. No expectations. No pressure. But simply this idea of a place where writing could happen. In the story by Hemingway, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place,” an old man sits on the terrace of a café at closing time. It’s late, but the old man, the last customer of the night, is reluctant to leave. A young waiter wipes off the old man’s table with a towel and tries to shoo him out. But a second waiter, older than the first, understands the old man’s need to linger. “Each night,” he says, “I am reluctant to close up because there may be some one who needs the café.” Not “someone,” Hemingway writes. But some one. Even one would be reason enough to keep the café open. This site aspires to be that café. My hope is that it might offer resources and inspiration—and perhaps, too, an imagined place that might facilitate your own writing and discovery. Below, please find a few pieces that address possible questions you may have. All best, Diane Morrow Photo by Pam Fray from Geograph. It’s described this way: “Doorway on the west side of the church of St. Mary Magdalen, Davington, near to Faversham, Kent, Great Britain. The door, usually locked, leads to the grounds of what remains of Davington Priory, now a private residence. It is open at present to offer refreshments to those visiting the Flower Festival in the church.”...

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