The companionship of writing

I don't know how to pray but I do know how to keep my hand moving

Dear Writing friends,

I’m writing this on 29 February - a day that has arrived to remind me that every day is a big, fat bonus, a gift that I want to hold here on the centre of my palm, just for a moment.

The best way I know to do this is to write.

There are other ways too, of course: walking in the cold, grey air, going amongst the trees as they reach down their branches, savouring a cup of coffee, texting hearts to my loved ones.

But it all comes back to the writing, to keeping my hand moving, making shapes to hold the trembling, the singing, the ecstasy of being alive today, still here, still moving through this broken and shimmering world.

The words pool on the page.

‘I don’t know how to pray,’ I write, ‘but I do know how to keep my hand moving, how to hold a word on my tongue, or roll it over the page letting it gather other words. I do know how to say thank you, thank you… This is how I say thank you.’

Gargi Bhattacharyya writes:

‘Heartbreak is when we realise that there is no remedy, no repair, no way back and nothing to fix this. That whatever comes next these histories and presents of violence cannot be put right. That the destiny of the heartbroken is to wish something better and completely new for those who come next.

Because it is only we, the heartbroken, who can truly battle and long for a world where no-one ever feels like this again.’

Dear Writing friend, if you are weary, if you are afraid, if you are heartbroken, I hope you can write your way with kindness towards yourself. And I hope you’ll join us for our next Writing Together live workshop session this coming SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2024.

We’ll comfort one another with the quiet companionship of writing. We’ll open our notebooks and let the light pour in.

Sunday 3 March - LET THE LIGHT POUR IN!
4.30pm - 6pm (UK time)
In this workshop, we’ll focus on creating supportive space to write together. We’ll gather, I’ll offer some ideas for light-filled and light-hearted prompts and we’ll spend most of the workshop in quiet companionship, writing privately, with some space for optional sharing and discussion at the end. ALSO OPTIONAL: Bring your favourite coloured pens, pencils, stickers, sparkles, blankets, snacks - whatever helps to make you feel a little lighter.

Wednesday 10 April: WRITING TOGETHER - GET WRITING DONE WITH KINDNESS AND SELF-COMPASSION!
6.30pm - 8pm (UK time)
Productivity tools and systems can so often make us feel less than, not enough, or just plain rubbish. Let’s be kind to ourselves and one another. In this workshop, we’ll apply some very simple ideas and techniques for getting writing done and we’ll spend a full hour working on our individual writing together, with some optional space for reflection at the end. Bring along a project that you’ve been feeling stuck with or something that you’d like to get done or tend to with kindness.

When you join us for a Writing Together paid subscriber session, you’ll find a gentle and restorative writing space where you’ll receive support and inspiration for your writing and reflection. Camera on or off, we’ll write together in response to writing rituals, suggestions and prompts and then have an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve written and the process. The first part of the workshop is recorded for everyone so that you can catch up later if you can’t join us in ‘real time’. The second reflective part of the workshop is never recorded, in order to honour confidentiality.

I send out a new Zoom link a few hours before each month’s workshop session.

Thank you, dear Writing Friends, for your hearts, comments and encouragement, all of which fuel Dear Writing and help us to build this space together. I’m so grateful that you make time in your inbox for my words.

A special thank you to my paid members who help to keep this space going for everyone.

Thank you to all of you for keeping my heart full of hope.

xoxox