Hello to those who joined my February 4 CraftTalk on lists, odes, dots, and lines. If you are willing, please do share your fulcrum and your epiphany in the comments below. I cannot wait to hear what got you going ... and what you learned.
So perfectly observed. Showing all the decisions we all make, all the time. Any wonder we're exhausted and overwhelmed and why it's important to refill our proverbial cup in as many different ways possible. One of mine is reading your wonderful words. Thank you.
Heidi, if only I could get BETTER at this. I hear the whole conversation in my head ahead of time, so much so that I wonder later if I've already had the talk. Murky brain. That's what I have.
On Deciding...yet another great workshop offering! I'm using this place to thank you again, dear Beth, for last Wednesday's workshop "Remembering the Ones We Loved" at the Quadrangle, my retirement community. Our dozen writers, at all levels of experience, have been sending me emails of tremendous gratitude and appreciation. "I wish I could have gotten to Beth...to tell her how significant and mind opening (mind blowing) her prompts were. As well, her readings and sharing about her work and the work of others was so on target for me. I learned so much in such a short time on many levels." and on they go, thankful to find the words, stories crafted through ephemera, a photo we brought, your prompts for some starting sentences, writing a letter to that loved one... Grateful to be plowed out, it was a beautiful time together after the storm.
Oh, my Ann. I hope you got my thank you note to your thank you note of the other day (or late at night!). I had such a wonderful time with your neighbors and friends. I will not forget those faces, those stories, those moments of shared discovery. A powerful, beautiful thing. I thank you.
Deciding on which hours of the day you will retreat into yourself...yes, there has been a lot of that. The constant fight or flight emotions that yell for attention right now. Wanting to show up in this sad world and wanting to hide from it. You captured it.
Tara, I appreciate, so deeply, your voice here (I truly do). Wanting to show up, wanting to hide, wanting to know who to be so that we will, with respect, look back at ourselves and agree that we were what the world needed at this time. I am sewing badly to retreat so that I can emerge with a voice with some sort of steadiness later in each day.
Carla, it is such a joy to watch your evolution as a daughter who wished to write in memory and love to a writer exploring more and more storylines. And a writer who thinks carefully about her yearnings. What I especially love here are the deliberate surprises. That And behind. That movement from I to we. So well done. Welcome to our world.
Thank you so much for this response. I greatly appreciate your encouragement and feedback. I'm delighted to welcomed to the the wonderful world of writers, and writing.
This is beautiful just as it is, Deb. I am only seeing it in this moment. Absolutely riveting and, because I know some of this story, rending. Gardens of children. The tending of earth. The kindness you bring. It is all here. Thank you for sharing it with me, with us.
Good morning, Beth. A wonderful invitation to writing yesterday in your Craft Talk. I am sitting with my first 'list exercise'...wondering if I should, or how much I should, revise or not. I will send either/or soon.
But, in my morning reading ("Mother, Creature, Kin: What we Learn from Nature's Mothers in a Time of Unraveling" by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder, which I highly recommend) I came across a beautiful 'list poem' that I wanted to share with you from page 172. Thought you could use it as another example:
"I wanted assurances. The world kept reminding me that there are none.
Which is to say: I am a mother in a time of rising seas.
Which is to say: motherhood necessitates the acceptance of endless transformation.
Which is to say: Mother-work is edge work. It must be done in and from a liminal, transitional, shifting, uncertain, utterly porous space...".
Deb, you were so kind to join us yesterday, so kind to say the things you said. I am a mother of a very grown-up son and yes, this that you share speaks deeply to me. The edge work of love. The endless nature of the shift. Thank you, Deb. And keep writing. Discover your fulcrum. Find that clarity.
Thanks so much, Beth. I will stay with this one and make some revisions, but this was the first, unfiltered version. And I did send another note to you, but don't see it here. Please let me know if you receive it.
Many thanks for your fascinating and instructive Craft Talks webinar on Fact, Memory, Imagination: Connecting the Dots to Uncover Meaning in Our Moments. I felt compelled to frame what I learned as a flexible template on which facts, memory, and imagination can be anchored to spark creativity and create a meaningful and resonant story. Sound ok?
You mentioned that we could share our fulcrum from the prompt with you here along with our reordered elements, secret undertow, and possible epiphany. Did I understand that correctly?
And, oh my, your suggestion of writing the items from our lists on individual index cards and rearranging them in them in meaningful order is exactly what I did to write my papers, way back when, in college. I still find myself doing it!
Carla, hello, and thank you so much for being with us today, for listening as you so beautifully do. Yes, to answer your question — we need all of it to build a resonant story. We don’t pretend that what we imagined is truth and “sell” that as memoir. We make it clear, always, where imagination is leading.
Yes, again: I am interested in your fulcrums and in your epiphanies. Not the lists themselves (for that might overwhelm Substack!!). But that lever, that point of leverage and where it led you.
I like lists. I like the way this prose poem goes from paragraphs of Decidings, to two-part Deciding sentences, to short firm Decidings, to the final longer metaphor. Also good to see you testing your theories here, trying out form and lanaguage, because it makes space for us to experiement.
This is just precisely it, Char. I wanted to see for myself how much I could stretch the one word into a list, nearly break the list, return to the list, make a decision about deciding. If you don't do something yourself, you can't imagine its possibilities. If you don't sew your own placemats, you don't know why it matters that they have even seams. ;)
Hello to those who joined my February 4 CraftTalk on lists, odes, dots, and lines. If you are willing, please do share your fulcrum and your epiphany in the comments below. I cannot wait to hear what got you going ... and what you learned.
What jumped right into my mind after reading ON DECIDING is this quote by Viktor Frankl~
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Yes! I love this line too.
Ohhhh. Yes. Lovely, Cassie!
Wonderful to read, wonderful to coaxed to be aware of the decisions we are unaware of.
How the mind works, especially on white winter days, when everything, including yourself, is locked within.
So perfectly observed. Showing all the decisions we all make, all the time. Any wonder we're exhausted and overwhelmed and why it's important to refill our proverbial cup in as many different ways possible. One of mine is reading your wonderful words. Thank you.
Tina, I appreciate you so very much. Thank you.
"Deciding in advance to avoid chastising yourself for a conversation that has not yet transpired." Such wisdom here!
Heidi, if only I could get BETTER at this. I hear the whole conversation in my head ahead of time, so much so that I wonder later if I've already had the talk. Murky brain. That's what I have.
I understand "murky brain" all too well.
I am late to this post, but this was also the line that called to me!
Jenn, how alike we must be.
On Deciding...yet another great workshop offering! I'm using this place to thank you again, dear Beth, for last Wednesday's workshop "Remembering the Ones We Loved" at the Quadrangle, my retirement community. Our dozen writers, at all levels of experience, have been sending me emails of tremendous gratitude and appreciation. "I wish I could have gotten to Beth...to tell her how significant and mind opening (mind blowing) her prompts were. As well, her readings and sharing about her work and the work of others was so on target for me. I learned so much in such a short time on many levels." and on they go, thankful to find the words, stories crafted through ephemera, a photo we brought, your prompts for some starting sentences, writing a letter to that loved one... Grateful to be plowed out, it was a beautiful time together after the storm.
Thank you from one and all!
Oh, my Ann. I hope you got my thank you note to your thank you note of the other day (or late at night!). I had such a wonderful time with your neighbors and friends. I will not forget those faces, those stories, those moments of shared discovery. A powerful, beautiful thing. I thank you.
Yes 💕 I got your thank you to my thank you - thank you! We are very good at gratitude, for so many reasons during these difficult times. 🥰
Deciding on which hours of the day you will retreat into yourself...yes, there has been a lot of that. The constant fight or flight emotions that yell for attention right now. Wanting to show up in this sad world and wanting to hide from it. You captured it.
Tara, I appreciate, so deeply, your voice here (I truly do). Wanting to show up, wanting to hide, wanting to know who to be so that we will, with respect, look back at ourselves and agree that we were what the world needed at this time. I am sewing badly to retreat so that I can emerge with a voice with some sort of steadiness later in each day.
Your "Bird in Weave" is beautiful, Beth. Your words, equally so.
Thank you, Maureen. Thank you. xo
This was a great read, thank you so much for sharing!
Why thank you.
Such a great class Wednesday, thank you Beth.
My fulcrum: The atmosphere seeking resolution
The epiphany: No one is paying attention
This is gloriously intriguing. These words read like parentheses. Who would not want to discover what lives in between?
Thank you Beth, yes I was going for intrigue in my prologue
“List Poem” (From Fact, Memory, Imagination webinar)
Soul Syncing
Because I matter, I write to reveal.
Because I need, I hustle for meaning.
Because I care, I attend to nuance.
Because I want, I learn to disclose discoveries.
Because I reflect, I journey majestically ahead. And behind.
Because we matter, we endeavor to understand essences.
Because we are connected, our souls can mix and match.
Because we are connected, our souls can sync a smidge.
Because life beckons, we offer what we can of our hearts.
Fulcrums-Why I’ve started writing. Writing as an offering, a sharing.
Epiphany-Connecting deeply with others through opening our hearts and through revealing ourselves is the fulcrum of our shared humanity.
Carla, it is such a joy to watch your evolution as a daughter who wished to write in memory and love to a writer exploring more and more storylines. And a writer who thinks carefully about her yearnings. What I especially love here are the deliberate surprises. That And behind. That movement from I to we. So well done. Welcome to our world.
Beth,
Thank you so much for this response. I greatly appreciate your encouragement and feedback. I'm delighted to welcomed to the the wonderful world of writers, and writing.
Carla
Deciding on stopping here, before the deciding gets too much. Taking time to pause in the between moments. Thank you Beth, this is lovely.
I am so grateful to hat you paused with me within the pause. Thank you.
Unrevised version of a List Poem by Deb Steinbar 2/4/26:
Fulcrum: gardening
Epiphany: grief lasts a lifetime, coming in different forms at different times of life
Earth Tending
Because I had invested twenty-one years of my life...
Becasue I had invested twenty-one summers of my life...
Because I learned to appreciate my own creativity...
Because I recognized that what I felt was beautiful...
Because I could not have my own children...
I made gardens of children instead.
This is beautiful just as it is, Deb. I am only seeing it in this moment. Absolutely riveting and, because I know some of this story, rending. Gardens of children. The tending of earth. The kindness you bring. It is all here. Thank you for sharing it with me, with us.
And YOU are so kind. Thanks, Beth.
Good morning, Beth. A wonderful invitation to writing yesterday in your Craft Talk. I am sitting with my first 'list exercise'...wondering if I should, or how much I should, revise or not. I will send either/or soon.
But, in my morning reading ("Mother, Creature, Kin: What we Learn from Nature's Mothers in a Time of Unraveling" by Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder, which I highly recommend) I came across a beautiful 'list poem' that I wanted to share with you from page 172. Thought you could use it as another example:
"I wanted assurances. The world kept reminding me that there are none.
Which is to say: I am a mother in a time of rising seas.
Which is to say: motherhood necessitates the acceptance of endless transformation.
Which is to say: Mother-work is edge work. It must be done in and from a liminal, transitional, shifting, uncertain, utterly porous space...".
Best. Later. Deb
Deb, you were so kind to join us yesterday, so kind to say the things you said. I am a mother of a very grown-up son and yes, this that you share speaks deeply to me. The edge work of love. The endless nature of the shift. Thank you, Deb. And keep writing. Discover your fulcrum. Find that clarity.
Oh, now I see it.😉
Thanks so much, Beth. I will stay with this one and make some revisions, but this was the first, unfiltered version. And I did send another note to you, but don't see it here. Please let me know if you receive it.
Beth,
Many thanks for your fascinating and instructive Craft Talks webinar on Fact, Memory, Imagination: Connecting the Dots to Uncover Meaning in Our Moments. I felt compelled to frame what I learned as a flexible template on which facts, memory, and imagination can be anchored to spark creativity and create a meaningful and resonant story. Sound ok?
You mentioned that we could share our fulcrum from the prompt with you here along with our reordered elements, secret undertow, and possible epiphany. Did I understand that correctly?
And, oh my, your suggestion of writing the items from our lists on individual index cards and rearranging them in them in meaningful order is exactly what I did to write my papers, way back when, in college. I still find myself doing it!
Carla
Carla, hello, and thank you so much for being with us today, for listening as you so beautifully do. Yes, to answer your question — we need all of it to build a resonant story. We don’t pretend that what we imagined is truth and “sell” that as memoir. We make it clear, always, where imagination is leading.
Yes, again: I am interested in your fulcrums and in your epiphanies. Not the lists themselves (for that might overwhelm Substack!!). But that lever, that point of leverage and where it led you.
To index cards! (forevermore)
Beth, Thank you for your response. After I fire up my index cards, I'll circle back with fulcrums and epiphanies.
I like lists. I like the way this prose poem goes from paragraphs of Decidings, to two-part Deciding sentences, to short firm Decidings, to the final longer metaphor. Also good to see you testing your theories here, trying out form and lanaguage, because it makes space for us to experiement.
And the rhythm of lists!
Yep!
This is just precisely it, Char. I wanted to see for myself how much I could stretch the one word into a list, nearly break the list, return to the list, make a decision about deciding. If you don't do something yourself, you can't imagine its possibilities. If you don't sew your own placemats, you don't know why it matters that they have even seams. ;)