Assignment
"In her essay, Kerry Cohen says "Many times, when writers attempt to write their stories, they aren’t willing to look closely. Too much pain, or shame, or fear stands like a guard at the door. But if you can relax into those feelings, if you can sit with your flawed, imperfect self, silence your internal judge, and allow yourself to write toward meaning, you just might locate the truth that holds the key to your entire book." However, as writers, we also need to balance the truth-telling and our authentic voices with writing for an audience. Take some time to reference some of the past readings (including this week's readings) and post once (and once again in response to another peer, both by Sunday, 11:59pm PST,) about how to revise your work in order to use truth and authentic voice while composing something interesting, entertaining, and meaningful to an outside reader."
Artifact 1
Thank you all for the feedback. I am realizing that I can write about the past and I do not need to share it. I also know that I am not ready to do this now. In trying to think about writing and sharing this I cannot justify the potential of damaging the fragile recovery of relationships. Perhaps that is cowardly. I get that, but I have battled this stuff in the past. Just being honest, doing free writes and some of the assignments have brought to surface things that I felt were resolved. I can see that more work needs to be done. However, there are trade-offs in life. At this time all I can imagine doing is writing pieces for my own understanding and exploration. The advice you all shared is meaningful to me. With your permission I would like to cut and paste it into a word file so that I can refer to it later, after this thread is gone.
Reflection
This is from a discussion board post that talked about the difficulties of writing and sharing painful memories and times in our lives. I included this piece as an artifact after receiving positive feedback from Professor Ogden. Free writing is an activity that shines a blinding light on skeletons we have long since locked away, to forget. When we keep our skeletons chained to us, we also end up as prisoner, dragging them around wherever we go. Free writing is a technique that allows us the luxury of unlocking the chains that bind us, a few links at a time, and we become free.
Natalie Goldberg tells us to begin our writing with an " empty page and a heart unsure, a famine of thoughts, a fear of no feeling-just begin from there, from that electricity. . .But facing those things, writing from that place, will eventually break us and open us to the world as it is. Out of this tornado of fear will come a genuine writing voice."
Natalie is acknowledging that it is tough to write about the difficulties we have endured in our lives. She is saying that it is OK if we are afraid to face our pasts and write about them. Natalie tells us to just begin with an empty page and no conclusions and write about those painful memories. Natalie is telling us that writing about our past and those painful skeletons we drag around with us is the key to unlocking the power they hold over us. She is telling me, yes Glen it is going to be scary but you have to do it and when you do face those fears that you keep hidden away you will own them and they will no longer own you.
Looking back I can see that my writing in this discussion board is the first time I have publicly suggested that I have issues that I am afraid to write about and that I am definitely afraid to share with others. However, I did talk about this issue on the discussion board and I received encouragement. I was afraid of receiving pity. I was afraid of being judged. Those things did not happen and so the tornado is not blowing quite as hard. The tornado is still wrecking havoc upon the crops of my life but now I have a way to acknowledge it: I free write about it. I am not sure that I will ever get to a place where I feel comfortable spilling the whole guts of my past for everyone to see. I probably do not need to: in the act of writing about my past I gain perspective and insight into who I am and knowing that allows me to find my genuine writing voice.
Natalie Goldberg tells us to begin our writing with an " empty page and a heart unsure, a famine of thoughts, a fear of no feeling-just begin from there, from that electricity. . .But facing those things, writing from that place, will eventually break us and open us to the world as it is. Out of this tornado of fear will come a genuine writing voice."
Natalie is acknowledging that it is tough to write about the difficulties we have endured in our lives. She is saying that it is OK if we are afraid to face our pasts and write about them. Natalie tells us to just begin with an empty page and no conclusions and write about those painful memories. Natalie is telling us that writing about our past and those painful skeletons we drag around with us is the key to unlocking the power they hold over us. She is telling me, yes Glen it is going to be scary but you have to do it and when you do face those fears that you keep hidden away you will own them and they will no longer own you.
Looking back I can see that my writing in this discussion board is the first time I have publicly suggested that I have issues that I am afraid to write about and that I am definitely afraid to share with others. However, I did talk about this issue on the discussion board and I received encouragement. I was afraid of receiving pity. I was afraid of being judged. Those things did not happen and so the tornado is not blowing quite as hard. The tornado is still wrecking havoc upon the crops of my life but now I have a way to acknowledge it: I free write about it. I am not sure that I will ever get to a place where I feel comfortable spilling the whole guts of my past for everyone to see. I probably do not need to: in the act of writing about my past I gain perspective and insight into who I am and knowing that allows me to find my genuine writing voice.