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Saturday, Mar 28, 2009 3:08 AM
Posted By CoCo
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Don’t Miss this Virtual Conference!
Sign-up for A FREE teleconference sponsored by
The National Association of Memoir Writers
On April 23rd starting at 10 AM PDT.
You will receive the conference call information after you register.
Guest Speakers for this teleconference are:
Kay Adams, Dr. James Pennebaker, Lucia Cappachione, Christina Baldwin and Marina Nemat.
Hosted by Linda Joy Myers.
To learn more and sign up visit NAMW.org
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Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009 8:24 PM
Posted By CoCo
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Very recently, I was given a copy of Enrich Fromm’s To Have or To Be, by a loved one. Great! Another good read to add to my library, from someone close to me who knows how much I love good books! Well, this was my initial thought, not realizing that this book would very much be the demise of my precious library as I knew it. Ironically, I’ve been sloughing off chunks of it daily since I began reading Fromm.
I have always taken much pride in my vast library of hundreds and hundreds of books of all kinds. I’d dote over my library much like a gardener would their garden, carefully keeping it well rounded, neat and beautifully categorized. For years I have been a bibliophile in the true sense of the term -- as one who is a collector and lover of books. My library consists of subject areas (not unlike any public library) with headings including Classics, African lit, African American lit, Foreign Studies, Biographies/Memoir, Reference, Psychology, Health, Cookbooks, Art, Philosophy & Religion/Spirituality, and so on. I even have a section dedicated to my yearbooks from middle school through university years.
My library has been characterized by over a dozen bookcases packed with volumes ranging from autographed first edition collector’s items to select historical magazines, to my children’s books, books of my peers, and mentors, select text books from my undergraduate and graduate studies, and a collection of film and software. As a lifetime diarist there are my journals of three decades, as well as the collected journals of famous and obscure persons; and as a writer, of course there are books I’m writing and have written.
Fromm studied sociology and psychoanalysis and immigrated to the United States in the early 30’s as a member of the Frankfurt School of Social Thinkers. To Have or To Be was written back in 1976, and it is described as “one of the seminal books of the second half of the 20th century.” In it, Fromm posits this notion of two modes of existence =>
the having mode consisting of those who concentrate on material possessions; and the being mode, consisting of those engaged in loving, sharing and productive activities of the Self and others.
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Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 10:18 PM
Posted By CoCo
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When I first started reading this work, it immediately reminded me of the hilarious George Carlin’s “STUFF” skit on how much “stuff” we tend to produce, buy and keep. As with any good comedian, he put a hilarious spin on the truth, and allowed us to take a look at our stuff-hoarding ways as Americans. Stuff we put in storage, stuff we drive around in our cars, stuff we tote and on our persons, stuff we garage, stuff we keep in our closets, pantries, attics, stuff, stuff, stuff. It also reminded me of a book a friend had given me upon leaving the Patent Office to commence my writing career – Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin (which of course I’ve since revisited).
See, I’ve always considered myself pretty much a minimalist. Not keeping too much ‘stuff’, with the largest quantity of my possessions lying in my books (and of course apparel). Not long ago, as I made a cross-country move from the Pacific Northwest to the Coast of Georgia. I pretty much left everything behind. Granted, I was undergoing a major life change at the dawn of a divorce, but it wasn’t too difficult for me to leave much of my possessions behind: furniture, clothes, hot tub, automobile, etc. However, the one thing that I did ship across these United States was my library.
Reading Fromm now has reminded me of the balance I’d like to strike between my having and being modes of existence. So as I’ve challenged myself on having versus being with what I consider my most valuable possessions, a sizable portion of my library has been dismantled. I’ve gone through scores of my hardbacks and paperbacks and begun the being-process with my library. So far, I have given hundreds of books away. Books that I never really thought about parting with are now with Goodwill, friends, neighbors, family; and many are selling right now as you read this on Amazon.com:
But lo, I am only in the second chapter of Fromm, I shudder to think about what other changes I may undergo in my paradigms of thinking and living and being! However, if they pertain to continued personal growth, I welcome them all.
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Thursday, Jan 22, 2009 6:40 PM
Posted By CoCo
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Sunday, Dec 14, 2008 11:03 PM
Posted By CoCo
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“Fragments represent the state of in between-ness, the source of all creative thought.”
~ “FragNotes” by Lauren Albert, Issue 2, FragLit on FragLit.com
This quote from the wonderful new journal dedicated to fragmentary literature,
You must take in the collage and read the literary art by Carlos Reyes Letters to Strangers and the Dead . This Carlos Reyes is a thinking-journaling soul. Not convinced, check out
Want a taste? Check out this List, of sorts, comprised of personal philosophy,
If you fancy any of this, you may also dig anything from Impassio Press. Impassio Press is an independent literary press devoted to publishing a variety
of fragmentary writings, with a focus on journals, diaries, and notebooks.
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Tuesday, Nov 4, 2008 2:55 AM
Posted By CoCo
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FIND A Dot Com to submit to:
Announcing new ways to share your
creative, expressive personal writings
Your Story, Your Way
Journal Entries and Memoir
3 Websites to post on
3 Anthology Projects
3 Literary Contests
www.UltraShortMemoir.com
www.ShortMemoir.com
www.TheDiaryBank.com
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Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 10:11 PM
Posted By CoCo
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When the I got into the booth and the electronic screen lit up this afternoon and the candidates for United States Presidency came up on the screen -- I actually froze for a moment. A lot of thoughts flashed through my mind and most of them weren't pretty. I shook them off and came back to the moment as tears welled up in my eyes. I just wanted to stare a bit at the nominees and take it all in. Then the thought hit me that if I didn't hurry up something could go awry and I tapped the screen to cast my vote.
While doing so, I thought about the elderly black men and women in the room with me voting and wondered about their inability to vote in the past due to America's stained past (and in some cases present).
When I walked out, I could barely see clearly with my watery eyes to reach for the cheesy "I'm A Georgia Voter" sticker which meant so much for me today. I immediately called my mom who immediately recounted being a Clark Atlanta University student trying to vote with other students downtown in Atlanta and how they were accosted. But they did it anyway. She told me of the bus routes that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would devise for the students to ride in protest and would be spat on and cursed at. But they did it anyway. She told me of the times they would organize and sit in the Woolworths lunch counter downtown for service and would be ignored and blasted. But they did it anyway. Unfortunatley, that list goes on for that Atlanta native...
Which is why with any ounce of reverence of the past and the future, this black woman voting today under these politcal circumstances, was such a great day in America!
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Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 3:41 AM
Posted By CoCo
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This is such a great meditation that I wanted to share it and I got permission from the author to do so before posting this. Just reading it promotes an energy change…
CoCo,
i read your blog about mindfulness vs. thinking. very interesting. it reminds me of a time when i attended a mindfulness meditation session lead by a spiritual guru who was trained in the middle east. here a brief explanation of the mindfulness meditation he taught ...
sit quietly for a few moments while focusing on your breath.
call up the seed of peace from deep within your soul (where it is always available) and bring it into your mind.
welcome the seed of peace and focus on it.
feel the seed of peace flowing through your body.
feel the seed of peace in every cell of your body.
breathe in peace and exhale peace to all living things.
commit to honoring and cherishing the seed of peace.
thank the seed of peace and return it back to your soul (where it is always available).
repeat for the seed of joy, loving kindness, patience, compassion, or whatever you wish.
of course this is not exact, but some of what i remember. just typing it out is bringing me a deep sense of relaxation. i suppose mindfulness is heart/soul thinking. you have given me a great reminder! thanks!
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Tuesday, Oct 14, 2008 3:08 AM
Posted By CoCo
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There I am right smack in the middle of Atlanta Society this weekend at an engagement party and I am again grateful for running into more fantastic information. Well, one of my homies, acclaimed artist Radcliffe Bailey, is marrying screen star and author, Victoria Rowell, and I had the fortune of attending their smashing event this weekend.
It was hosted by of Coca Cola Exec Vicki Palmer in her beautiful gallery of a home in North Atlanta. My best friend and I admirably call women like her a “bad broad!” It was actually great peaking my head out of the Atlantic sea air of the South Georgia Golden Isles to attend this nice affair containing all of the good ingredients for a dashing evening => great weather, great food, a fantastic venue and vibe, and great folks all around. I just couldn’t resist going up to the mic and giving my classic toast that I’ve done for over 20 years to Vicki and my high school buddy whom for all these years I simply call Rad.
If you don’t know Rad’s work, he’s probably in your airport or in one of your buildings downtown or you may have viewed his work in your local major museum/gallery. As for Vicki, pick up her memoir The Women Who Raised Me if you don’t recall her long time roll as Drucilla on the Y&R soap along with several other movies. It was great seeing their mutual adoration for one another. It was also great running into old high school buddies from the beloved SWATS (South West Atlanta) doing their thing, and doing well. One such is photographer and community advocate Bruce Morton. Another being Tony Owens, Director of the Foundation for Educational Success. He and his business partner have really got something going on very positive in the area of education which is particularly geared toward bridging the gap between teacher/educator/parent and student in an effective manner. Their book Faces of Change is a resource sold on their website which provides adults with tools to talk to the students rather than at them. Tony is one of the funniest guys you could have the pleasure of standing next to at a party. Your body will thank you for the endorphin release from the incessant laughter. While huddled around having several laughs with him and others, I could only imagine his energy in their various Workshop Series [ The “IT” Factor, Developing team/School Culture, Bridge the Disconnect Between Educators and Students, etc.]. In the midst of these conversations, I think back to our idyllic Beecher Hills Elem. (Go Bees!), Southwest Middle School (Go Wolves!), and of course Benjamin E. Mays High School (Go Raiders!) days of yesteryear in Atlanta and savor the very fond memories they evoke. This is parallel processing in the background as the laughter of the conversations grounds me and reels me back into the present moment full of joyful banter with one another -- adults looking into each others’ faces of change.
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Sunday, Oct 5, 2008 10:54 PM
Posted By CoCo
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Yes, yes, it was Rene’ Descartes who said, “I think, therefore I am.” Cogito Ergo Sum. This was his philosophical theory that was based on the fact that if he doubted things (via thinking) it proved his existence.
If you are one of the few souls with my personal number and get my voicemail upon a missed called, you will hear this thought; not the Latin version of course. In my reading last night, I came across the passage by the 16th century Saint Teresa of Avila:
“…thinking is not the same as mindfulness.”
However, she also pondered the idea that if the mind is one of the faculties of the soul why then is it sometimes so restless? I can totally relate.
Yesterday sitting a few feet from the shoreline allowing the waves to speak to my soul, my mind was restless. I had come there to think -- both actively and passively. At one point, I’d gotten into a phone conversation with a dear friend about a topic and, they reminded me not to over think the issues at hand.
You see, I am a thinker. This includes actively guiding my thoughts when solving problems at my desk, as well as being passive sitting before the ocean as I did yesterday. But as a natural scientist and engineer, thinking is the essential tool – and critical thinking at that. Moreover, as a creative artist I am always thinking of the endless possibilities of plots, articles, entries, essays, character sketches, dialogues, etcetera.
According to Descartes’ deduction -- I AM. Maybe I should have one of those sculptures of that Greek chin resting on fist ‘thinking’ guy with my own face etched in. I’m cerebral; both hemispheres – the engineer and the artist. I love thinking and figuring things out, just as much as I love writing or sketching or painting. Descartes was a philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer – arguably a master of dual hemispheres. How great is that?
In the book How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci the author, Michael Gelb, provides an introduction to the essential elements of genius derived from Da Vinci’s notebooks and his celebration of an insatiably curious approach to life and willingness to embrace uncertainty and paradox.
The New Age era ushered forth the idea of thinking things into being with concepts such as creative visualization techniques. Nowadays, we have books/films such as The Secret teaching the concept that our reality is ultimately shaped by our fundamental thinking patterns and the energies we attract by our thoughts.
But there’s more. Or less, shall I say…this is perhaps what Saint Teresa of Avila was getting at -- this notion of mindfulness. I personally understand this more as a passive mode of thinking, or better yet, being, versus active thinking. Mindfulness allows for the intuitive processes of the soul to come into play. It’s best characterized by a heart thinking, versus mind thinking. Saint Teresa teaches a further step as she wrote back in the late 1500’s:
“...the important thing is not to think much but to love much,
and so to do whatever best awakens you for love.”
Yes, I will always, always be a thinker. I am most grateful for this. But better yet, I am more grateful for the insatiable quest for knowledge and incessant thirst for spiritual awareness and soul-growth.
So as I am reminded by friends (and saints) one of my primary goals in life can be most articulated as the desire for mindfulness and the desire for my soul to be whole within its quietude, its love, its longing, and its clarity of consciousness. I whole-heartedly feel that mindfulness has much to do with the absolute personal development of humility entwined with intuition.
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Sunday, Sep 21, 2008 10:03 PM
Posted By CoCo
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That was an expression that came from my best friend some weeks back in conversation and it struck me and I loved it! Being friends for well over 25 years, we have this sort of short hand type of talk absolutely full of all the bounty and richness of black colloquialisms. Its sweet to the tongue and spirit! So when she said it, talking about the actions of someone else, I knew exactly what she meant.
Though this was many weeks, or even months ago, it came back to mind just the other day when I was reading JET. You know JET? I heard one comedian (Chris Rock was it?) say this was the little magazine that you hardly ever buy or subscribe to, but once you get one in your hands (doctors office, friends house, etc) you read that sucker from front to back! And checking out every picture! So true! Brothers and sisters, yall know what I’m talking ‘bout~ Anyway, mine are hand me downs from my mom, often many months old, but always the same effect.
Well, flipping through the one the other day, the one with Foxy Brown on the cover (May 19, 2008), I learned of her solitary confinement for 76 days while in jail on Riker’s Island. That’s 23 hours a day in the cell with only 1 hour out. Well, with this 1 hour, she had a mentor while there, the Protestant chaplain known as “Rev Kev.” The article explains how they prayed everyday during this hour. And one of the pieces of wisdom that he dropped on her:
“I told her that in life it’s nice to be important,
but it’s more important to be nice.”
Right on Rev. Kev!
All right people,
All right America
All right world,
Just make nice!
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Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 5:19 PM
Posted By CoCo
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Lessons in the Art of Living
This is the subtitle of a book that I have been reading (along with a million others as I do) and meditating on for weeks now. Ever since I met the author, Mark Matousek ( MarkMatousek.com) back in Denver a couple months back at a conference, I just KNEW it would be a great read. I’ve toted this book around on plane rides, to restaurants & cafes, poolside of my kids’ swim lessons, etc., and this morning to my nearby Starbucks. I’d unpacked it from my bag next to my laptop and I intended to once again, attempt to complete this blog I’d started twice and lost about When You’re Falling Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living. But before digging in, I received a call I had been waiting for and was soon engrossed in conversation. While chatting on the phone, I heard the unmistakable labored communication of a lady behind me in conversation. Before I finished my call she gestured in a manner asking for a look at the book. Always glad to share positive information, I handed Lessons over to her with a smile without skipping a beat in my conversation. However, when I finished my call, I approached her table and she said,
“I wish I’d met this guy 15 years ago!”
I sat down at her table to chat a bit, curious about the story behind that statement.
She explained how a choking incident cut off oxygen to her brain for over 20 minutes. How she was pronounced DOA at the hospital, and comatose for 3 months during which she had 2 cardiac arrests and a stroke. After emerging from her coma, she was unable to use any of her extremities, as clearly evidenced by her labored use of such today.
“I literally bit off more than I could chew,” she said with a slight smile.
I can appreciate a good sense of humor as much as a good story. She went on to describe that fateful day which led to her life of handicap. She explained how she had been wheelchair-bound ever since for 15 years up until a couple of months ago.
“You must believe in miracles?” I asked her.
“I am a miracle,” she replied matter of factly before going into detail of her near death experience.
It was at that moment that it hit me -- there I was attempting to blog about the very subject of the book that I was appreciating so much -- viriditas. Talk about a serendipitous moment. The inside flap defines the concept of viriditas as “the power of drawing passion, beauty, and wisdom from the unlikeliest places.” Mark explains this in his ABC interview.
This was the case for this woman before me, as it was for each of the subjects of the essays of Lessons. These are essays that you can read over again, and most importantly, randomly. One of my favorite essays, “Earth Angel” starts with:
“Last night I dreamt I was a butterfly,” wrote the Taoist philosopher Chuang Tze. “Now am I a man dreaming I am a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming I am a man?”
And would you believe I was lucky enough to read this essay first after the Introduction? Lessons appeals to me on so many levels, from the philosopher, to the reading of phenomenal life stories, to the cerebral person.
“The mind that questioned itself looks forward to life,” Mark recounts in a statement made to him in an interview with Byron Katie in the essay “Questioning (Or the Sphinx)”. In this collection, names are dropped, great stories are dropped, but most importantly, wisdom is dropped. With every essay I read, viriditas was the leitmotif woven throughout the book that spoke to my soul; and quite ironically, on this day, being spoken to me by the woman who had recently escaped her wheelchair.
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Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 10:55 AM
Posted By CoCo
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Stay Tunned...
All the sites are getting done bit by bit and page by page!
Who can sleep with memoir and journal entries of all sorts to be gathered, read, shared, anthologized, and exhibited?
and
are next, followed soon by
and for those who prefer oral narratives verus written narratives,
birth will be given to LiftingOurVoices.com
As mentioned on ShortMemoir.com, the forthcoming guidebook
will soon be available in various versions, including downloadable formats and soon thereafter
Writing for the Life of It!: The Anthology Teaching Creative Journaling Techniques
Again, who can sleep?
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Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 9:29 AM
Posted By CoCo
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I have had the good fortune of being an alumna of several great institutions. These start with my Benjamin E Mays High School Academy of Science and Mathematics, to my beloved Howard U, and my cherished graduate experiences at Spalding. But another one that I am particularly proud is being a Hurston/Wright Writers Week 2006 alum, held at American University.
The Hurston/Wright Foundation was initially housed in the office of Marita Golden when she was a faculty member of George Mason’s MFA Graduate Creative Writing Program. In the Introduction to Gumbo: An Anthology of African American Writing, Marita states that she wanted to create a ritual, “a ceremony in which young Black writers were acknowledged and embraced by their peers, their elders, their fellow writers…I wanted to say to young Black writers that there was a group of people who believed in them…” The Zora Neal Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation became “a prestigious breeding ground for up-and-coming black writers,” as the inside flap of Gumbo touts.
Ever since reading Migrations of the Heart, I had always felt drawn to esteemed author, Marita Golden ( www.MaritaGolden.com ). Moreover, at this time in my life, somewhere (but not too deep) in my psyche and soul, I felt that I was going through my own migration of the heart. Needless to say, I was beyond overjoyed to be accepted into her Writing in the Spirit Workshop. I was also proud to follow in the footsteps of my mentor and MFA professor, Crystal Wilkinson ( www.CrystalWilkinson.com ), who was one of the first set chosen for Writer’s Week. Never had I been one to be weak in the self-esteem department, but I was accepted into this elite group at a time when I could really use the further validation of my voice. Sure she spoke of the ‘very promising fiction piece’ that I’d submitted for Writer’s workshop, but I was smack in the middle of my MFA program and my writing packets were daunting, and very much against my natural workflow of creativity.
I was working full time for a neuroscience/biotech start up in Seattle, and my marriage was surely tumbling down. Things were hitting me on an emotional level flooding several avenues of my life. I was giving large chunks of myself to my legal career, my writing and graduate writing program, my children, and my failing marriage. I had surely found myself standing in one of the roughest spots of my adult life.
I’ll never forget walking into class that summer morning and the first thing she said to all of us was that she was giving us permission. I’m sure she was peering into a room full of quizzical faces as she told us matter-of-factly that she was giving us permission -- to be magnificent. Admittedly, this sounded strange to me upon first hearing it. Permission to be magnificent? Permission? Why did we need permission? And at that, to be magnificent?
Well, truth is, we did; or shall I say, I did.
As a seasoned writer, she led us through exercises that morning session that had little to do with writing (on the surface) but lots to do with trusting ourselves, our creative selves, our dynamic selves. The writing I produced that morning still provides inspiration to me to this day…As with any good teacher, the success comes when the student is able to realize the potential that the teacher already knows is there. Thanks Marita!
Without going into further detail here, I cannot stress enough that indeed I needed permission. It is my hope that I channel this wisdom into each of my young girls, and continually remind myself (and the world at large) that the universe has already given us permission, but it is up to us to allow ourselves to be magnificent.
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Sunday, Aug 31, 2008 7:53 AM
Posted By CoCo
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A select few of the Good Finds that I’ve had the fortune to run across in the last few months by way of research, conferences, gifts, and even thrift store finds include:
When You’re Falling Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living Mark Matousek
“Survival, I came to understand, has less to do with cheating death than with living as brilliantly as possible” pg 10
The 1000 Journals Project by Some Guy
“This book is dedicated to everyone who’s ever said, “I’m not creative.” pg. 1
Keeping A Journal by Trudi Strain Trueit
“A journal can bring you closer to family and friends because when you are writing about people in your life, you are taking the time to reflect on your relationships.” pg. 27
When I Was A Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection
ed. Norman R. Yetman
“…I nursed for her and one day I was playin’ with de baby. It hurts its li’l hand and commenced to cry, and she whirl on me, pick up a hot iron and run it all down my arm and hand.” Delia Garlic, Age when interviewed 100, pg. 43
I Thought My Father Was God: And other True Tales from NPR’s National Story Project ed. Paul Auster
“If you aren’t certain about things, if your mind is still open enough to question what you are seeing, you tend to look at the world with great care, and out of that watchfulness comes the possibility of seeing something that no one else has seen before.” pg. xviii
Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs ed. Smith Magazine
“ Hippie parents. Early independence. Surprising success.” pg. 47
Storycatcher Christina Baldwin
“The art of storycatching challenges us to believe that listening to and reading stories is time well spent, and to spend time speaking and listening, writing and reading.” pg. 32
Lighten Up Your Body – Lighten Up Your Life: Beyond Diet and Exercise- The Inner Path to lasting Change Lucia Capacchione
“The fact is, however, that outer change not accompanied by inner change will never last.” pg. 2
Journal to the Self: Twenty-Two Paths to Personal Growth Katheleen Adams
“There’s a friend at the end of your pen which you can use to help you solve personal or business problems, get to know all of the different parts of yourself, explore your creativity, heal your relationships, develop your intuition . . . and much more” p. 13
One to One: Self-Understanding through Journal Writing Christina Baldwin
“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.” pg. 18
The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal
Lilly Koppel
“I am now ninety-two – my husband of sixty-seven years died last April – and I am fighting to keep my finger in the pie of life” Introduction
Close to the Bone: Memoirs of Hurt, Rage, and Desire ed. Laurie Stone
“Close to the Bone draws fuel from the erotics of knowledge: The ore we know about what makes us tick, the freer we can be to cop whatever joy we find.” pg. xxviii
What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self ed. Ellyn Spragins
“If you could somehow postmark a letter back through time to your younger self, what age would you choose and what would the letter say?” pg. xiiv
The Writer’s Journal: 40 Contemporary Writers and Their Journals
ed. Sheila Bender
“My journals allow me to integrate my ideas with who I am.” pg. 207
Risk, Courage, and Women ed. Waldron Brazil, Labatt
“First off, forgive yourself for the stupid things you’ve done.”
pg. 24 Maya Angelou
Partenering: A New Kind of Relationship Hal and Sidra Stone
“The questions to ask ourselves are: “Who is driving my psychological car?…” pg. 77
The Tao of Motherhood Vimala McClure
“To allow the Mother principle to work to center your family, take time for yourself. Otherwise, the self will be constantly grasping for its share.” pg. 46
Notes to Myself: My struggle to Become a Person, Hugh Prather
“When I made my first efforts to be true to myself, I felt trapped in a self I didn’t like.”
A Woman Speaks: The Lectures, Seminars, and Interviews of Anais Nin
ed. Evelyn Hinz
“The magic of story-telling lies in the enjoyment of a flight of language that takes you into another realm. We enter the realm of poetry or art and discover the pleasure of possessing the skill to fly.” pg. 183
Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner Worlds Deena Metzger
“In the process of writing, of discovering our story, we restore those parts of ourselves that have been scattered, hidden, surpressed, denied, distorted, forbidden, and we come to understand that stories heal.” pg. 71
Opening Up: The Healing Power of Confiding in Others Dr. James Pennebaker
“So what did we find? People who wrote about their deepest thoughts and feelings surrounding traumatic experiences evidenced heightened immune function compared with those who wrote about superficial topics.” P. 47
Mr. And Mrs. Prince: How an Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Family Moved Out of Slavery and Into Legend Grethchen Holbrook Gerzina
“To the modern mind it seems a kind of moral schizophrenia, but to eighteenth-century whites it was the natural order.” pg. 73
Writing to Save Your Life: How to Honor Your Story Through Journaling
Michele Weldon
“Author Alice Walker calls for the need to “witness” in her work and tell stories of her life and the lives of other people. For me, writing is witnessing my own life.” pg. 11
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Howard Cutler
“…--right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness.” pg. 37
Unwritten Letters: Letter Writing as a Way to Resolve the Unfinished Business of Your Life Ilene Segalove
“The simple act of writing a letter to a specific person, problem, or inanimate object opens the floodgates of backlogged confusion and unresolved emotions. It helps you clarify the way you feel and, in so doing, can change tour relationship with yourself and your world.” pg. 3
Voices of Saint Simons: Personal Narratives of an Island’s Past ed. Stephen Doster
“Sooner or later, everything becomes history.” pg. xiv
Song Yet Sung, A Novel James McBride
“Some historians contend that no black codes were used in the Underground Railroad, but fortunately, the musing of scholars never stopped writers from drawing plot, content, and character from disputed history to power the muscle of their imaginations.” Author’s Note pg. 357
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith Anne Lamott
“What a mess we are, I thought. But this is usually where any hope of improvement begins, acknowledging the mess. When I am well, I know not to mess with mess.” pg. 100
God, Dr. Buzzard and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks about Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia Cornelia Walker Bailey with Christena Bledsoe
“My tale begins just before the rising of the sun, in that brief instant of time when the night clouds are being cleared away and the first rays of light are streaking across the sky.” 1st sentence, pg. 1
Gullah Folktales from the Georgia Coast ed. Charles Colcock Jones, Jr
“But if deciphering an unfamiliar language is the biggest challenge one must meet in order to read Gullah Folktales, it is also one of the greatest pleasures.” pg. vxiii-xxiv
Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man Gopi Krishna
“Men have never been able to understand the surpassing efficiency which a man of genius brings to bear on his intellectual or manual creations, and still less are able to comprehend the mental condition of an ecstactic.” pg. 79
Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing
eds. Marita Golden & E. Lynn Harris
“If you bought this book you are an investor in the future of Black writing, and the stories are your immediate dividend.” pg. xx
Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman
“...I climbed into the hills. And gradually I was able to penetrate farther and farther into a magic world that no human had explored before – the world of the wild chimpanzees.” pg. 71
Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African American Intellectual Tradition V.P. Franklin
“Unlike the literary artists who were preoccupied with “shaping their public ‘self’ in language, many African American intellectuals and leaders turned to the autobiographical form of primarily for ideological and political purposes.” pg. 12
The Interior Castle, Saint Teresa of Avila translated Mirabai Starr
“Without humility, all is lost.” pg. 46
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
“The world’s biggest lie is that our lives are controlled by fate and no one believes in their personal legends…when working toward your personal legend the universe will conspire to help you.”
The Power of Words: Social and Personal Transformation through the Spoken, Written and Sung Word eds. Mirriam-Goldberg & Tallman
“You tell stories or help others tell stories because you need to, because you know that the story can grow in the listener, and sometimes in the teller, new shoots of understanding, branches of connection, and a canopy of healing.” pg.3
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