Over the weekend I marched into the kitchen, hands on my hips, demanding to know what exactly my husband was doing. He had the nerve to laugh and point. Apparently, I had forgotten to pull my pants up all the way and they were bunched together around my thighs.
It’s hard to maintain authority pantsless, but I persisted. I’d recently explained to him that he couldn’t set a boundary against me because that was against my boundaries. Yeah, yeah. I know. Very funny.
God, please fix him and help me.
I might have a few small control issues coming up right now because it’s abundantly clear I have no control at all. War in the Middle East, animal abuse, my friends who are in pain, the rising cost of living, climate change. While I can mostly accept powerlessness over things outside of my house I feel as if I’m entitled to a little control on the inside. If only my husband would do as I said, the house would clean itself, and the dogs and cats wouldn’t shed an inch of hair over everything.
In a bid to gain control over at least MYSELF I bought a habit tracking app that I have meticulously kept up with for exactly 24 hours. Tracking my habits is one of my new habits to track and it is VERY satisfying.
On the Spiritual Recharge podcast I was listening to yesterday, Shireen Chada said, “God has a dream for you.”
God has a dream for me? This was a relief. Because God’s dream probably doesn’t involve a tiny dictator stomping around, wringing her hands.
“Unsolicited advice is criticism,” ancient Alanon proverb
You don’t have to think you’re a writer for writing to change your life.
IT’S ON. Join me this winter and spring for: Writing Rituals, True Stories, Deep Dives, Writing for Therapists, and the Healing Narrative!
True Story: Writing the Stories of Our Lives
ZOOM
Tuesdays, Feb 20- March 26
10 am - 12 noon
Max: 8 participants
$250
We each have unique and universal stories to tell, whether they are on the surface of our lives or buried in the depths of our subconscious. In this writing-from-life 6-week series, we will delve into our origin stories, map our timelines, and find access points to the stories we most need to tell.
Whether you are writing to process or working on a manuscript, we will each generate our own specific prompt lists to propel us forward into the stories of our lives.
Deep Dive: an In-Person 6 week writing intensive
Valley's Studio In-Person
Wednesdays, Feb 21-March 27
1-3 pm
Max: 8 participants
$250
Are you haunted by an unfinished manuscript? Do you want to write a book but feel overwhelmed about what to do and how to start?
Take your writing to the next level in this special intensive designed to help you create structure, generate prompts, and provide accountability for writing your manuscript. Our small group will encourage and inspire each other in the spirit of safety and nonjudgment, with the steady support of guidance and gentle direction along the way.
We will gather at my house around the dining room table and may be joined by a few 4-legged family members. Please bring your notebook and pen. Coffee and tea will be provided.
Max: 8 participants.
Life in the First Person on Thursday Mornings
ZOOM
Thursdays, February 22- April 4 (no class on March 14)
9:30-11:30 AM
$245
Sharing our personal stories in community is a creative act of holy disruption. As we write the unique details of our lives, we discover a universal connection that contradicts our feelings of isolation and separation in a heartbroken and violent world. Through first-draft, expressive writing, we mine our memories, traumas, and dreams to draw out the threads and themes of our deepest stories, the beginnings of our memoirs, essays, poems, novels, and journal entries.
Writers are encouraged to go at their own pace, but to push gently against their comfort zones, reaching for the layers of writing that exist beneath the surface of the day, in our supportive, non-judgmental, and confidential writing environment. We practice surrendering our weapons, seeking shelter, handwriting, free-writing, skipping the small talk, listening, and not apologizing for what we’ve written, as we write, share, listen, and heal together. We focus on the process rather than the product, allowing our best work and truest selves to emerge on the page– and in our lives.
Reiki 1 Certification with Valley Haggard
Saturday, Feb. 24
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Price: $270
Do you feel called to ground, connect, and deepen? Would you like to learn a powerful, intuitive method for healing yourself and others? A Japanese form of energy work meaning Universal Life Energy, Reiki infuses our mind, body, and spirit with a life force in ways that can empower every aspect of our lives.
In this Reiki 1 workshop, we will learn primarily through hands-on experience how to give ourselves and others Reiki treatments, how to protect our energy fields, traditional and intuitive hand placement, and more.
Each participant will receive a Reiki 1 attunement and Reiki 1 certification by the end of the workshop day.
No previous experience necessary.
Reiki 2 Certification with Valley Haggard
Sat, Mar 23, 2024
10 am – 5:00 pm
Price: $270
Early bird before February 14! $245
If you have earned your Reiki Level 1 attunement and certification, you are ready for Level 2! This special one-day workshop will help us fine-tune and increase our vibrational healing energy to balance and increase energy flow in our mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies. During our workshop, we will focus on use of the Reiki symbols, learning the mantras, and practicing distance healing. You will receive an intro to chakra balancing and accessing your Reiki guides.
You will receive a Level 2 attunement and certification by the end of the day.
The Healing Narrative: a 4-Day Transformational Retreat
The Porches, 56 Pine Hill Ln, Norwood, VA,
Writing about our past empowers us to identify old patterns so that we can write new futures, transforming old wounds into new stories.
On this intimate 4-day retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we will write our origin stories, chart our timelines, discover our archetypes, and identify the path of our own particular hero's journey. Combining guided meditation, visualization, and energy work within our small group writing circles, we will unearth our most potent and pervasive themes in order to imagine new plotlines for our lives moving forward. As we find our voices, we take back our power, becoming the hero, the most important character, in our own lives.
Each writer will have their own gorgeous bedroom in the beautiful farmhouse of Porches Writing Retreat in Nelson County, a short walk away from the James River. Our schedule will include small circle writing, free time, energy work, writing at the river, half a day at Yogaville ( a 15-minute drive from Porches), and all course materials.
Our small group will be limited to 4 participants
Writing to Heal for Therapists
Sat, Mar 30, 2024
10 AM – 4 PM EDT
Valley's Writing Studio, Richmond, VA
$245
In this special one-day workshop, we will learn journaling techniques and prompts especially designed for therapists to promote healing and wholeness for themselves and their clients. Starting with the scientific psychological, emotional, and biological benefits of writing and reframing our narratives, we will explore a range of practices from simple free-writing techniques to identifying our archetypes on the hero's journey.
Come away with a practical and powerful toolkit of resources for supporting yourself and your clients on the healing journey. All materials provided.
Max: 8 participants
