I Wrote My Guts Out Last Week
...at the Chilmark Writing Workshop
Literally.
Do you know Nancy Aronie? She’s the author of Memoir as Medicine and Writing from the Heart, both great books about memoir writing and how writing your story can be especially healing.
About once a month, she hosts a group at her home on Martha’s Vinyard for a four-day retreat. Writers from all ages and backgrounds come together here.
We examined our writing, yes, but mainly, we examined our hearts. Prompts like “Dinner at my house was…” caused us to go inward—take a deep look inside and see what came up.
A lot came up for me.
I wrote about things that I’d never shared outside of my therapist’s office or closely- attached friend groups. In all the writing I’ve been doing lately, I somehow have forgotten how the mere act of putting pen to paper can be so healing.
But it wasn’t just the pen-to-paper part, it was also the witnessing.
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After we wrote the prompt, we read our words to the group—a cathartic confession of our lives and what has happened in them. There was healing in the witnessing. Someone to acknowledge, ‘Yes, I see you. I can hear what has happened in your life and see you.’
“You look about four years younger,” Nancy said to me after an especially heavy read. And I knew I did. I actually felt younger, lighter.
Though I was surrounded by strangers, it felt like the safest place in the world.
And the talent - oh, the talent. There were some gifted writers in that room.
But back to the catharsis. Telling your story and having someone witness it is so powerful. More powerful than I’d understood before now.
The power was palpable and cleansing, for the trauma that was once held in the body was now released. You could see people become lighter with each word. It was an incredible process.
And your writing gets better, too.
Hearing the words of others helps make your writing better.
I love how she used that illustration, that alliteration, that metaphor.
It’s a process I could benefit from more often, for sure.
The telling and the witnessing.
I love finding these little nuggets in your posts. I just purchased these 2 books for my Kindle and checking out her workshops.
Your journey is inspiring and I’ve only followed bits and pieces since we met at Soar, but seriously, you’re brave and you’ve inspired me!
I wholeheartedly agree. Beginning to write my memoir or "Momoir" as I call it has helped me unpack and examine not just my experience as a mother-something I longed to be from the time I was four-but also as a human. Lisajonesteaches.com is another incredible writing teacher in Colorado who teaches in person and remotely and her prompts for what she calls "The Heroine's Journey" lead you through literary examples that help you become a genius writer in community. And now I want to learn more about Nancy Aronie.