Through some happenstance web link, I found TLA, and have become quite the fan girl of their online courses. I’ve taken classes at many places over the years, but only TLA has resonated on such an elemental level. Many of my classmates are like me, female, of periretirement age and still seeking that counter-narrative.
Last fall I took the irresistably titled “Liminal Spaces: The Poetry of Transitions and Change” with Angie Ebba. (Who among us doesn’t wish to be changed by a poem? Who among us doesn’t wish to change their world through their poem?)
The two weeks between when I signed up for the class and when it started turned out to be quite a liminal space for me: a sprained ankle on top of a chronic mobility disorder, the death of my mother and the first time I got Covid. So my attention to the thematic possibilities, new (to me) forms like the haibon and oulipo, and techniques was mutable.
But the Week 4 assignment was on using personification, the literary device that gives human characteristics to nonhuman things or inanimate objects. To my delight, a number of us confessed to be confirmed personifiers, even and especially outside of our writing lives.
The online class thread for this assignment read like a meeting of Empathizers Anonymous. The initials of my classmates and the actual objects personified below have been changed to protect their privacy:
T posted about their mother’s lamp that did not want to be discarded. M couldn’t stand to see the last apple alone on the store shelf. K whose spouse who talked to their favorite stapler.
I commented how, in the early 1970s, my father made me return a midi dress to the store “because it made me look like too much of a hippie.” Never mind that, born in 1961, I had been too young for Woodstock and missed out on the Summer of Love. Even in the dress, no one would have mistaken me for Janis Joplin. Putting it in the bag to be returned, I cried for the dress and the multicolored stripes around its skirt, its hurt feelings.
Five decades later I still glimpse the purple dress, Now, I too am seen.
Following up on last month’s post about what our staff and board members have been reading, we asked some of the writers, editors, poets, and facilitators who teach for the TLA Network what they are currently reading, and why. We thought you might enjoy getting more of a glimpse into our teachers’ worlds – see their selections, listed below.
We would love to hear what YOU have been reading – share your latest favorite reads with us, and we might just feature you and your favorite book(s) in an upcoming newsletter, or as part of a Network book club! We would love to hear from you!
Jennifer Browdy, PhD – professor, editor, community organizer & group facilitator.
LSD and the Mind of the Universe: Diamonds from Heaven, Chris Bache. The author is a distinguished professor emeritus of world religions, who spent 20 years researching the nature of reality and metaphysics by taking himself on more than 70 high-dose, carefully set and monitored LSD explorations, with fascinating results.
The Quantum Revelation: A Radical Synthesis of Science & Spirituality, by Paul Levy. Levy has done an outstanding job of bringing the insights of quantum theory, Jungian depth psychology and mystical spiritual traditions like the Kabbalah to bear on foundational questions of reality and human consciousness.
The Radiant Heart of the Cosmos: Compassion Teachings for Our Time, by Penny Gill. Gill, a retired professor of political science and longtime dean of the college at Mt. Holyoke College, unexpectedly began to channel the voices of two Tibetan deities, Manjushri and Kwan Yin, who taught her about the “tsunami of Spirit” that is accelerating the pace of change on Earth at this time, and how we can learn to keep our psychic balance and ride with it, rather than getting swept up in fear and resistance. This book, written in three voices, tells Gill’s personal journey as well as relating the conversations she’s had with Manjushri and Kwan Yin.
Lisa Chu, M.D.– multidisciplinary artist, illuminator, and community catalyst.
The Apology by V (formerly Eve Ensler). The concept and content of this volume — an imagined apology written to the author in the voice of her long-dead father — are a healing salve to those among us who are still searching for the roots of the harmful, invasive, or violent behaviors of the ones who proclaimed to love us. V’s cleansing work speaks to the heart of anyone who has spent time inquiring into, deconstructing, and reconstructing internal narratives in an attempt to liberate from the invisible yet unmistakable tendrils of these violent inheritances. I take this book in small sips, returning to pick it up again after walking with it in my belly for awhile.
Sara Berman’s Closet by Maira Kalman. This is a short illustrated volume that I didn’t expect to have such an impact on me. At first I flipped quickly through it, but as I neared the end I realized there was a twist, an unexpected turn inside me that planted a seed for reimagining a definition of a well-lived life. Everything by Maira Kalman astonishes and delights me, but this was an added surprise and life lesson inspired by the story of her mother’s closet.
Remarkable Diaries: The World’s Greatest Diaries, Journals, Notebooks, & Lettersby Kate Williams. This one sits on my art desk and reminds me of the long lineage of thinkers – artists, explorers, writers, inventors – whose notebook practices have been reproduced as images with historical context here. I feel like I am in the company of my people whenever I leaf through these pages. I feel grateful for the existence of these notebooks, their preservation, and the fact of the existence of the minds and hands which made them. To me these are as much a product of their lives as any final works published. They are each a piece of multidimensional evidence of the uniqueness of creative process and the shared medium of the notebook across centuries of human existence.
Kimberly Lee – Writer, Editor, Workshop Facilitator.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. This book’s compelling premise was hard to resist: Four young siblings visit a woman who can supposedly predict the exact date of a person’s death, and as the characters move into and through adulthood, we learn how this knowledge affects their choices and behavior in all aspects of their lives.
Goddesses of Self-Care: 30 Divine Feminine Archetypes To Guide You, by Stephanie Anderson Ladd. This nourishing workbook offers a wealth of information on a wide variety of feminine archetypes from cultures around the world, inviting readers to harness the wisdom and ways of these entities to craft a self-care strategy through reflection, journaling, art making, and other activities.
Infinitum by Tim Fielder. A gorgeous graphic novel that begins in ancient Africa, then moves through history to the present and beyond, spanning the globe as the main character, Aja Oba, seeks to destroy the curse that binds him while finding love and purpose.
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, by Douglas Carlton Abrams, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I’m actually listening to the audio version of this book while I do my daily chores – a simple practice for elevating the mundane into a joyful experience. Two friends, who also happen to be two of the world’s most influential spiritual leaders, come together for a weeklong event to share their thoughts on living with joy, even in the face of adversity. In the audio version, two actors read the parts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond, as the writer weaves his insights around them. It’s a thought-provoking, inspiring, entertaining, and uplifting read (or listen).
Falling in Honey, by Jennifer Barclay. Inspiring for aspiring memoir writers, and anyone who loves the Greek islands. This book gets some mixed reviews as far as the quality of writing goes, but I am still putting it here for two reasons. One, I’m a huge fan of memoirs about travel and love, and this one is an entertaining story about the British author’s experience of discovering and moving to a tiny Greek island in the Dodecanese (one that I just visited, and also fell in love with), with a twist.
And two, you can learn a lot from the way other memoirists craft their stories – good, bad, and in-between. This was only Barclay’s second book, and she continues to write, improve, and follow her creative heart, so I find that very inspiring.
Storycraft, by Jack Hart. This book brings readers into the process of developing nonfiction narratives by revealing the stories behind the stories. Hart shares tips, anecdotes, and recommendations he forged during his decades-long career in journalism, with examples that draw from magazine essays, book-length nonfiction narratives, documentaries, and radio programs. A great resource but also a fascinating, fun read. It also greatly improved my ability to write blogs, newsletters, and articles for my clients.
Angie Ebba – Writer, Activist, and Performance Artist.
Odes to Lithium by Shira Erlich. This collection of poetry looks at the author’s mental health and her relationship to the medications she takes. I love the raw honesty and vulnerability in many of the poems in this book, and the way that we see the struggles and triumphs that can come with learning how to navigate mental illness.
The Boy With a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund. I loved how this novel tackled the question of what it means to be different, the cost of hiding ourselves, and the courage it takes to show who we are, even when people don’t like it. This book has great representation with a variety of LGBTQIA main characters. Despite the book being full of surreal elements, I found myself completely believing them, and looking for the birds that may be living in the chests of others.
What the Dead Want Me To Know, by E. Janet Aalfs These poems have a life of their own and speak of justice and inclusivity while whistle-blowing the rich old boys who “behind our backs launder money/fumbling hands in drawers the same old way….” In this collection, lyricism meets reality, crudeness, and injustice with the mastery of great poetry. Aalfs knows that “not looking away” is the “given prize.”
She understands the relationship between body and mind as a continuum. Her white body crosses a black one, breathing in the same lines, knowing that “budding bruises” come up from the breathing ground… healing. She prays and revises her prayer, asking for calm, giving it to us on each line that breathes now and forever.
Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer, by Jamie Figueroa. Jamie Figueroa gets us into the world of two siblings rooting meaning and a sense of self in this brilliant and well-plotted novel. They meet at the intersection of humor, sorrow, and loss that crosses generations. One can say it is a novel that puts generational trauma into perspective.
Let Our Bodies Be Returned to Us, by Lynn Mundell. The collection explores those tender moments in the lives of women and young girls who could not embrace or explore their sexuality. They need to fit but they could not belong. Coming from a culture where women are treated as lesser beings, I felt intrigued when I realized women struggled everywhere.
One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large by Chris La Tray. This is one of those books that I return to over and over as a writer. It is both touchstone and inspiration, reminding me of the power and pleasure of staying curious and writing down what I notice.
The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker by Susan Wittig Albert. A delicious summer read where the characters feel so real I could pop next door for some lemonade and a chat, the setting and history is well researched and accessible and the mystery stays a mystery until the end. I’ve never been disappointed by anything, fiction or nonfiction, that this author writes and she is prolific!
One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large by Chris La Tray. This is one of those books that I return to over and over as a writer. It is both touchstone and inspiration, reminding me of the power and pleasure of staying curious and writing down what I notice.
The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker by Susan Wittig Albert. A delicious summer read where the characters feel so real I could pop next door for some lemonade and a chat, the setting and history is well researched and accessible and the mystery stays a mystery until the end. I’ve never been disappointed by anything, fiction or nonfiction, that this author writes and she is prolific!
“Sometimes life is hard. Things go wrong… and when things get tough… make good art.” ~Neil Gaiman, author, during his Commencement Speech to the 2012 graduating class of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
What is simpler than “Make Good Art?”
Make Art.
Let go of judgment. Stop creating under the cloud of perfection. Lose the long coat of the imposter.
As a community of TLA’ers, we make art.
Let’s do it, and then make more.
Has the current pandemic transformed your spare time? After you watch 13th, talk to your plants, walk the ferret, and search the cupboard for chocolate morsels, you’re wondering what to do next. Make your art.
You may find yourself sharing unexpectedly. Recently on Facebook, a group of people with diverse spiritual beliefs (some Christian, some not), who believe in the power of praying the rosary, was having a “Black Lives Matter. No, All Lives Matter,” exchange. (Disclosure: I am a member of this group, and am not a Christian). I hesitated to jump in, not having made a public statement about the phrase Black Lives Matter before, and then I responded:
Black Lives Matter. It is not that black lives matter more than anyone else’s, it is that we need to affirm that their lives matter so the killing will stop. So that black men and women can walk outside without fearing for their lives, so that their mamas (and papas) do not have to grieve for dead children, and do not have to fear every time their child steps outside. Black Lives Matter. As a white person, I am affirmed by my culture that my life matters, and I now affirm the lives of people of color.
I’m glad I jumped in. I want to do better. Here’s my rewrite, where I’m striving for something more visionary:
Black Lives Matter. It is time to affirm that Black Lives Matter so that the killings stop. It is time to affirm that people of color deserve to live long and healthy lives, with dignity, safely, and with opportunity to participate fully in solving the complex challenges of our time. As a white woman, I have much to learn from people of color – for starters, how to live with resilience and joy in times of great grief. I affirm that George Floyd’s life mattered. Black Lives Matter.
As writer and activist Rosa Luxemburg wrote, “The most revolutionary thing … proclaim loudly what is happening.” You may consider this blog post to be a small step in making art, but I am calling it a proclamation.
I leave you with words from my friend and leadership advisor, Mark Bernstein, who listened to me wonder if I was ready to go public with writing, and said, “Make your damn art.”
Thanks Mark, I will.
@2020 Carol Pranschke with gratitude to Diane Glass and Laurie Fickle.
A long-time creative since she was little, Carol Pranschke’s first true love was story. Stories saved her life (along with meditation, long talks with sisters, and blowing big bubbles). She sees a storyteller in you, and would like to dialogue about transformative language. See more at Carol’s website,or contact her at carolpranschke@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The TLA Network supports and encourages our members to share ideas and perspectives via our blog. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the TLA Network.
Art feeds and enriches our souls in the same way food nourishes our bodies. Reading books, watching films, looking at paintings, and listening to music or poetry can elevate everyday reality to something sublime. But, because we are more than consumers, we also crave opportunities to contribute something of ourselves to the conversation.
Unfortunately, we don’t find many opportunities to express ourselves without judgment, criticism, or comparison these days. Our society seems to have created a hierarchy around what constitutes a “worthy” contribution. So, only those who have gained the proper validation— through publication, professionalism, or fame—have “permission” to create.
The rest of us are cut off from something we really need and therefore crave—the direct experience of our vital life force through uninhibited self-expression. To see and know ourselves through our own creativity, to play, like children, with materials, only for the joy of discovering who we are, what we like, what we don’t like—this truly feeds us.
Original artwork, Robbyn Layne McGill
Images speak to us on a soul level. They bypass our rational, critical mind and allow us to feel whatever they evoke in us, intuitively. Unfortunately, that’s also how advertising works. So, it’s incredibly powerful to work with images—even if we identify more as writers who create literary images than visual artists. We are all visually literate, and through collage, we can create our own language and meaning.
When we learn to reappropriate the media and propaganda used to “sell” us who we are, we can turn it on its head. By cutting up glossy magazines and collaging commercially printed detritus, we change it into something else, not an externally directed expectation of who we should compare ourselves to or aspire to be, but our own reflection instead.
Making collages, or “muse mirrors,” as I call them, is the core of my “kissing the muse” creative practice and course. “Who am I? “What do I really want, need, and value?” It’s so surprising how the answers bubble up easily through this practice.
Original artwork, Robbyn Layne McGill
Collage is accessible to everyone. You don’t need to know how to paint or draw to work visually. Different disciplines can inform each other, so my course also includes other expressive art modalities, like music, poetry, writing, and movement. It also brings in everyday modes of creative expression, like food and relationships, to stretch your definition of “creative practice.”
So, kissing the muse is an interdisciplinary, tangible, spiritual practice that puts us back in our bodies. When we’re making art simply to know ourselves, we’re connected to the moment, through our hands, mind, body, and spirit—cutting and pasting, touching and feeling, manipulating materials to make sense of our world, inner and outer. It’s so natural and human. We become collaborators with the ultimate reality: infinite, ceaselessly dynamic, swirling, potential. Through expressive art-making, we create intimacy and connection with ourselves, heal our hurt parts, and bring our inner light out to shine. And by doing this, we add our innate value as unique human beings to the world, which feeds us all.
Robbyn Layne McGill is a writer, film-maker and painter who lives in Amsterdam, and runs workshops and trainings around the globe. Robbyn has an MFA in New Practices, an MA in Transpersonal Psychology, and a BA in Journalism—but the story of how she came to live in Amsterdam (with a man she truly loves, and a cat named Leonard Cohen), and host collage-making “Muse Dates” is far, far more interesting. www.kissingthemuse.com.
In the midst of our shifting daily realities, I believe this one experience remains a constant: we all take and treasure photographs of the people, places and things that bring meaning and beauty into our lives. If we have access to a cell phone or a camera, we are snapping images that inspire, comfort, stimulate mystify and delight us. We are snapping images to capture moments of emotional nourishment.
Look at your own photo stream now. Scroll through the last few pictures you took. Now pick one out that’s grabbing your attention. Give it a title.
Here’s one of mine from my daily walk I’ll title: “Found Feather on Bed of Seaweed.”
Found Feather on Bed of Seaweed, by Kelly DuMar
During these times when our daily habits and familiar counted on experiences shift us into periods of disruption, unknown outcomes, and deprivations, we need, more than ever, to give ourselves permission to renew our spirit and generate calm and comfort. Our personal photos, whether recent or past, hold secret satisfactions that we can immediately summon through writing and reflection. We can take a few moments, somewhere in our day, to focus on something that captures our curiosity, is deeply comforting, or profoundly mysterious.
So, find your photo, and title it.
Now, I invite you to write a three-sentence story about your photo. Only three sentences––you can find the time for this, can’t you? So, I want you to think about what is meaningful to you about this photo; you sense it, because the photo is calling on your emotions and senses. Let’s tease the meaning out a bit by playfully and imaginatively filling in these sentence prompts:
This photo seizes my attention because. . .
If I could step inside this photo and move around in it, I would. . .
As I return from my experience in this photo, I carry with me. . .
Okay, as an example, I offer you a first draft of my own:
Found Feather in Bed of Seaweed
This photo seizes my attention because of how the wings of sky meet the underworld plant life of sea.
If I could step inside this photo and move around. . . I string the wet seaweed in my hair and borrow the bird feather and flap my arm/wings and fly freely over the Sound and have my bird’s view––how large and deep and hidden but full of life the ocean is.
As I return from my experience in the photo, I carry with me the ability to believe in the vitality of so much that is around me that I cannot see.
I hope you will find a recent or past personal photo––with or without people––any personal image that is grabbing your attention. You don’t have to know why. I want you to let yours emerge in all the wonderfully unique ways your photo will emerge in your sentences.
Consider sending me your photo and three-sentence story. I hope you will consider writing from many more of your photos with me in my upcoming course for the Transformative Language Arts Network. We will generate new drafts of your writing in any genre you choose, you will develop, revise and craft your writing, and you will learn many skills and approaches for working professionally in facilitating expressive writing from photos.
Kelly DuMar, M.Ed. is a poet, playwright, and engaging workshop leader who generates enlivening writing experiences for new and experienced writers. Her photo-inspired creative writing method elicits profound personal awakenings, deepens connection with others, and fosters beautifully crafted writing in poetry and prose. Author of three poetry collections, girl in tree bark, Tree of the Apple, and All These Cures, Kelly is also author of Before You Forget— The Wisdom of Writing Diaries for Your Children. Kelly’s award winning plays have been produced around the US and Canada, and are published by dramatic publishers. Kelly is a certified psychodramatist, former psychotherapist, and Fellow in the American Society for Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama. She founded Let’s Talk TLA, a bi-monthly tele-conference and poetry open mic for members of the Transformative Language Arts Association. Currently, Kelly serves on the board & faculty of The International Women’s Writing Guild. Kelly inspires readers of #NewThisDay – her daily photo-inspired blog – with her mindful reflections on a writing life. You can learn more about Kelly at www.kellydumar.com
About a week after “safe-at-home” became the way we play the game of life, we were visited by a storm. This shushing, persistent deluge of white noise lasted through the night and late into the next morning.
I awakened to an unexpected, uninvited guest. Something told me to inspect the basement, where I was greeted by at least ten inches of sewer water. This guest had entered through the drain in the cellar floor, and vandalized the place.
Floating in that nastiness were craft and workshop supplies. Soaked handouts drifted from cardboard boxes, along with twenty years of preschool items, some of my husband’s old tools, things our grown children had left behind, and sundry other items, including the laundry I’d sorted into three baskets—mostly my clothes and all my white underwear.
I numbly summoned my husband. What he said when he met our guest should not be repeated.
Then the furnace and water heater passed out. Fortunately, they didn’t die. An already exhausted heating and furnace repair person returned our call, suggesting we try letting the circuit breakers dry. It was almost midnight. The water had subsided. We prepared to pay for more visitors: appraisers, hauling crews, plumbing aficionados, and the microbial cleaning squad.
Please note: I didn’t say anything about insurance people. “Backup” insurance is a separate entity from “flood” insurance. We had no backup insurance. We do now.
We also lost all the paper items we stored in what we call the “paper closet” under the basement stairs. We’d purchased our usual bulk supplies long before the run on toilet paper. Now our stockpile was gone.
That was a good thing. One young man, dragging items from our basement and tossing them in his truck, said, “It’s a good thing you had all that paper. It absorbed the water and saved your bottom steps.”
Who knew that toilet paper could swell to the size of Miss Muffet’s tuffet? We were grateful for that.
We’re grateful for a lot of things. The basement is clean. It is also dry, dehumidified and sanitized. The water heater and furnace circuit breakers dried out on their own (free!). The house creaks a bit more, as does our budget. But we’re warm, safe and happy. And I have new underwear.
Our unexpected guest helped us realize and appreciate what is important. Life is good. And I hope this guest doesn’t invite himself to our home again.
The Guest House by Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks)
This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some momentary awareness comes As an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they are a crowd of sorrows, Who violently sweep your house Empty of its furniture, Still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice. Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whatever comes. Because each has been sent As a guide from beyond.
Once a man who could not see lost his walking stick and could not find his way to the home he shared with his mother. He called for help, but no one seemed to hear, and he stumbled along a rugged path.
Then he heard someone call out to him, “Hello, you, perhaps I can help you.” The man walked in the direction of that voice, and tripped over something, no, someone, another man, who dragged himself on the same rugged road, for he had no legs and sought a place of shelter.
The two of them rested a while, and talked. Now acquainted, they realized they both faced great difficulties. They also knew they could help one another.
The man who could not see carefully took upon his shoulders the man who could not walk. He became legs for his new friend and this new friend became his eyes. They soon found an easier trail. Both men made the journey safely to the mother’s home. She joyfully greeted them both as her sons.
And all their lives were easier for this. ———-
This is an incredibly old fable, sometimes attributed to Aesop the storyteller, but its motif is found in stories in Europe, Asia, and North America. Valuable old stories travel far.
Recently, I walked across an almost empty parking lot, and passed a few masked people. Being who I am, I tried, at a safe distance, to make eye contact. Behind my own mask, I smiled and said, “Hi.”
No one spoke or looked directly at me. Shoulders hunched, eyes to the ground, brows furrowed, strangers remained strangers. I thought, are masks distancing us even more than we already must be, or is it the fearful, lonely frustration behind them?
Masks can help us stay physically healthy in these pandemic times, but they can’t protect us against our fears. They may help preserve our physical wellbeing, but they won’t lift our spirits, or bring us joy.
We must communicate hope and empathy, and let our hearts shine. No matter how much masks obscure, they don’t hide our eyes, our body language, or our voices, tools that have always been important to sharing our stories. Now, they’re even more important to sharing our humanity, showing others that we’re safe havens for one another, even when we must remain separated.
To be whole, to make the journey easier, to find shelter, the two men in my folktale adaptation needed one another. Together, they found possibility and hope. One couldn’t see, but heard the voice of his new brother. One couldn’t walk, but recognized the strength of another. Both were willing to ask for and receive help. If either had ignored the other, where might each have ended his journey? And what might have happened to that mother, who was alone?
Our present situation may not be a “happily ever after” narrative. Real life isn’t. But we can live this story together, and communicate.
We can be there for one another, even behind the masks we wear.
The times we’re living in are, at the least, confusing. We’re safe if we’re stuck at home. Some of us are working and worrying, some of us are burdened with lost work and worrying, all of us are facing an unhealthy, viral fear for others’ wellbeing as well as our own, and–wait for it–worrying.
It’s empathetically important to be concerned for ourselves and others right now, but all this safe distancing and masking takes its toll. We miss hugs, family visits, physical face-to-face conversations, screen-free smiles and up-close laughter. The concerns of our times require approaching each day with the gravity, information, and common sense that will get us through this novel coronavirus pandemic. But who wouldn’t love to feel weightless for a while?
Weightless. Flying above all this trouble. Superheroes, wearing capes and tights instead of masks as we do what we can to save the world, our efforts accompanied by our own, powerful theme songs.
Superheroes, smiling, even though it may be concealed behind our masks.
This week, and in the weeks to come, we can dare to be our own superheroes. If we must wear annoying yet protective garments and gear over our faces, we can don our imaginary capes, too. We don’t have to wear the tights–who needs more pressure? Let’s figure out our superpowers, some way to help others. Let’s find or create our own theme songs, and do some little thing that makes us smile, like dancing in pajamas or writing and sending letters or giggling with our goldfish.
In these serious times, we need to experience the freedom and joy of not taking ourselves too seriously. Finding ways to smile is one of the healthiest things we can do. Daring to laugh, just because we can, is uplifting and fulfilling.
This challenge might become our origin story, the starting point for a new chapter. We face the challenge by staying healthy, optimistic, and resourceful. And it’s okay to occasionally feel helpless. Superheroes have weaknesses, but we acknowledge them, work beyond them, and develop some strategy that keeps us going.
We can wear those masks and smile behind them. We can wash our hands while we sing our theme songs. We can be the joy that gives others strength when they hear our voices.
We should thank the superheroes who are risking their lives to provide services and care. And we should be superheroes ourselves while we’re safe at home.
“Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: it’s good to be silly at the right moment.” (Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem; dulce est desipere in loco.) – Horace
activating youth voices in the fight for equality, justice and change
SUBMISSION SEASON: Closes April 15, 2020
Poetry
Photography
Sketch
Short Story
Mixed-media
Spoken Word
Sculpture
Painting
Prose
Open to the Public-at-Large – Writers/Artists must be ages 18 years or younger
In June 2020 look for the inaugural issue of Cultivate, the youth arts magazine to be published each spring, by HopeWorks of Howard County, Maryland. Cultivate is a program of HopeWorks’ Youth Leadership Project, a service-learning program dedicated to empowering teens to challenge systems of oppression and prevent relationship violence in their community.
The Youth Leadership Project creates a space for students to grow in understanding themselves and the world. Facilitating self-care and social justice projects, youth leaders engage in frank discussions, raise their social consciousness and participate in creative projects and activism. Youth Leaders are excited to serve on the magazine’s editorial committee and to participate in the production process.
Themes for your submitted work (both visual and literary) should focus on reflections about growing up, relationships, family and friends, activism, change, social justice, empowerment, transformation, hope, self-care, or healing. The magazine will be available on-line and by mail.
“We protest because we love ourselves, and our people… Love is at the root of our resistance.” – Colin Kaepernick
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: April 15, 2020
Early submission is encouraged. Acceptance notifications will emailed by June 2020. Click here to view the Submission Guidelines. Acceptance notifications will be emailed by June 2020.
Cultivate youth arts magazine is a publication of HopeWorks made possible by the Howard County Arts Council through a grant from Howard County Government.
ABOUT HopeWorks
HopeWorks is Howard County Maryland’s local sexual and intimate partner violence center. We provide direct support to survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence and human trafficking. We also, work in community to change the culture that allows these forms of violence to continue.
Sexual and intimate partner violence is based in power differences, not only at an individual level but also structurally in systems of power –known as oppression. Therefore, our mission, at HopeWorks, at its core, is grounded in anti-oppression work.
We use a social justice lens; enabling us to address and decrease the root causes of gendered violence (sexual and intimate partner violence) as well as the systems that fuel genocide, racism, transphobia, poverty, xenophobia, ableism, and more. We support and partner with others doing anti-oppression work, efforts to achieve healthier relationships and a society free from all forms of violence.
HopeWorks envisions a world of interconnected people and communities actively working toward a society where all people are safe and valued and where everyone can reach their full potential.
Open to the Public-at-Large – Writers/Artists do not have to be survivors.
At HopeWorks, we use the arts in three important ways to accomplish our mission: to support survivors in their healing; as a vehicle to increase awareness; and to imagine creative solutions to bring about social change.
Dragonfly arts magazine, published each spring, is one of our most popular arts-based projects.
Themes for your submitted work (both visual and literary) should focus on reflections about relationships, activism, oppression, love, advocacy, hope, transformative justice, trauma, racial and gender equity, intersectionality, self-care, or healing.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: March 31, 2020
Early submission is encouraged. Acceptance notifications will emailed by June 2020. Click here to view the Submission Guidelines.
Dragonfly arts magazine is a publication of HopeWorks made possible by the Howard County Arts Council through a grant from the Howard County Government.
ABOUT HopeWorks
HopeWorks is Howard County Maryland’s local sexual and intimate partner violence center. We provide direct support to survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence and human trafficking. We also, work in community to change the culture that allows these forms of violence to continue.
Sexual and intimate partner violence is based in power differences, not only at an individual level but also structurally in systems of power –known as oppression. Therefore, our mission, at HopeWorks, at its core, is grounded in anti-oppression work.
We use a social justice lens; enabling us to address and decrease the root causes of gendered violence (sexual and intimate partner violence) as well as the systems that fuel genocide, racism, transphobia, poverty, xenophobia, ableism, and more. We support and partner with others doing anti-oppression work, efforts to achieve healthier relationships and a society free from all forms of violence.
HopeWorks envisions a world of interconnected people and communities actively working toward a society where all people are safe and valued and where everyone can reach their full potential.
Transformative Language Arts Network Blog 