Being Right or Being Kind
“You can either practice being right or practice being kind.” —Anne Lamott Tell me about a time you chose being right. Tell me about another time when you chose kindness.
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When It Was Too Late
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” –Colette, French novelist and memoirist What did you realize about your life only when it was too late?
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What I Know
“In the past, memoir was the country of old people, looking back, a reminiscence. But now people are disclosing their lives in their twenties, writing their first memoir in their thirties, and their second in their forties. This revolution in personal narrative that has unrolled across the American landscape in the last two and a
The Final Performance
August 26, 2025 Our final night in Bali, we gathered for a performance of music and dance from the village of Munduk. Their gamelan orchestra is one of the best on the island. And it was wonderful to experience an intimate show in a small hall where the dancers and musicians were right in front
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Arrivals and Departures
“All great literature is one of two stories; a man [or woman] goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” ― Leo Tolstoy Free write for ten minutes about each of these scenarios. Then turn one―or both―into a more developed piece.
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Since I’ve Come to Bali
In our final writing class, I had people review their time in Bali by having them respond to this series of sentence stems for three minutes each: Since I’ve come to Bali, I did this to enable everyone to review and remember the sensory details of this land and personal peak experiences they’d had over
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It’s All About the Dance
August 24, 2025 One of the things I love most about Puri Lumbung, our final hotel in Munduk, Bali is that it’s not just a hotel for guests. It’s all a place the community uses, too: they grow and harvest rice here, and it’s the where dance classes are held for the local children. I
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Exploring Munduk on Foot: Rice Fields, A Friendly Dog, and How Coffee Beans Grow
August 21, 2025 I love the morning hikes we take from our home base in Munduk, Bali. Today, we went out exploring rice fields, coffee, and clove plantations and wandered through rural villages. We walked on cement, grass, mud, and dirt. We crossed streams and climbed a few stony, leaf-strewn muddy hillsides. The sounds of
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Arriving in the Mountains and Our Final Water Purification
August 20, 2025 Yesterday, we arrived in Munduk in Western Bali, the third and final stop on our Bali writer’s tour. This hotel is my favorite. Puri Lumbung, Palace of the Rice Barns, is built on rice fields and the sound of running water is everywhere. It is a peaceful haven for writing and heaven
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A Blessing by the High Priest and the Sanctity of Writing
August 19, 2025 We were invited for a purification ritual at the family compound of the High Priest and High Priestess today. This is just one of the remarkable opportunities for blessing and healing on this trip, available because of the incredible personal relationships our tour guides, Made Surya and Judy Slattum, have throughout Bali.
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Leaving Out What Isn’t a Story
“The best memoirs, I think, forge their own forms. The writer of any work, and particularly nonfiction work, must decide two crucial things: what to put in and what to leave out.” —Annie Dillard, An American Childhood If you were to write the story of your life today, what would you put in and what
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The Free Day
August 18, 2025 Joanie had quite a shock when she went down for breakfast today at our hotel. As soon as she was served, this fellow swooped over like he owned the place and stole her breakfast, not once but twice: In response to the monkey’s incursions, this Balinese man took up arms to scare
The Real Truth About Spas in Bali
August 18, 2025 Every time I lead a writing retreat or a travel writing trip, I keep a running list of things that could be improved or tweaked the next time I offer it. It might have to do with a problem that occurred, a day that didn’t work as well as it might have,
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Purification in a Holy Spring
For me, one of the highlights of this trip to Bali is the purification ritual we do in the fresh spring waters of Pura Mengening (pure water) Temple. This temple has been used for purification by the Balinese since the 11th century. For starters, the setting is spectacular. We left our hotel early and drove
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Statues and Offerings at Swasti Eco Cottages
I love the diversity and similarities of these adorned statues in the breezeway to the rooms of the Swasti Eco Lodge in Ubud, where most of our group is staying for this middle section of our journey. Here is my writing student, Vicki Wynn, posing with her new spirit guide.
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