Laura’s Blog – Page 20

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat: Introducing Writing as a Pathway

Friday marks the start of my first “Writing as a Pathway Through Grief, Loss, Transition and Change” retreat since before the pandemic. This is a retreat I created with my colleague Nancy London and co-taught with Nancy and David Colin Carr for several years. I was inspired to create it after my mother died in […]

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Writing Prompt: Tell me about your loneliness. Tell me about all the different kinds of loneliness you have known.

The Many Flavors of Loneliness

“There’s this moment in creation, when you’ve made something truly special, where you become euphoric. And then, utterly lonely.” —John Mayer Tell me about your loneliness. Tell me about all the different kinds of loneliness you have known. Begin each paragraph with the words, “There is the kind of loneliness that…”. Make each paragraph a

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Writing Prompt: Tell me about the things it has taken you “so long to learn to love.”

The Bright Home in Which I Live

“This is the bright home in which I live, this is where I ask my friends to come, this is where I want to love all the things it has taken me so long to learn to love.” —David Whyte, The House of Belonging Tell me about the things it has taken you “so long

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Writing Prompt: Tell me about something you grew to appreciate or understand only in hindsight.

Something I Understood in Hindsight

“What a wonderful life I’ve had. I only wished I’d realized it sooner.” –Colette Tell me about something you grew to appreciate or understand only in hindsight.

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Writing Prompt: What does this mean to you? What's the relationship between self-expression for its own sake and communication with your reader?

The Relationship Between Writer and Reader

“A poem begins with the writer and ends with the reader.” —Ellen Bass What does this mean to you? What’s the relationship between self-expression for its own sake and communication with your reader?

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Writing Prompt: Write about a limitation you chose and how it affected your life.

A Limitation I Chose

“Limitation is what differentiates a flood from a lake. In the making of things, limitations allow you to choose from something rather than everything.” — Corita King Write about a limitation you chose and how it affected your life.

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Writing Prompt: This week, write for ten minutes every day. No excuses. Everyone can lock themselves in the bathroom for ten minutes a day. At the end of the week, tell us what you discovered by writing every day.

Lock Yourself in the Bathroom If You Have to

“What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat,’’…. And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m

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Writing Prompt: If my body could speak, it would tell me . . .

What My Body is Saying

“What is always speaking silently is the body.” –Norman Brown If my body could speak, it would tell me…

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A Writer Goes for a Walk, Take 2

It’s the final morning of our retreat. I woke at 5:30 this morning, feeling sluggish from last night’s wine and final feast. I decided I needed to move, to go for a walk. I haven’t had much time to myself this week. My hours have been filled with teaching, eating, going on outings, visiting my

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The Last Supper

This is what I read at our final dinner, the last night of our retreat: Since I’ve come to Tuscany, I’ve been surrounded by birdsong both gentle and soothing, raucous and loud. I’ve drunk more wine in ten days than I do in a year. Eaten foods I never consider eating at home and have

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Lunch at the Villa

This meal was truly over the top. It began with two salads. Mozzarella buratta was the first: soft and liquid in the inside served with a special tomato from the region called mule’s heart: Cuore di Bue. And with it was panzanella, a bread salad with tomato, a special mild onion that’s only eaten raw,

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Our Italian Pasta Lesson

We had a great pasta class with chef Rosanna Passione. The pasta we made ended up being one of the courses for our last supper at the Villa. The tag line on Rosanna’s cooking brochure is “Invitare qualcuno alla propria tavola vuol dire prendersi cura della sua felicita.” Or in English, “to invite someone at

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Headstands Around the World

For years as we travel, Karyn Bristol has posed for headstands all over the world. Here’s the latest in the series: Tuscany. If you don’t want to wait for the email digest version of my virtual vacation posts, you can follow me directly on social media where you can also find short posts, videos and

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The Depth of History at the Villa

We had another fascinating tour of the Villa with Gigi’s husband, Rodolfo, the youngest of thirteen children of the Budini-Gattai family. Graseilah translated for him as he showed us private parts of the Villa that we hadn’t had access to before. First, Rodolfo took us into a locked chapel, which he opened with a huge

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What a Year it has Been

At this time last year, I was approving the final audiobook files of The Burning Light of Two Stars and seriously ramping up to promote my soon-to-be released book, ten years in the making, for an October pandemic launch. Now the book is launched and it’s a year later, and here I am, savoring the

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