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Helpful Resources in a Time of Uncertainty #93

December 7, 2020 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Dear Writers and Friends,

I’ve had the great honor and privilege of teaching at Tassajara Zen Center retreat for the past few summers. This past July, my in-person retreat with my friend and colleague, the wonderful meditation teacher Tova Green, was canceled because of Covid. But now, under the auspices of Tassajara, Tova and I will be offering a one-day online retreat on Saturday, January 9th, entitled Writing Our Way to Hope and Commitment.

It will be the first retreat I have taught since the spring and the only one on my calendar. Please join me for this very rare and special opportunity.

Here are the details:

Photo Credit: David Haye

Writing Our Way to Hope and Commitment
Saturday, January 9th

This one-day online workshop, based on Joanna Macy’s The Work That Reconnects, will utilize writing in community as a way to kindle hope and motivate meaningful action for change.

Are you:

  • Wanting to lift yourself beyond fear, apathy, cynicism, exhaustion and hopelessness to a place of hope and empowerment?
  • Deeply concerned about where we are as a nation and in our world?
  • Wanting to be inspired by others who share your vision of a just, equitable society?
  • Ready to take positive action to create the world you want to live in?

Join us for a day-long journey through the four-part spiral of The Work That Reconnects. Expressing our gratitude, honoring our pain for the world, entering deep time–connecting with ancestors and future generations–and, finally, we will “go forth,” envisioning a better world and identifying steps to move closer to that reality. Interactive exercises and writing will guide us through this communal day of exploration. You do not need to consider yourself a writer or meditator to attend. Beginners are welcome.

Click for more information and to register.

Coronavirus & the Pandemic Response

For contact tracers, COVID-19 is personal: ‘I understand hardship’ – Los Angeles Times

Moving Report on the Work of Contact Tracers on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus Pandemic in LA

“Conversations stick with him: The homeless man who answered his call outside a liquor store and understood that he needed to stay away from people but said he couldn’t afford not to keep collecting recyclables. The teenager who had become the caregiver for an infected parent. The guilt-ridden nursing home attendant whose husband and son got sick before she did.
“You go through this very intense, intimate conversation with a group of people, and then you say goodbye,” Melendrez said.

“Once, he called a woman to warn her to quarantine, but she already knew that she had been exposed.

“My mother just died this morning from COVID-19,” she told him.“

From the LA Times.

Click here to access this resource.

Racial Justice & Educational Resources

Visualizing Abolition

What does it mean to think of abolitionism as a vision—one that challenges the social, economic, and political worldviews that prisons promote?

In the United States—and around the globe—demands are growing for a society in which prisons and policing are not the ostensible solutions to inequality and other social problems. With ideas once specific to abolitionist movements taking hold of the popular imagination, Visualizing Abolition brings together artists, activists, scholars, and others united by their commitment to the vital struggle for prison abolition.

The online event series from the University of California Santa Cruz, Institute of Arts and Lectures, takes place from October 20, 2020-May 18, 2021, with the events archived here following each live program.

At the link below, you can rewatch the events that have already occurred and register for those yet to come:

Click here to access this resource.

PEN America Virtual Gala

Tune in to PEN America’s virtual gala on December 8 as the ceremony will recognize the achievements and contributions honorees have made to defend and celebrate free expression. The night will also include a special writer-to-writer conversation between former U.S. President and Voice of Influence Awardee Barack Obama and author Ron Chernow.

JUST ANNOUNCED: President Barack Obama to receive PEN America Voice of Influence Award, discuss new book and free expression with historian and former PEN America president Ron Chernow as part of the Dec. 8 ceremony!

The PEN America Gala will merge our annual New York Literary Gala and Los Angeles LitFest Gala into one national, virtual celebration on December 8. Our digital program will be a crucial moment for our community to stand together in recognition of our deserving Honorees and to fortify our mission at a time of extraordinary needs and demands. The fight for creative expression is so important, now more than ever, and we hope you can join us for a unique, one-night-only event to toast to human rights and the power of words.

Honorees include former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch; Darnella Frazier, the young woman who filmed George Floyd’s murder; Hearst’s Frank Bennack Jr.; and Chinese dissident writer Xu Zhiyong. Presenters and featured guests include Joan Baez, Bono, Spike Lee, Soledad O’Brien, Madeleine Albright, Steve Swartz, Ron Chernow, Cory Booker, Gabrielle Union, and more.

While this event is free of charge, please consider making a donation to PEN America today. Your contribution helps us defend the freedom to write.

Click here to access this resource.

Active Hope

I’m taking a four week workshop based on the work of Joanna Macy, which I’m very much enjoying. This week, for homework, we were asked to watch a video of Joanna’s keynote speech at the Bioneers Conference. It was so inspiring—and she, in her eighties when this was filmed—is an amazing, passionate force of nature. I highly recommend this video if you care about the future of this planet:

Writing Related

About Memory: We Are Built to Forget

Fascinating and beautifully written article about memory, something essential for all memoirists and humans in general. Highly recommended. From the Paris Review. Thanks to Margo Fowkes for the heads up. I loved reading this. Meredith Hall is a gorgeous writer.

Click here to access this resource.

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More Featured Students?

For years, I’ve been showcasing the work of one of my students in my monthly newsletter and here on my site. If you’d like to see a complete list of the students I’ve published, with links to their work, you can find it in the Featured Student Archives. Just click the link below.

Featured Students

What is the The Writer’s Journey Roadmap?

I send out inspiring quotes and provocative writing prompts via email Tuesday. You can collect them for their own use—or you can post your writing online and enter into dialogue and conversation with a very supportive group of writers who have made this part of their weekly writing practice.

I invite you to become part of my brilliant, supportive, intimate, honest, inspiring free online community.

I hope to see you up on the Roadmap soon!

First time visitor? Click here to learn about our community.

Like this Virtual Vacation?

You can also read about Laura’s travels to:

Peru 2017

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Serbia 2017

In which Laura leads a workshop at the Incest Trauma Center.

Greece 2016

In which Laura explores the wonders of Crete and Santorini with a wide-eyed group of Write, Travel, Transform adventurers.

Vietnam 2015/16

In which Laura, who grew up during the Vietnam War, goes to Southeast Asia and finds out what Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are really like today.

Commonweal 2015

A journey toward healing loss and grief in a magnificent Northern California setting.

Scotland 2015

In which Laura returns to Scotland with a new group for another jaunt through the wonders of the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland 2013

In which Laura attends the Edinburgh theatre festival and leads 14 writers to a magical retreat in the highlands of Northern Scotland.

Bali 2013

In which Laura visits Australia, and spends three weeks diving, exploring, and teaching in three regions of Bali.

Florida 2014

A journey into old age in America in which Laura brings her 86-year-old mother to Florida so she can see her last surviving sister one final time.

Mexico 2014

In which Laura attends the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and explores the artistic towns around Patzcuaro.

About Laura Davis

In the course of my career as a communicator, I have also worked as a columnist, talk show host, radio reporter, radio producer, blogger, editor, and speaker. Words have always been at the core of my work and my self-expression. Read More . . .

Photo taken by Jason Ritchey

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What People Are Saying About Laura Davis:

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Retreating with Laura: Julie Sheehan

Julie Sheehan

For many years I put off my dream of writing and traveling. I told myself the kids were too little, my husband could never survive without me, that I couldn't possibly be so selfish. I couldn't imagine realistically stepping out of all of my responsibilities and roles. Then I started attending Laura’s summer retreat at Commonweal in northern California and that became an annual gift to myself for the next three years.

When the opportunity to travel with Laura internationally came up, my Land of Later mentality said I could never pull it off. But when my friend got cancer at age 39, I decided to stop taking life and it's endless opportunities to grow, live, nurture and explore myself for granted.

My children were 6 and 9 when I began allowing myself the luxurious pleasure of taking 10 days to two weeks each year to travel abroad with Laura, to spend time with like minded, soul searching people who share a passion for living and writing, to have all my meals prepared for me, to have the space and freedom to stretch out of my cage and check in with who I am, what I want, and how best to get there.

Laura is a skilled and nurturing teacher who encourages her students to take risks, to grow as human beings, and to be vulnerable. She has provided me with a forum where I can gain all my CEUs and learn techniques on how to become a more engaging writer, all while completing yearly emotional rehab.

I return home from each of Laura’s trip a little wiser, a little more open, and a lot more compassionate. I greet my family, friends and daily life with sparkly, clean energy and a renewed patience, brought about by way of re-writing old stories that I needed to let go of. I come home ready to move forward in my life.

A retreat with Laura Davis is one of the best gifts I ever received and gave myself. It took many years to realize that I was worth the time and financial investment, but now there is no looking back.

Julie Sheehan, Livermore California

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