Greetings!
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
~Lao Tzu
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Happy February!
I always think of February as the month of love, but in actuality every month and every day should be times focused on love. Love can be for the self, a lover, a friend, a relative, a colleague, or a pet. I happily say that my higher power is love.
February is also Black History Month. Each year, this holiday focuses on a different theme. This year's theme spotlights African Americans and the arts. As an artist myself, I'm delighted for this year's theme. There are so many acclaimed African American writers who I'd like to honor, including, and in no particular order: Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikki Giovanni, Ernest Gaines, and Andre Lorde.
It would have been difficult reviewing all of their works, but I chose one of my favorites to review in this newsletter: Audre Lorde, who, like myself, was a memoirist and poet. In addition, like me, she survived breast cancer—a battle that too many women have to face, especially as we age. Unfortunately, even if we faced breast cancer in our younger years, there's a strong chance we can face it again later in life.
Wishing everyone love, heath and all good things!
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- Write a love story, fiction or nonfiction.
- Write a love letter to someone.
- Write about your first date.
- Write a poem, beginning with, "I remember."
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Over the next few months, I will share a small book excerpt and some of the writing prompts located at the end of each chapter.
An excerpt from HUMMINGBIRD (from Chapter 1)
From an early age, I have been obsessed with storytelling. As an only child growing up in a hard-working family of Eastern European immigrants, I was often alone and left to fend for myself. The peace I found then in reading and writing became a lifelong passion for memoir writing.
This passion intensified when I was ten and began keeping a journal after my maternal grandmother’s death—which, because of our deep connection, was an extremely traumatic loss. Afterward, journaling helped me through my troubled adolescence as a hippie in the 1960s, my enforced bedrest when pregnant with my three children, my grief over the losses of other loved ones, and my struggles with how to cope with two cancer diagnoses. Journaling has also led to my becoming a published author of several books and a writing coach in workshops designed to inspire and help others in their own memoir writing.
Please feel free to use this book as a guide as you would if attending one of those workshops. In it, as examples of memoir writing I tell stories of some of my ancestors and explore my own life in the light of those who have influenced me the most: my grandparents and my parents. I also explore how writing about them—especially my beloved grandmother, Regina—continues to give me hope and inspiration. Various chapters address subjects such as how my Regina’s nurturing caregiving contrasted with that of my narcissistic mother; how my grandmother’s lessons have helped me through my illnesses and the current pandemic; how understanding the traumas of our ancestors can give us perspective; how conscious living can help us navigate challenging times; and how gratitude and being in the moment can help us live to the fullest. I also speak about the importance of sharing the stories from our past with future generations: we stand on the shoulders of giants, even though we might not agree with some of their beliefs or with some of the choices they made. And, as always, I write in awareness of the tremendous power words have to shape our lives.
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Examples of reflection/writing prompts from the book:
- What brought you solace as a child?
- What do you know about your maternal and paternal grandparents?
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The book is available wherever books are sold or online here:
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"Hummingbird Book Launch, Party and Signing." Ikat and Pearls. Ventura, CA. February 10, 2024. 6:00p.m. -8:00 pm
"Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors." Mystic Journey. April 2024. Details to follow.
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This is such a delightful collection. As poet Adrienne Rich says, "These poems blaze and pulse on the page," and I believe that says it all. While I don't usually read poetry collections in one sitting, I must admit that I could not easily put down this collection. I hope you get yourself a copy.
Lorde writes a lot about love. Since this is the month of love, I'm glad to share a related poem of hers from this collection:
A Lover's Song
Give me fire and I will sing you morning
Finding you heart
And a birth of fruit
For you, a flame that will stay beauty
Song will take us by the hand
And lead us back to light.
Give me fire and I will sing you evening
Asking you water
And quick breath
No farewell winds like a willow switch
Against my body
But a voice to speak
In a dark room.
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Top-selling course!
Write. Heal. Transform:
A Magical Memoir-Writing Course
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An exclusive course!
Therapeutic Writing
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