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"There is no greater gift we can give ourselves than the understanding and healing that comes with writing our lives. Just as an employment resume provides a snapshot of one's work history and skills, life-writing can offer a picture of your soul, a portrait of who you really are." —Kathi Snead
Join us for an insightful and joyful weekend of writing and sharing the stories of our lives. Adrienne Rich declares, "What women need is the opportunity and the validation to name and describe the truths of our lives." This workshop is one of those rare and wonderful opportunities. Be a part of our circle of storycatchers as we write about the women we were, the women we are, and the women we will become.
This workshop is open to any woman who is interested in life-writing—regardless of skill level or experience.
Date/Time:
- Saturday, October 25, 9am-5pm
(5:30-7:30pm: participants are invited to an optional dutch-treat dinner on Saturday evening)
- Sunday, October 26, 9am-noon
Location:
LCRA Dalchau Service Center, 3505 Montopolis Dr, Austin TX 78744 (click here for a map)
To get there from Austin you will take I-35 to the Ben White/71 exit, and head east (towards the airport). Take the 2nd exit (Montopolis Dr). Turn right and go 2 blocks. The LCRA facility is on the left. The workshop will be held in room A504 in the main building, which is near the ATM and flag poles.
Cost: $100 (SCN members) $125 (Non-members). A box lunch on Saturday is included in the fee. Scholarships are available. See the Registration Information for more details.
"Telling a true story about personal experience is not just a matter of being oneself, or even of finding oneself. It is also a matter of choosing oneself."
—Harriet Goldhor Lerner
Workshop Schedule:
- Saturday, 9am-5pm (optional dinner, 5:30-7:30pm)
- Sunday, 9am-noon
- 9-9:15 Snacks, coffee/tea, and conversation
- 9:15-10:45 Session 5: The Women We Become (Carolyn Blankenship)
- 10:45-11 break
- 11-12 Session 6: Closing (Carolyn Blankenship)
- Final writing & sharing
- Announcements, evaluations
Things to Bring & Things to Leave at Home:
- See session info below for additional items to bring!
- Bring journal or a notebook & a writing implement. Leave your laptop at home. (Some people are bothered by the clicking of keys in a quiet writing period.)
- Bring a sweater or shawl to ward off drafts.
- We provide coffee & tea. We also provide lunch. If you want morning &/or afternoon snack or other drinks (such as colas), please bring them.
- Leave your prepared writing at home. We read & share only what we write in the workshop.
- Leave your perfume at home; some people are allergic to perfumes.
Sessions:
- The Women We Were: Pat Flathouse.
We will create a timeline and pick out key events, experiences, and people that set us on certain paths in life that made us what we are today. We will focus on things that changed us, formed us and allowed us to arrive at our present place in life.
- The Women We Were: Joyce Boatright.
Womanhood is the period in a female's life after she has transitioned from girlhood, having passed the age of menarche (her first period). Many cultures have rites of passage to symbolize a woman's coming of age, such as confirmation in some branches of Christanity, bat mitzvah in Judaism, or even the custom of a special celebration for a certain birthday. Other rites of passage include those that symbolize independence: leaving home, earning a living, entering into an adult relationship with another. There is even the rite/right to eat at the "adult table" instead of the "children's table" at Thanksgiving!
In this session we will remember and recount those rites of passage that led us into young womanhood.
- The Women We Are: Catherine Cogburn.
There's a bumper sticker that says "I'm Here Now". That's a powerful statement. Let's look at what that means to us. Who are you Now that was a struggle to accomplish? Who are you Now that was easy? Who are you Now that you would rather not be? And how can we stay in the present moment?
- Put It in Writing: Legacy Statements: Carolyn Blankenship.
This session will provide an opportunity to put into words our wisdom, our most deeply held beliefs and values, and the love and blessings we wish to pass on to those who will come after us.
- The Women We Become: Carolyn Blankenship.
Christina Baldwin says, "Our life story is our constant companion, the litany that guides our every move & thought. So we need to make our lives a story we can live with, because we live the life our story makes possible." Who are we becoming? What story is shaping our future? Who do we hope to become? This session will be an time to look down the road and catch a glimpse of the woman up ahead that we are growing into.
Registration Information:
- Enrollment is limited. Please register early: you can use our online enrollment form.
Registration/Payment Deadline: Friday, October 17. We must receive your registration and payment by this date!
- Fee: $125 for non-members; $100 for dues-paying Story Circle Network members. The registration fee covers the cost of instruction, lunch, coffee/tea, & handout materials.
SCHOLARSHIP for FOOD! We are offering a full scholarship to this event for someone good at organizing, who will be asked to bring snacks, set up the coffee and snack table, call in lunch orders, and pick the lunches up. The cost of food and beverages will be covered by Story Circle Network. This person will miss part of the session just before lunch and will need to arrive half an hour early to set up and stay after for half an hour to oversee the cleanup. Interested? Please email us.
If you are not currently a dues-paying member of SCN, you can join using our online membership form. You then qualify for the member fee for the WFL workshop & can make one payment: annual dues plus WFL workshop fee.
- Location:
LCRA Dalchau Service Center
Meeting Room A504, Building A
3505 Montopolis Dr
Austin TX 78744
(click here for a map)
To get there from Austin you will take I-35 to the Ben White/71 exit, and head east (towards the airport). Take the 2nd exit (Montopolis Dr). Turn right and go 2 blocks. The LCRA facility is on the left. The workshop will be held in room A504 in the main building, which is near the ATM and flag poles.
To see a list of hotels in the area, click
here.
SCN members have volunteered a limited number of guest rooms for out-of-town registrants. For information, email storycircle@storycircle.org.
Interested in sharing a hotel room? See our Roommates Wanted! webpage.
- Refund/Cancellation Policy: We will refund your registration fee, less a $20 cancellation charge, if you request it up to 15 days before the workshop. After that date, we will refund your fee only if we are able to fill your space from our waiting list. We reserve the right to cancel the workshop; if so, we will refund your full registration fee. You can contact us at
Story Circle Network
P.O. Box 500127
Austin, TX 78750-0127
512-454-9833
storycircle at storycircle dot org
Presenters:
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Carolyn Blankenship has served as Story Circle's Program Director, has been a member of the SCN Board, & facilitates the monthly "Write On! Circle," Writing from Life Workshops, and OWL (Older Women's Legacy) Circles. Carolyn has developed & taught a variety of programs in spiritual & personal growth over the past 30 years and is the author of From the Heart: A Manual for Facilitators.
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College professor & author Joyce Boatright has been writing memoirs since 1991. She is author of Telling Your Story: A Basic Guide to Memoir Writing, & her stories have been published in the "Sam Houston Review," "Texas Magazine" & "True Words" anthology. She is a member of the SCN Board of Directors, leads classes in writing life-story for Leisure Learning Unlimited, Houston, TX, & serves as a full-time professor on the faculty at North Harris College.
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Catherine Cogburn is a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, grief, and relationship issues and uses life-writing as a tool for personal growth and healing. Catherine, a former member of the SCN Board of Directors, directed the Older Women's Legacy (OWL) Circle project and helped to design its workbook.
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Pat Flathouse is the former director of the Older Women's Legacy Circle Project & an experienced workshop facilitator. She is a former member of the SCN Board of Directors. A long-time genealogist, she has documented her own family's story. She is the author of Your Life, Your Story, & A Priceless Legacy.
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