To find out more about the workshop on Sun, Dec 6th and to sign up click here. There are only a few spaces available so sign-up TODAY!
Motherhood can be both a challenging and a transformative experience. We may uncover new dreams for our lives, or sides of ourselves we haven't before experienced. At other times, we may struggle to keep a strong sense of ourselves in the chorus of voices calling for our attention. We recently talked to Jen Lee, writer, mom and teacher of the upcoming workshop "Make Room For Mom's Voice" about finding clarity about life and motherhood through writing.
Q. What do you think is the connection between writing and finding your voice?
A. Jen Lee: Writing is like picking up a phone line to the parts of yourself you haven't been listening to. If you're unhappy or lost or living someone else's dream for your life, it's likely to slip out if you have a practice of free writing or if you work with thoughtful prompts. There are things you can ignore or deny when they are thoughts floating consciously or unconsciously through your mind, but once you see them in black and white, written on the page, they become very real. And it's enlightening to know what kind of thoughts are running the show in life, especially if they are thoughts you weren't aware you even had.
Q.What has that thought discovery part been like in your experience?
A. Jen Lee: A few years ago I was doing a prompted writing exercise and I wrote something like, "It's okay that I'm playing it safe because my girls will grow up to be brave and they'll go live in exciting cities someday." I didn't know how much I was settling for something besides my wildest dreams before that. I didn't know that I was starting already to do that common thing of trying to pursue my dreams through my kids, and that made me slam on the brakes of my life right then and there. I could see in that moment that the only way they'd learn to be brave was to watch me be brave. I could see that I needed to follow my own dream and live in an exciting city if that's what I wanted so much, so my girls could have and follow dreams all their own. And we moved to Brooklyn a short time later. Life has never been the same, in a way that I appreciate so deeply. Before writing, I was living without this kind of awareness, kind of like rolling through on auto pilot.
Q. We are thrilled to be presenting a workshop that you will be teaching called "Make Room for Mom's Voice". Who is that event for?
A. Jen Lee: This workshop is for mothers and mothers-to-be who want to develop or maintain a clear connection to themselves, who want to make space for their memories and thoughts, to-do lists and deep hopes. It's for women who want to express themselves more freely, who are looking for simple practices that will help them navigate the path as they develop new facets of themselves and uncover new dreams.
Jen Lee is a Brooklyn-based writer and a collector of stories, many of which unfold in her vibrant neighborhood or in the lives of her closest friends. A performer in NYC's storytelling scene, Jen is also the author of Solstice: Stories of Light in the Dark (click the link to listen to the audio), Fortunes, and Take Me With You: A Journal for the Journey.
Jen leads workshops and retreats on storytelling, writing and the creative life. She believes everyone has a story worth telling, and she would be delighted to hear yours. Send your stories, requests, comments and questions to Jen at: jen (at) jenlee (dot) net. She invites you to follow her on Twitter, and to download The Story Catcher.
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