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DOTWW DAY TO DAY, WEEK TO WEEK…
[29-8-2010] The last official day of summer (despite the fact that tomorrow the heat will just go on and on an on), with two writers slaving away to finish INITIATION. Their own choice of course, but to be admired all the same.
Heather is choosing to take some time to process all she has learned and achieved…see where this first level takes her in terms of the memoir she is starting. Martin (30 years younger) will join second level starting September 9. Some of their writing from today will go up soon enough, hopefully a comment or two also. Good work all round.
AN INTERESTING POINT OF VIEW on:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/16/charlie-brooker-writing-deadlines
I can’t agree that creative writing workshops are a waste of time - how could I? - but I do agree that a deadline is a great way (sometimes the only way) to get words on paper.
Please note the additional workshop in Zushi at the end of this month: August 29. If you have done an introductory workshop and would like to complete first level to sign up for EXPLORATION starting September 9, you know what to do, where I am. Very welcome.
Left to right: Heather, Jana and Martin
[8-8-2010] Three more writers went through a rite of passage today, despite the heat. Good for them. Jana is recently moved to Zushi, Heather has lived in Enoshima for many years, and Martin, who came to Shikoku island’s Tokushima with the JET programme five years ago, but now lives and works in Saitama City, north of Tokyo.
Martin proved keen to complete his course, as he would like to join Level 2 in September, so I am squeezing in a Level 1, Part 2 workshop here on August 29. Heather will join him for sure, and anyone who had done the introductory day but not got around to completing Initiation is welcome to join them.
Left to right: Jeffrey, Chris, Alena
[25-7-2010] Today Jeffrey, Chris and Elena braved the heat and humidity to complete their initiation into the mysteries of DOTWW, dreaming to round off the day with a beer on the beach. As it transpired, everyone was too tired and - for the time being, too “awake” and responsible to risk commitments the following day. Unfortunately Nathalie could not join them as her work schedule changed for the summer; next time, she says. Next time there is a Level 1 Part 2 that is. (See SCHEDULE for future dates)
Left to right: Sarah, Angela, Jason, Carolyn, Lauren, Margaret, Wye-Khe, Yumiko
[23-7-2010] Last night, a few of George’s friends met for dinner to celebrate his life and passing. Lauren and her staff looked after us all very well, and a good time was had by all. Margaret and Sarah were part of his group on levels 1 and 2; Carolyn and Yumiko remember him from the retreat in 2007. Wye-Khe taught George computer skills (Windows) but after George bought a Mac, Jason took over. Lauren was a member of the very first course I facilitated, back in 2005, and the first to sign up for CONFIRMATION in September. She is a co-director of Kimono Bar and Grill and the catering company To the Moon and Back, founder of Tokyo Writers Salon (now with over 250 members) and the creative force behind Tokyo Hackers Space in Shirogane.
Two signs: I bought a white rose to put on the table but somehow it slipped its wrapping, and I ended up buying a blowzy scented pink rose from another florist. I like to think George was saying, “White? You know I love pink!” Then towards the end of the meal, a June bug flew in and hung around above the table, dive bombing for its own amusement on occasion, as if to “Hi guys. Thanks a lot but I’m doing just fine.”
[19-7-2010] Good to be back. Back from six weeks in Scotland, that is. Sitting on Zushi beach last night, amid a mind-blowing exuberance of youthful flesh, tattoos and bacchanalian summertime revels - I marvelled to be in so different an environment. Was it only 24 hours ago that I was in virtual silence, watching a doe and her fawn tread delicately down through lush green to the stream to drink ice-cold water tumbled from the moors above Burnside? How amazingly adaptable we humans are! I often think this of my 96-year-old aunt, who I go to support now that she is the sole survivor of her generation of friends and family. When I think of how everything has changed in her lifetime, quite apart from the fact of living through recessions, depressions, two world wars and any number of personal difficulties, problems and losses. Yet she still follows the news, does a daily crossword, stitches needlepoint cushion covers as if there is no tomorrow and adores hi-tech gadgets, the latest of which is a miraculous but complex bit of wizardry – a new hearing aid that she test drove through the winter and now finds her way around with no trouble at all. Beats me.
But back to writing in general rather than the particular. I returned to find my new website had disappeared off the IT map, leaving us all back in August 2009. Playtime at the provider perhaps?
Now back in business, I must first report the expected but still sad death of George Deutsch, who passed away at the St Luke’s Hospice in Tokyo’s Tsukiji on Thursday June 10th. His funeral was the following day in Takanawa Catholic Church in Shinagawa with some 40 people attending, including fellow writers Margaret Grant and Yumiko Akabane. I was in Scotland, having last visited him at the end of May, but Margaret kept me informed.
George signed up for DOTWW at the age of 80, swiftly moving from Level 1 to Level 2 and not missing a single lesson in the two 8-week courses. He wrote a lot about his life, which he initially described as one of bitter regret, and in doing so was enabled to pass from acknowledgement to acceptance and beyond. Although raised by Jewish parents, he leaned towards multi-faith and after at least half his life spent in Japan, found Buddhism an enormous source of support.
He will be best remembered perhaps for the marvellous piece he wrote on the weekend retreat in Saitama in May 2007, the theme of which was AWAKENING. This remarkably thoughtful and honest consideration, which he wrote in the seclusion of his room on the Saturday afternoon and then shared with the rest of the group in the evening, has since been on the website under Students’ Writing, but I have repeated it here as his memorial. George had no known relatives, either here or in his native New York. But he did have several small families here… good friends, including the writers he studied and bonded with, and so a few of those who knew him and learned to love and respect him we will meet at Lauren’s new Kimono Bar and Grill in Nogizaka this coming Thursday, July 22, for a commemorative dinner. Kanpai George.
GEORGE’S SWANSONG
Awakening to what? What do I mean by awakening? The eyes open when we wake in the morning and the day rushes in - sense impressions: the thoughts that we carry in our heads from day to day about the past and projections about the future. All this goes on in an eternal present which is not static but an endless succession of “present” moments of which our existence consists. Ever changing, ever moving towards an ultimate awakening where fears and passions dissolve and complete awareness is attained.
Along the way are small awakenings when we feel that we have suddenly gained a new insight. It seems miraculous to “see” something at last that until then had been hidden. Saying the Buddhist refuge prayers day after day one slowly begins to internalize the expressed wish that all sentient beings may have happiness and be free from suffering and that one strives to obtain Buddhahood in order to lead all sentient beings to perfect understanding.
When we speak of attaining happiness and avoiding suffering we hardly question the nature of happiness. One could perhaps call it harmony of being. The nature of suffering however, needs to be analyzed. A simple and common cause of suffering is toothache. What is the experience of this suffering? It’s a concentration on the self. The sensation of pain is that of being trapped in the self. Such pain may be psychological rather than physical – the pain of self-consciousness. In either case a distraction from the self will cause a diminution of the pain. This can be applied generally to the alleviation of pain and suffering through the development of altruistic attitudes and behavior in daily life. Nor is it a question of charity which is ego centered and tax deductible, but one of shifting attention from oneself to others. This is a natural development in the socialization of the individual from the scream of hunger of the infant to the “Mummy Tommy hungry” of the three year old. Awareness of others is integral to the social development of the individual. We distinguish the self from others in the social context as a matter of survival. But the shift of awareness from self to others empathetically is a higher sense that must be cultivated through conscious practice.
Reflecting on the various pieces I have written about my past life in the course of the writing seminar I have observed a gradual shift in emphasis from myself to a sympathy and understanding of those I have encountered in my life. The process of writing has transported me back to a formative period in my life of the 1950’s and what one might term the psychoanalytic mentality of that time in which mental pain and suffering were ascribed to past experiences wounding to the self which had become submerged in the sub-conscious. Healing was purported to be promoted by the uncovering of these experiences which could then be seen in a new light and assimilated. Parents and family members as the most intimate relationships were usually the focus of psychoanalytic probing. “My father did this to me” “My mother didn’t do that for me” were basically what was seen as the root causes of psychological injuries that underlay mental suffering. Reconciliation might take place with these ghosts of the past in the sense of forgiveness of injuries one had suffered. Or one might simply reinforce negative feelings that psychoanalytic probing had justified. The analysand who was after all a patient (and a well paying one) was rarely encouraged to place himself in the position of the oppressor and to contemplate the other’s needs, motives and suffering. It was all “what was done to me” neglecting the development of self-esteem that would have followed the assumption of responsibility for one’s condition.
The faith in psychotherapy in the mid 20th century now seems antediluvian in the light of particularly Tibetan Buddhist teachings that have spread throughout the world through the Tibetan Diaspora. In my own life I can compare all of my relationships in the past and reinterpret the feelings I have had of persecution and inferiority as positive ones of love. “Memories” of parental abuse which I had harbored for years now suddenly seem like sick fantasies when with the aid of memories and old photographs I have constructed an image of an attractive young couple of the 1930’s who struggled through the Great Depression from which they emerged more or less unscathed and finally finished their lives in an up-market retirement home in Tucson, Arizona. The great sadness of their lives was that their one son who survived World War II did not give them grandchildren. My feeling about them now is one of peace but deep regret that I couldn’t give them that sense of continuity.
The turbulence of youth has survived into my later years and I find that here, too I have been plagued with old habits of focus on self to the exclusion of other. But this time the awakening has been more abrupt and more complete for which I thank Buddhist teachings and meditation.
I had been blaming the unsatisfying relationship I have had for the past three years on the selfish, deceitful person who would use me and exploit the attraction he exerted. But when I let myself momentarily escape from the self I realized that it was I who had invented this person in defiance of his honesty about himself and the initially expressed limitations of intimacy that were inevitable due to his commitments. And then having opened myself to the other I suddenly saw him as he really is with all his difficulties domestic and professional that have left him worn-out and conflicted. And at last I have awakened to the ultimate pain of the other for which there is relief only in prayer.
Amen.
[31 May, 2010] A splendid gathering here yesterday, to celebrate five years of DOTWW and, as it happens, my birthday. Thanks to the writers who turned up - Sonia, Nathalie, Sieglinda, Clara, Heera, Dan, Charlie, Jeffery, Carolyn, Margaret, Dawn, Kathryn and others - plus the 30 or so friends from roundabout. I specially enjoyed the pleasure of two cakes, both liberally sprinkled with candles (which just about sums it up!) Must now pack as leaving for the UK tomorrow.
[17-5-2010] Chris, Jeffery, Alena and Nathalie attended a first level introductory workshop in Zushi. It was a beautiful day, which rubbed off and turned them into beautiful writers. Sadly a missed opportunity for C, who having signed up, failed to turn up. Her loss.
You can read comments from those who did make the effort - two travelled by train from Tokyo, while late-rising Jeffery drove like a madman all the way from Tsukuba to make it on time - and also some of the exercises they did. A wonderfully responsive and appreciative group who have all signed up to complete their “initiation” into DOTWW on July 25.
I shall be abroad until then. Flying to the UK on June 1st and returning mid-July. Know though that while I may be far away physically, I am always close: adjeffs@hotmail.com
[7-5-2010] Two writers joined me at the Wesley centre last night to do a WRITE. Thank you Sarah and Kathryn.
Kathryn has suggested that while attendance can sometimes be poor for a WRITE alone, she believes a lot of DOTWW writers would welcome a monthly touch of the whip in terms of exercises, a WRITE and an assignment to be passed around for comment and constructive criticism. This could be in place of the current WRITE with Angela, or in addition to. I’d really like some feedback on this, so over to all of you out there…
[12-5-2010] The Writers Festival being organised by Lauren Shannon has been moved to July. Nor will it be woman specific as originally envisaged. The venue will be in Minami-aoyama at the new Wesley Centre. The new name of the event will be TOKYO SUMMER WRITERS FESTIVAL 2010 and the provisional date is Saturday, July 31st, from 10 am-6pm (pending confirmation) with an after party networking event and poetry reading starting just after the last session.
[28-4-2010] Today online from Scotland’s national newspaper, an article about how downloading is going to revolutionise publishing: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Downloading-is-about-to-create.6254432.jp
[25-4-2010] Third Level AFFIRMATION came to an end on April 16, and was duly celebrated Friday last at Alison’s house in Hachjoji with an enormous spread of home-cooked curry and copius supplies of beer and wine. Everyone read out their final omiyage, and created an affirmation based on the 8 affirmed at the end of each WRITE in class. We then all danced The Dance to Lady Gaga. I stayed the night since my last train long gone, and helped with the washing up. A great conclusion to a great course! Thanks everyone - and this includes Carolyn, who living nearby and also a Level 3 graduate had joined us.
Affirmations made:
I AM TAKING IT ALL IN MY STRIDE
I BLAZE MY OWN TRAIL
I AM FINE
I AM LIVING UP TO MY FULL POTENTIAL AND ACCEPT THE SUCCESS IT BRINGS
I LIVE MY BEST LIFE
I AM BRINGING ABOUT THE CHANGE I WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD AND IN MYSELF
I AM IN BALANCE
[20-4-2010] Some 25 people turned up, including four DOTWW writers (Emma, Kathryn, Jacinta, Mary: thanks for the moral support), Alena and Chris who are signed up for the introductory workshop on May 16 (and presumably wanted to check me out) and a music producer interviewed all of 15 years ago who travelled all the way from Tsukuba to reconnect and say hello. Jeffery is now signed up for May 16 also.
[5-4-2010] I have been asked to give a short presentation about DOTWW to Media Tectonics (concerned with the place and future of words in publishing and all areas of communication in an increasingly IT controlled world) in Tokyo on April 19. (Gulp!)
I will share the platform with veteran copywriter, marcom director and brand strategist Burton Blume, who will talk about the value of words - building strong brands through verbal identity. Burton is also a published poet. (Another gulp!)
Venue: International House of Japan in Roppongi.
Cost: 4,500 yen (prepaid) ) or 5,500 at the door. Expensive for some struggling writers, but the price does include a light meal from 6.30; seminar begins at 7pm.
Information: info@mediatectonics.com
[4-4-2010] I received a mail from Kathryn today after asking all five writers on Level 3 to advise which pieces of their work they would feel comfortable to see on this site. I don’t think she will mind if I share the following extract, which personally I find both humorous and inspirational:
I’m going to hunt for black curtains for my study (again). Going to re-dedicate the room as a “room for work, a place to write.” At the dedication ceremony, I’ll play Cream’s old song ‘White Room’ (”In the white room with black curtains near the station…”). I think I am becoming odder and more eccentric every day…but it feels good…
[7-3-2010] Charlie, Dawn and Sara braved the journey from the city through cold and rain to complete their Initiation into DOTWW (part 2 of the first level). Luckily there was not only Thai curry for lunch (so sorry I forgot about the fresh coriander chopped up and ready in the fridge !) but plenty of food for thought: words spoken and written to warm us, draw us closer, give us pleasure and even make us laugh. Good work everyone.
[6-3-2010] Third level DOTWW kicked off on Friday February 19 with Sarah, Mary, Rita, Kathryn and Alison attending. We had to miss the following week - illnesses, commitments etc - but resumed last night, and are now on course for the 12th,19th, and 26th of this month, and the 2nd, 9th and 16th of April. Thanks to Alison for offering her home for the last lesson, but this is always tricky, pulling the achievements of the previous weeks together and creating final affirmations. So we will stay in Nishi-wadesa for class 8, and meet at Alison’s the following Friday for a more casual round up and celebration.
WRITE with Angela on March 4 drew Jacinta and Kathryn, with too many apologies to mention. If everyone had come who got in contact we would have had a full house indeed. Next time perhaps, which will be the last time WWA may meet in TELL’s meeting room. From May I hope we will be in the new building, and hope to go take a look and work out some dates next week.
Jacinta’s WRITE was especially insightful this time. She described a new commitment to her inner knowing, which she realises is sacred. This acknowledgement means she can no longer dismiss anything as unimportant. “We dismiss our selves - our thoughts, talents, feelings - too easily. It’s time I started becoming available to myself, accepting rather than dismissing. It’s time I started knowing my place.”
Jacinta’s blog, which is equally thoughtful and interesting: jacintahin.com
[4-2-2010] A belated happy new year. I returned from test driving the Scottish winter and keeping my 95 year-old aunt company through its worst excesses on Feb 2. It’s been 25 years since I’ve enjoyed such down time, with no deadlines looming - except to leave of course! - and little commuication with the outside world. Not surprising perhaps that when I drove a visiting writer from Tokyo - Yumiko the intrepid - to check out the Watermill in Aberfeldy, reputed to be amongst the best bookshops in the UK, one title jumped out at me: Sara Maitland’s A BOOK OF SILENCE. Recommended to anyone who believes they know what silence is, and all those who have never thought about it before.
So, back to Japan, and our first WRITES evening of 2010. This was on a Thursday, rather than the usual Wednesday, and indeed dates will be scattered month by month, so get used to checking the schedule as to when and where.
Thanks to Jacinta, Emma, Sarah, Kathryn and of course, Yumiko, feeling both rested and energised after her sojourn in Perthshire. After sharing their WRITES, I asked them to create an affirmation from topics covered. These proved to be (in no particular order):
I will stay in balance
In silence I will explore my writing
I will figure out my wishes for the future
I will trust, NEVER HIDE
It really is THIS easy
Note how much more powerful these become if written as follows:
I am in balance
In silence I explore my writing
I am figuring out my wishes for the future
I trust, NEVER HIDE
It really is THIS easy
Until next month.
[5-11-2009] Great WRITES with Rita, Sarah, Kathryn, Carolyn and Clara, and Yumiko at the last minute to join us for feedback and a “kanpai”. See you - and all those other writers and friends who could not join us last night - next year! And check the schedule on a regular basis for updates on workshops, classes and courses after January 2010.
[31-10-2009] Last night, five writers - Alison, Nancy, James, Mary and Rita - completed their 8-week course of EXPLORATORY writing. Congratulations everyone! (See Students’ Comments & Students’ Writing)
There is another reason to celebrate. This morning my editor in Canada, Robert Kidd of EditFast, sent me the PDF file of my completed book, Chasing Shooting Stars. The synchronicity once again blows me away, because CSS documents a trip to South America that began on Halloween 1999, and here I am a decade later to the very day: the date on the ancient Celtic calendar, called Samhain, that people believed marked the passage of the last day in summer into the first in winter, with the veil between the here and now and the hereafter at its thinnest and most easily penetrable. You can quite see why it became associated with spirited energetic forces at work, both supernatural and saintly. Today someone said I looked thinner, so I am doubly blessed.
Anyway, to whoever you are and wherever you are, Happy (pagan) Samhain. Happy (Christian) All Hallow’s Eve. Happy (traditional) Hallowe’en. Happy (modern-day commercial) Halloween.
[11-10-2009] The first half of Level 1 workshop drew three writers to Zushi. In fact I nearly postponed, as only Charlie and Tomo had signed up, and I rarely work with less that three. Then right at the last minute, up popped Dawn! So an entrepeneur wanting to write and open up his life in new ways, a published poet wanting to return to words after years of travel, and a teacher working on two novels, but wondering how to maintain the momentum. A very good day. Well done everyone.
[10-10-2009] Could not let this date pass without comment. So many zeros. Last night was Class 6 of the 8-week EXPLORATION course in Nishi-waseda. Mary, James, Nancy, Rita and Alison are writing like happy maniacs, and discovering/uncovering all kinds of truths and talents along the way. This week we are off, due to my having to go back into hospital for final surgery on my My Left Foot, but we will be back together for the last two Fridays of this month, that is the 23rd and 30th. Looking forward… Hoping to get some of their writing online before I leave for Scotland in early November; some wonderful stuff, I promise.
[7-10-2009] Four writers braved the typhoon (No.18 of the season) to write together in Minami-aoyama last night: Kathryn (back from the US after near half a year), Yumiko, Emma and Rita. Well worth effort, and a far better turnout than September when I joined Sarah in exploring my thought on paper, and then did two more PW WRITES after she had left for home.
[7-9-2009] Meeting channeler Rae Chandran again after four years - we bumped into one another in Minami-aoyama - was a blessing in so many ways. For one thing, he added much illumination to the whole subject of signs and symbols (touched on under Angela’s Writing): http://www.signsandsymbols.net/index.shtml
Anyone interested in the subject of sacred geometry is invited to take a look.
[6-8-2009] With many writers away for the summer, just three of us last night at our monthly meet. Sarah described a recent break from routine; I explored jealousy. And Emma, well Emma always surprises.We had been talking about Question 3, at the end of each WRITE: What larger story is this WRITE a part of? (Mother story, career story, boyfriend story, etc) and the need to keep the WRITES in order for quick reappraisal.
“Keep refiling them as the stories become clearer”, I advised. “And don’t forget to add the date on each WRITE and staple the pages together.”
Here is what Emma wrote as a result, with her permission naturally.
I don’t like the idea of putting my writes into files. So far, I’ve even managed to avoid stapling them together. Why don’t I want to? Putting them into nice, neat categories feels like confining my life to a few little boxes. What do I mean by “confining”? Forcing something into an unnatural, grotesque shape, like a topiary hedge. Trying to make all the connections linear, neatly representable on a chart, instead of the fluid, living web that I believe them to be. What do I mean by “web”? Everything is connected, yes, but to many other parts, in some sort of organic way. I am very good at drawing straight lines between points; I do it regularly, to order. The last thing I want is more graph paper in my life. What do I mean by “graph paper”? Uniformity, perfect 90°angles, regularity, no room for spaces in between.
What do I mean by “spaces in between”? Breathing gaps, expanding and contracting, flowing into each other, appearing unexpectedly at random moments. The clear patches of the kaleidoscope, completely calm but endlessly evolving. What do I mean by “completely calm”? Containing both nothing and everything; the non-space and the key to the pattern. What do I mean by “non-space”? No conditions, no requirements, no limits, no agenda. No meaning. What do I mean by “no meaning”? Nothing that can be analysed, dissected, questioned, explained, found correct or incorrect. No point of reference outside itself.
Emma - August 5, 2009
[2-8-2009] Read why famed American author Paul Auster has chosen to put pen to paper since he was a child: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/nov/05/fiction.paulauster
[29-7-2009] There will be a series of Riso & Hudson Enneagram events in Japan in October organised on behalf of the US-based Enneagram Institute (see link). For full information of workshops and training, see Enneagram Institute Japan-ei@enneagram-japan.com
[26-7-2009] Sad news. Sad and shocking news.
John Kavelin, who took the first level course of DOTWW along with Mari-Christine and Vivien in early 2006, died on July 18, 1.30pm British Columbia time. His last words to those at his bedside: “You guys are a class act.”
John was a class act. One of the classiest acts ever. Initially we met for an interview for The Japan Times, when he was working for Tokyo Disney World and Disney Sea as an Imagineer - that is the creative force (blending artistic and engineering skills) behind all the rides and entertainments on offer.
Soon after he expressed keen interest in DOTWW, having already benefitted enormously from one of Kristin’s courses in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Not that he could not draw, or write, but he was interested in the authentic and spiritually blossoming side effects of the right-brain focussed work. Typically his writing was poetic, honest and deep, witty and fanciful. An immense talent.
Soon after he left Japan and Disney. He created a beautiful home - Spirit Lodge - on Salt Spring Island, BC - and concentrated his energies once more of The Virtues Project, that he had helped research and establish with his sister Linda and her husband near 20 years before.
His last message received here in Zushi in January: Sending love to you! John
By this time he was recovering from a stroke, but with a brain tumour diagnosed, involving surgery and chemo, continued to suffer immeasurably. You can read the journal kept by Linda, with interjections from John, on http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnkavelin
Two things he said resonate with me still.
On July 14, he heard the fluttering or beating of wings, and thought a humming bird had come into the house. Linda, who was with him, heard nothing.
On the Thursday before he died, he said: The pull of this world and the next are balanced now. I’m halfway there. I’m just craving a hand up.”
John had offered me safe haven at Spirit Lodge any time I cared to drop by on my way to and from Toronto, where my daughter and her family live.
Typically I left it too late. I regret that. But there’s no regret in knowing this remarkably intelligent, sensitive, brave and deeply spiritual man. Indeed, I feel truly blessed.
[24-7-2009] The workshops due this coming Sunday and August 1st are postponed until September. (See schedule.) My foot is taking longer than imagined to heal, and I’m still not fully mobile. Apologies.
[4-7-2009] NEXT WEEK: THE TOKYO BOOK FAIR: http://web.reedexpo.co.jp/tibf/english/
[2-7-2009] After a last minute call to inform writers that the venue was in Nishi-Waseda rather than Minami-Aoyama (my fault; I simply forgot), four made it to WWA, which was four more than I deserved for messing up.
Last month I once again impressed the value of doing WRITES at home, to speed up the process and provide quiet - some say sacred - time for reflection amid the madness of daily life. Since then one writer who attended that meeting had done seven, noting that while there were no breakthroughs, she could see a slow and steady unfolding of awareness in progress. A second writer had done one, which she felt was pathetic, but cheered up to hear that one was better than none. Certainly her WRITE this time was markedly different to first time around.
After discussing a couple of paragraphs from the PW book (Listening without bias, page 141) WRITES covered topics such as sexuality, family, and a peak experience. Many thanks to Carolyn, Clara, Jacinta and Sarah for making the effort and sharing their courageous and honest words.
Next month we are back in Minami-Aoyama in the TELL meeting room. Hope to see even more of you then.
[18-6-2009] A book made its way to me last week that I am now passing on to you: MIND READINGS - Writers Journeys Through Mental States, compiled by MIND (the Mental Healthy Charity) for Minerva (www.minervabooks.com) A compilation of prose, poetry, fact and fiction by more than 50 wordsmiths (including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, William Styron, Fay Weldon, to name but a few) on Fears, Shrinks, Substances, Griefs, Black Dogs, Storms, Memories and Lives, Mind Readings reminds us that all writers - as seekers, sensitives, sufferers - experience the madnesses of depression and despair in varying degrees of shape or form at some time or another. Powerful resonances.
I was especially struck - and indeed encouraged, as I hope you are also - by the following paragraph from Around the Spinning Plates, by A.L Kennedy, which seems to so accurately mirror the collaborative intent of DOTWW and PW:
Any writer, in any context, can benefit from the almost organic effects of writing. Creation is inherently therapeutic and the best creation, the most painstaking effort is, I believe, also the most healing. A writer has a daily opportunity to unveil worlds, to explore them as no one else can, and then give them to others. In a very fundamental way, she or he is not alone. For writers, a leap of faith can be made daily and with a degree of success. The spirit can be nourished, emotional and intellectual tensions experienced and then released. A life becomes full.
[15-6-2009] Out of six signed up, four made it to the workshop yesterday: Robin and Nina (both Canadian, from Victoria and Montreal respectively), Sara (Indonesian, with a Polish husband), and Carla, from Brazil. It was a good day - especially since the promised rain held off and mostly sunshine prevailed - with much introspection and many insights; I’d like to thank them all for working so hard.
[10-6-2009] To hear and watch Oprah Winfrey in conversation with possibly the most important spiritual teacher of our time, Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now, A New Earth), go online to her Soul Series:
http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/inspiration/pkgoprahssoulserieswebcast/
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If he is not enough, Katie Bryon - who is a good friend of Tolle’s - has been another great influence upon me: Loving What Is.
[9-6-2009] For those writers who dream of mainstream publication, read Tim Clare’s account of getting his novel into print - in today’s UK Guardian newspaper, or online at
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/how-to-get-a-book-deal-1700067.html
He concludes, “Getting published is about practising until you’re really good, then persevering until you’re really lucky.”
Tim Clare’s ‘We Can’t All Be Astronauts’, published by Ebury Press, £10.99
[24-5-2009] Sunday workshop: part 2 of level 1: INITIATION. The day dawned dullish and quickly turned to rain. Then Jennifer mailed to say she was sick and could not make it. And this after facilitating DOTWW - a long vivid dream that left me waking at 5am in a state of exhaustion. The place (unknown) and characters (unknown) were all clearly defined, so obviously there is a piece to write here. I have my title too: The workshop from hell.
Tiffany, James and Brendan worked so hard throughout the day that we were all pretty whacked by 5pm. Congratulations all round (and I include myself here!) Sadly, both T and B are moving on from Japan within the next few months (recessionary and personal forces at work) but I’m hopeful that we will meet if not work together again. Because while three months ago we were strangers, now we are friends. And I believe in the words of whichever wise wag it was who coined that important rhetorical question: What are strangers but friends not met yet.
[15-3-2009] The class was just two for the first half of level 1 INITIATION, but what an enlightening event it turned out to be. For one thing, I have never facilitated an all male workshop before, so lessons for me by the dozen. As for Brendan (from Wicklow in Eire, who could not make February 2) and James (Philadelphia, USA) both signed at the end of the day for the second part of the course, and so will hopefully join C,T,A and J on May 24. Great day guys. Laughed a lot. James, thanks for coming all the way from Tama. And Brendan, I am serious about you making me that lighthouse.
[6-3-2009] Last night’s PW WRITE session drew five - Emma, Jacinta, Sarah, Yumiko and Kathryn. Thankyou to you all for braving the cold and rain. Note that the next WRITE session will be in May; there will be no WWA gathering in April, unless you want to get together socially. If that sounds a good idea, contact Sarah.
[2-2-2009] The workshop yesterday drew five - Jennifer, Tiffany, Clara, Aya and Gillian. The sixth member who signed up for a FULL HOUSE was not able to make it at the last minute. It happens. However he is trying again, having signed up for March 15 - another beginner’s course. Four of the five who attended have signed up for a second workshop in May to complete Initiation. The only reason Gillian will not be joining them is that she will have moved to Chicago with her sons to join her husband. Bon Voyage guys.
[28-1-2009] I was in Izu over the weekend, invited back to Amagi Sanso for the 62nd Women’s Conference. Though essentially a Christian event (a challenge in itself, this everything and nothing neo-pagan was asked once again to conduct workshops. Since the theme this year was story-telling, I guided one group of eight in PW on the Saturday afternoon, then a workshop with the theme of Memoir on the Sunday. Expecting a handful to sign up, I was astonished when 20 trooped in through the door just after lunch. With women from Africa, Asia, Europe and America, it was an exceptional gathering. A few tears, a lot of laughter, and you can read a few of the results of one short exercise under Students Writing. Everyone it seems has a vivid to misty first memory.
Another full-house on Sunday. For the first time for a long time I have six - five women and one guy - signed up for the first level of Initiation. Seems my energy is returning, and about time too. Looking forward.
The monthly WRITE with Angela will be held Wednesday next (Feb 4) in Nishi-waseda, to give writers on that side of town the easier chance to participate. Mail me for info.
[8-1-2009] Happy New Year everyone. 2009 began well last night with five writers gathering at a new venue in Minami-aoyama. (RBR is on the move again.) Thanks to Sarah, Emma, Kathryn and Jo - and Yumiko who came by late after work. Next WRITE with Angela: Feb 4, venue to be confirmed, but most likely to be the same address: the meeting room in the TELL compound. See link on homepage for map.
Kathryn and Jo asked when Level 3 DOTWW (Affirmation) would begin. We agreed early to mid-February, if we can summon up at least two more to join them. Anyone who has done levels 1 & 2 is eligible.
[3-12-2008] With five writers having to pull out at the last minute, due to work, sickness, end-of-year exhaustion, etc., we were only four, but Mary, Rita and Sarah proved to be in the perfect mood to dig deep with their WRITES. Mary proved especially glad she had made the effort to come all the way from Hachioji in west Tokyo, having been busy the last couple of years pushing herself forward as a jeweller. As she mailed the next day: “Thank you for Wednesday night - welcoming arms and the safe space to be me. I was glad to get back into the Writes again and I always meet great people through your classes.”
This evening there is a gathering here at the house. We began Circle of Enquiry in November, then gave December a miss as everyone too busy. Seven of us (all local to Zushi and Kamakura) spent the time reading Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth”. A larger turnout - further encouraging a lively discussion - is expected. Not about writing per se, but about words, their meaning and interpretation, all the same.
[17-11-2008] An excellent workshop yesterday, with powerful lessons for all, myself included. Despite lowering weather, four made the trip (two by two) from west Tokyo and Kamakura: Louise, Alison, Heera and Dan. Most had worked with one another before - sometimes up to two years ago - so it was quite the reunion. Interestingly it was the two locals, who had not only not worked together, but never met one another before. Quite the irony.
Another irony is that the promised fifth member, who always signs up first for any new work when it’s announced, had to pull out at the last minute because of being sent abroad on business. Missed you Jacinta.
In preparing for this workshop, I realised why I had waited so long to move on to Level 2. EXPLORATION, as devised as an 8-week course, involves a large amount of material, requiring a lot of writing at home and circulating to other writers by e-mail ahead of each weekly meet. This meant a lot of rejigging and condensation, but seemed to work for everyone concerned. Those attending agreed (of their own volition) to come back for the second half of the course in early March, so enabling me to give them work to do between now and then, both to consolidate what they had covered in exercises, and to prepare for the next workshop.
The next workshop here is on November 30, completing the first level, INITIATION. So far Richard and Clara are committed, but it would be good to have at least one more student. Anyone who has done one beginner’s workshop here with me is eligible - around a dozen of you by my latest count. Welcome, as always.
[6-11-2008] Due to a mix up with regards booking the space, there was no meeting on November 5. Fortuitous in many ways, as English writers busy with letting off fireworks (in commemoration of the noise and mess Guy Fawkes did not make in trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in his infamously inefficient Gunpowder Plot), and American wordsmiths cracking open innumerable bottles to celebrate a historic day of voting in the US.
We are all set for December 3, however, so let’s make it a night to remember. RSVP please.
[2-10-2008] A disappointing turnout last night but then autumn is often slow to get into its stride. But while Rita was surprised to find herself alone with a rather dopey yours truly, our WRITES (yes, I did one also to keep her company) proved interesting enough to keep us talking until nearly 10pm. Most of the chocolate chip cookies she had baked and brought along went back home with her, but she promises more… just as long as more writers turn up next time! November 5th, remember.
(Left to right): Jacinta, Yumiko, Emma, Hannah, Kathryn
[7-8-2008] WRITE with Angela began in September with three writers. Last night five quite different stalwarts braved the heat, only two of whom had worked together before, so interesting for all concerned. We read about preparing to do a PW WRITE, and discussed the three rules of self trust:
WRITE WHAT YOU HEAR
LISTEN TO WHAT YOU WRITE
BE READY TO ASK THE PW QUESTION: What do I mean by…
At the end of the 25-minute session (when we share WRITES and give feedback while nibbling snacks and knocking back a few glasses) the only problem was not being able to find a knife and a bottle opener for the cheese and wine that Jacinta kindly brought along. (Our cellar is growing, by the way!) Luckily Kathryn proved adept at improvising with a spoon - and an opener manifested from Family Mart in the nick of time. Emma, Hannah and Yumiko then ably assisted in tucking in.
Next WRITE with Angela: Wednesday October 1st from 7pm at RBR. RSVP if possible, so that I have an idea of numbers and can prepare. The meantime, happy summer!
[4-8-2008] Congratulations to Michelle (whose story you can read under Students Writing) who is getting married to David in the UK any day now. I - and all at DOTWW - wish you well, and hope this stage of the “fairy story” does indeed provide a wonderful beginning to the rest of your increasingly happy life.
[18-7-2008] At the end of the Exploration course, I asked the writers to send me the piece they felt most proud of for posting under STUDENTS WRITING. When Kathryn forwarded The Camel, based on an exercise that explored fear - the fear of a small creature crossing a large space (size being relative, of course), she also included the following paragraph of explanation. Because The Camel had proved so important a piece of writing for her, I asked that I might put it up here, and she kindly agreed.
“As per your request, I’m sending here the piece that I felt most pleased with in Level 2. I wrote it off the top of my head, when I was feeling very low. It seemed, at first, to be too slight and have no meaning at all. However, I kept going back to re-read it at odd times during the day and night and finally realized that it is the truest thing I have ever written. It is a terse, simple story that doesn’t say much, but for me, well, it is a metaphor for my life. And, I am both the camel and the woman in the story. I guess some people would think that envisioning your future as a vast, empty desert is sad, but I am happy (and have been feeling happy since I wrote it). Emptiness ahead that I can fill as I like is preferable to having to step into someone else’s fixed and ordered world. And when I am the camel, the woman is by my side. And, when I am the woman, the camel is by my side. This may sound weird or fanciful, but this piece was a breakthrough for me. Having written it, I don’t think I will ever be the same (in a good way.)
[20-6-2008] Oh, well, that didn’t work! It transpired that the first Wednesday in July was already booked (because I had told RBR “bi-monthly”). So the next ‘WRITE with Angela’ will be on August 6, as originally planned; September is out because I will be away; we will resume on October 1st, and thereafter meet monthly: November 5, December 3. Dates for 2008 will be posted later in the year.
[5-6-2008] The inagural meet of WRITE WITH ANGELA was such a success (with founder attendees Lauren, Terri and Sarah) that I have decided to make it monthly from October. As is the way with such things, I wish I had started this years ago!!!! But as I would tell anyone who said this to me, “You can only take action when you can, when the time is right.” So here we are.
Next WRITE WITH ANGELA: Wednesday August 6.
See SCHEDULE for rest of 2008.
[3-6-2008] More good news! Alison Gray, who completed ‘Initiation’ through two Sunday workshops down here in Zushi, and then came on the retreat in May 2007, has just signed up for second level Exploration (again in Zushi as it fits in better with home commitments) starting June 18.
The best news of all, however, is that Alison has had a piece of liturgy accepted for a collection by the Iona Community. (Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the coast of her native Scotland, and this Celtic-Christian Community is famed for its liturgy.)
As Alison writes: “Your weekend last year was the first time for me to try to write liturgy. This year I am published. Maybe you should put this on your website!”
So here it is. Congratulations Alison.
[27-5-2008] Good news. Tanja, who had to pull out of her first level course in Spring because of family commitments, will rejoin us on Thursday, picking up where she left off. Welcome back Tanja.
[21-5-2008] ANNOUNCING the start of a bi-monthly (for the moment) WRITE meet. Any writer who has taken DOTWW courses, classes or workshops is invited to join us on the first Friday of next month, that is June 4. We will do one WRITE and then sit around and share (but not mandatory), talk about our writing in general and snack. Good chance to write out any pressing items on your personal agenda and learn more about yourself; also meet up with old faces and new. Remember, the practice is all about authenticating your writing voice by constantly challenging what you really mean when you put down a word of phrase. We will start at 7, review PW, settle down to the Write at 7.30, and finish when we finish, but by 9.30 latest. Cost 2,000 yen. Please RSVP - let me know if you intend to come as I need to prepare and cater (with wine, soft drinks, etc) for numbers. Hope to see you on June 4; next WRITES meet, August 6. Double check with SCHEDULE nearer the time.
[8-5-2008] A new INITIATION course has begun, with Barry, Takeshi, Michelle and Claudette attending. RBR has moved, so the location’s new to us all. Very spacious and light, with all mod cons - a real treat after the cramped quarters of old. They were cosy true, but limiting; the 3rd floor of Mint House is far more flexible, with an astonishing view of Tokyo Tower, and an even more surprising computerised toilet!
[16-5-2008] There was a gathering of familiar faces for Level 2, when Exploration took off last night with Jo, Hannah and Nikki. Kathryn would have been with us, but had had to fly to Vancouver that very afternoon in response to a family crisis. It happens. We all look forward to her joining us next week - or as soon as she can.
There was a general groan when it was time for doing WRITES, but everyone agreed afterwards (amid much laughter) that actually, having relaxed into the practice, they realised how much they had missed it.
[11-3-2008] Last year, the First Japan Writers contest was held in Tokyo with some 100 participants total throughout the weekend. Presenters included anthology authors, editors, translators and playwrights largely from the English- speaking ex-pat community in Japan.
Following on from this successful launch, the Second Japan Writers Conference will be held at Nanzan University (Nagoya Campus), Nagoya, Japan on Saturday, November 29th and Sunday, November 30, 2008. The deadline for proposals is May 1, 2008. Website: http://www.japanwritersconference.org/index.htm
[9-3-2008] The first one-day workshop of the year drew Richard, Ikuko and Donna to Zushi on a bright Spring day. A fourth party who had signed up failed to turn up or offer any explanation or apology. I would ask that if for some reason a signee (is that the word?) cannot come to a workshop for any reason, they simply make contact by phone or mail to put me in the picture. No judgement or blame attached. It simply means that I can then lay out materials, time the exercises and prepare foodstuffs and lunch accordingly. This said, it was a great day, with much writing, laughter and learning.
[25-2-2008] The Affirmation course is now over halfway through. Initiation is three weeks along, with Hannah, Nikki, Joanna, Kathryn and Tanja settling in well after the initial shock.
There is always a sense of shock after the first class, as the right-brain slant (rather than the content) is more often than not totally unexpected. Not sure what people are expecting (and of course they may not even know themselves) but obviously not what I am serving up! It’s when they come back for seconds and thirds - with final fourths still to come (Confirmation) - that I know we are onto something very special.
[17-2-2008] Numbers for the retreat went from nine to six to four a half, at which point I pulled the plug because the centre demands final figures by a certain date and I could wait no longer for people making up their minds. In the future I shall be much firmer about deposits. Strange how February never works out. Writers are keen and then fall away, usually to do with being broke after the New Year. May and October are far more successful, so will be sticking with these months from hereon.
[15-2-2008] Carolyn (see above) has a book review published in this month’s issue of Being Abroad. Nikki has a review of Butler Cafes in the same publication. Congratulations to both.
[20-1-2008] Note that a piece written about DOTWW by Carolyn Hashimoto (ala Tori Wilding) will appear in the Jan 25 issue of Metropolis, Tokyo’s No.1 listings and associated feature magazine in English. Thanks Carolyn. I also did an interview by phone for its podcast.
*The third level Affirmation got off to a cracking start Thursday last as planned; we spent most of the time cracking up with laughter. Lauren, Terri, Efrot, Margaret, Carolyn and Emma all raring to go. Apologies to those who have had to wait over a year for this course.Will do better in the future.
*Terri turned 50 the day the course started. There was a surprise party the following evening at the Pink Cow in Shibuya which - after the initial shock-horror subsided - turned into a very mellow event. The pic below shows just how mellow!
[10-1-2008] Happy New Year to you all. I’m back in Japan after a quick trip to Toronto to connect with my daughter and grandson. My god was it cold. Minus 23 the day after I arrived. This makes Japan seem positively balmy (yes, and barmy) by comparison - especially here on the Pacific coast of Kanto.
*The Affirmation course starts Thursday January 17 at RBR with a full house. Very gratifying.
*A new first level course starts February 8 - yes, a Friday for a change. This is because the Affirmation course is still in progress. It’s a new thing to overlap courses like this; will have to see how it pans out.
*As to the weekend retreat in Saitama at the end of Feb, seven have booked for sure - five women, two guys - but several places still open. Tempted? Go on, remember those New Year resolutions about finding more time to write? Well here is your chance, and with amazing synchronicity, the theme will be what appears to be a common problem: TIME.
[10-12-2007] It has taken me a couple of months to get back on track after family losses in the summer. But facilitating the 8-week Initiation course at RBR has helped provide balance, and I would like to thank Rita (American), Bibi (NZ-Swiss), Filipe (Portugese-Canadian) and Katherina (German) for their patience and support. Because of starting a month late, the course was somewhat interrupted by long-scheduled trips taking precedence: Rita to Bhutan, Bibi to the UK and Switzerland, Katharina to Nagoya and Chicago. But everyone kept up via phone and e-mail and we finish this week with a full class. Special congratulations to Filipe for attending all 8 weeks!
*It’s good to see the bonding that takes place during the work extend into students’ private lives. George is hosting fellow writers Carolyn, Sophie, Margaret, Sarah and hopfully Christine from Levels 1 & 2 taken this year; also Yumiko and Heera from the retreat in May. We are meeting up for dinner at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) where George is a member, and a good time is expected by all. Especially George, though he is asking Wye-Khe - computer whizz, writer and member of Lauren’s Tokyo Writer’s Salon - along as male support.
Men are asking
…if DOTWW is for women only. The answer is no. I wish more guys would come and do this work. Those who do, and stay (yes, there are runaways from the opening up and sharing of writing and emotions that the work entails) love the experience and always come back for more. DOTWW provides a unique opportunity for women to listen to men, and men to listen to women. We can all learn from one another, and need to.
Note that samples of Students’ Writing are now onsite for everyone to read and enjoy. I thank all those willing to make their work available in this way. (Older writings with be archived; new writing will go up as made available.)
Check the Schedule for workshops and classes on a regular basis, as dates are subject to change. General enquiries to [0]46-872 3528, or e-mail adjeffs@ybb.ne.jp