Creative Workshops 2010
March/April
Writing Newsletter
Re-story and re-imagine your Life
and Work
Dear
writer, storyteller, reader, lover of words, images, silences…
“I know that nothing has ever
been real without my beholding it. All becoming has needed me. My looking
ripens things and they come toward me, to meet and be met.” (Rilke:
Book of Hours)
This
month - a meditation on attention. Observing. What would you find if you frisked a writer and
rifled his pockets? Years ago I wrote:
Apart from
note pen, pad,
sweet
papers, love letter, toy,
we’d
find perhaps a mirror,
magnifying
glass, microscope
telescope,
thumbed Thesaurus
and
a wafer of favourites -
Rumi,
Neruda, Blake,
Theresa of
margin
marked in green eye shadow.
It’s that
triple-M awareness - mirror, magnifying glass and microscope - that
brings us the words, rising from the looking.
Attention
offers us images... we begin to see how this is family of that… The absorbing
brings progression. As we zoom in, focus and open to this granadilla, this
wave, this cappuccino, details lead us deeper into patterns,
intricacies, rhythms, correspondences.
Sight invokes insight… we see with Wordsworth “into the life of things.”
We leave the experience not through the door we entered by, but find a hidden
aha way back via words into the world.
In The
Art of Attention: The Poet's Eye, David Ravell
observes, “I see that poetry is a form of attention, itself the consequence of
attention and too I believe that poems are presences, themselves the consequence
of vivid presentations that may be called in Dame Julian of Norwich’s words
‘showings.’”
An Auden poem also offers us an example of this kind of cycle:
Look,
stranger, at this island now
The leaping
light for your delight discovers,
Stand stable
here
And silent
be,
That
through the channels of the ear
May wander
like a river
The
swaying sound of the sea.
So as we
look with writer’s eyes may the third eye open.
Dorian’s March/April Storyshops/Writeshops/Conversations
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If you want any of these workshops
in your area speak speak.
To respond to two oft asked
questions:
·
No workshop is ever the same. No
one jumps into the same river twice. “No two trees are the same to Raven. No
two branches are the same to Wren.” (David Wagoner)
·
And for those who feel they might
be ‘put on the spot’, I invite people to read their writing only if they wish
to.
1.
Let us Play: A Writing Playshop
Sun 28 Feb
09.30 -13.00 R275
I sit and
play with similes (Shelley)
This write
and playshop explores how writing, as structured
play, helps us create texts that sing with vitality, inspiration and energy. As
Jung reminds us: “ The creative mind plays with the
objects it loves” We play in scale as we did as children and offer that energy
to our texts.
The idea of
writing as a game invites us to be present and engage for a specific period of
time. Both our left and right brains are activated. We consider how play calls forth inspiration,
angles a subject, and then we play with the techniques - rhythm, rhyme, echo,
metaphor, ambiguity and word play. And as we entertain ourselves, so we
surprise ourselves.
Venue: Folio Books
Come early,
browse and buy in this wondrous bookshop (pre-owned books too)
2.
Corporate
workshops via Quality Life
Storytelling in Organisations: Leading Change through the Art of
Narrative
1 March
"There can be few
talents more important to managerial success than knowing how to tell a
good story." Michael Hattersley,
Harvard Management Updates.
Creative Corporate Communication: A Writing Skills and Ideas
Workshop
2 March
I’m sorry
this business letter is so long. I didn’t have time to write you a short one.
To book: Lizzy Mafalo on (011) 880-9749
lizzy@qualityife.co.za
3.
Journal Workshop
9-12 March
and 13-15 April
Once more
the generous sponsorship of the Carl Schlettwein
Foundation in
4.
The Joy of Stories - Engaging Body Mind and Spirit R85
(through the Mind Connections group)
Thurs 11 March 19.30 – 21.00
“The first task is re-storying the adult... in order to restore the imagination
to its primary place in consciousness in each of us.”
(James Hillman)
When we
share experiences, plans or dreams we tell stories. This evening aims to
enlarge our understanding of how we can grow though stories. A story is a
store-house of the collective wisdom. Stories start a conversation with ourselves, with others and with our community. They [move us
from stuckness, to induce change. Offer us new ways
of being,
Contact :
Petro Kimberg 081 129 2170
kimberg@mweb.com.na
Venue:
100
5.
Freewheeling: The Future Thinking Festival
http://freewheelingfestival.wordpress.com
do
yourself a favour … come!
Greening…
community… wellness… creativity… performing arts… stories
19-22 March
I have a
story slot as part of this extravaganza:
Living the Questions Now - Walking with your Story
“Be patient toward all that
is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked
rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.”
(Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet)
What are
the great questions of our lives? In this story-shop we mediate on, consider
and explore them. Turn them upside out and inside down. We work in an
experiential and interactive way as we consider individual and collective
stories. We rediscover how, when we
allow the story to enter us, to weigh and sift us, we release the magic of the
narrative to inspire, energise, engage, entertain and sing us off on our next
adventure. The telling of and listening to stories opens us to the life of the
imagination.
“The meaning of my existence
is that life has addressed a question to me … or conversely that I myself am
the question” (Carl Jung)
6.
Read… Write… Read…Write
An
interactive evening for book lovers, book clubbers, writers and closet writers
R85 - (includes glass of wine and snacks) - space limited
Thurs 25
March 18.30 – 21.00
Discover
how to enhance your reading pleasure and enrich your book club evenings, look
at how readers read, and how writers read other writers. Dorian will provide
each participant with a mini text from an established writer and use this to
explore the topic. He will be drawing from Francine Prose’s book ‘Reading
like a writer, a guide for people who love books and for those who want to
write them’, and his own text, ‘The Writer’s Voice’.
Come early,
browse and buy in this wondrous bookshop (pre owned books too)
Venue:
Folio Books
7. Somerset West
How to be
at ease with words
a
U3A (University of the Third Age) workshop – for U3A members. Elders teaching elders. Free
Sat 27
March 09.30 – 13.00
Venue: TBA: a private home. Any offers?
Looking ahead into Autumn - May
8. Soutpansberg - Lesheba
Writing in the Wilderness: Natural Heritage and Game Reserve
Retreat
Fri 30
April (early eve) - Mon 3 May (around noon)
On this
retreat atop the Soutspansberg, we explore our life stories through our
connection to nature. We draw images and symbols from natural life, the
landscape and
Lesheba…
a holistic space with ancient rock art
sites, wild fig shade for indaba, Venda architecture, white rhino , mist,
eco consciousness everywhere. We stay in Venda Village Lodge.
480km from J’burg
Do yourself
a favour and look up this site – it carries the Fair Trade label.
Workshop limited to 10/12 folk only... be
nimble be quick (cut-off date 31 March)
Cost: R2980 pp sharing. This generous special rate for our group
includes: 3 nights luxury accommodation, brunch and dinner, a game drive/walk
or run, writing workshop, Sat eve entertainment.
Book
accommodation and writeshop separately - 50% deposit
for each secures your place.
Accommodation:
011 726 6347 Lesheba@Lesheba.co.za 072 286 7302 (R1350dep: ref Dorian)
Workshop: Dorian (*R390 dep)
Car pooling: Sybbie Barnett
011 440
1021
082 794
3363
9. East Cape -
Story Jamboree
Bedford…
surrounded by the Kaga Mountains, Bushmen Koekoe frontier
country, 150 km from Port Elizabeth …is calling curious folk, lovers of life,
healers, artists, seekers, coaches, teachers, magicians, tricksters,
ecologists gardeners. Come one, come all
- to play. Story and raise your story and writing IQ.
Fri 7 – Sun
9 May
4 activities – book for one, book for all:
a. Rekindling the Fire: An Evening to
revive our Creativity, Imagination and Love of Stories
Fri 7 May
18.30 – 21.00 R30
“I know that there is room in
me for a second huge and timeless life” (Rilke)
During this
interactive evening we enter the world of story to recover our creativity,
zest, energy and passion. Snacks, wine,
get to know each other and introduction to the weekend
Venue: Die Ou Waenhuis.
b. Writing Yourself Alive A Life Story Workshop
Sat 8 May 09.45 – 15.30 R395
(Organic farm lunch included)
We are all
endowed as story-tellers. There is a mystic in every one of us.
Writing is
about a conversation with yourself and with others. An exchange of energies. It is a skill drawn from attention
and openness – an organic process rather than a talent. In this workshop we
explore our innate creativity and imagination and find the words to tell our
stories… to make them more alive.
Venue:
Albertvale Farm. Exquisite edible
garden. One of our Garden Festival show-gardens.
c.Bosman &Boerekos
Fundraising
Evening for Child Welfare/Adelaide Hospital
Sat 8
May 19.00 – late R130
“It is not the story that
counts. It's the way you tell it” (Oom Schalk Lourens)
Join us for
an evening of fun, laughter, food & wine, with Herman Charles Bosman stories. Listen to ‘Oom
Schalk’ narrate stories of love, leopards, peach brandy, concertinas and
psalm-singing. An unforgettable evening. Kaleidoscope Kafe and friends provide Boerekos
Bedford style. Cash Bar.
Venue: The Old Gaol. A
stunning, stunning venue.
d. The Great Metaphor Hunt
A Picnic
for all who love Nature
Sun 9
May 10.30 – 15.30 R375 (Picnic lunch
provided)
If you go
down to the woods to today …Picnic time… metaphors are
everywhere, open to the eyes that seek them. Especially in
nature. This hunt (rich in story, words, images and symbols) aims to
enrich your experience.
Venue: Old Oak Tree. Where
Bedfiddians traditionally picnic-ed in the old days.
Details: -
Kim van Niekerk
046 685
0680
082 775
5178.
or
Jan Lister
(Wrankmore. Jan runs Kaleidoscope Kafe
and is involved in Kaggaberg Kraft centre)
082 871
7715 j
Accommodation: from self-catering at R100 per person
to 4-star accomodation at R495 per person. Visit the
10.
International Day of Sharing Life Stories
Writing Yourself Alive - A Life Story Workshop
Sun 16 May
14.00 – 17.00 R120 (pensioner and student discounts)
We are all
endowed as story-tellers. There is a mystic in every one of us.
Writing is
about a conversation with yourself and with others. An exchange of energies. It is a skill drawn from attention
and openness – an organic process rather than a talent. In this workshop
we explore our innate creativity and imagination and find the words to tell our stories to make
them more alive.
Kirsten
Pearson
082 936
1898
Venue: TBA
Ongoing activities
Speaking Engagements
“Be still when you have
nothing to say, but when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say,
and say it hot." ( D. H.
Lawrence)
I’m building
up this aspect of my work.
Development Work
During 2010
I will be again be working alongside Dr Laura Campbell of the HSRC
facilitating training of home-based
caregivers and grannies - through stories and creative play - who care for
children who are dying.
Bosman and Nasrudin under starlight
This summer
season I will be a story-ing … an evening, wine,
cheese, breads and tales for the telling. This kind of evening is a bit
like the old days - singing around the piano at home. Except I use
stories and creative activities to get folk interacting and to prompt conversations.
Themes… Chinese, South African,
Spending
quality time. Any rhyme or reason –
birthdays, TV fatigue, the art of conversation. Gather a group for Summer.
Mentoring one-on-one
“You make me sound like
myself” (various clients).
Walk with
me in words. You put on one shoe, I wear the other. Memoirs, mindfulness
adventures, work in the word… genres tumbling out of folk on the one-on-one
path. Such a richness of story here.
Email Courses: Writer’s/Poet’s
Voice Course. One-on-one tuition
Some folks
respond to structure, assignments… if so, ask and it shall be negotiated. Here
is one possibility: Do you love reading and writing? This one-on-one
apprenticeship aims to take you further up the writing mountain and offer you a
deeper engagement with your craft. This course is structured in the nature of
an ongoing conversation with a few chosen writers or poets, (ancestral or alive),
with me and with yourself. I encourage you to keep a journal to record your
observations and reflections.
Corporate Work
The Halo and the Noose,
the Power of story-telling and story listening in Business Life R195
Want to
source a 100 plus stories? Co-written with Graham Williams (Graysonian Press). We run corporate story workshops
based on our book.
Roma Howard
from Training & Development Practitioners Leadership & Team Effectivenes writes:
“I was utterly captivated by The Halo and the Noose, and now
regularly recommend it when I am facilitating my Train the Trainer &
Presentation Skills courses. I am also experimenting with more use of
stories in my training, and loving the fresh slant it brings to my education
role (a real "VitB-Injection" after 20
years of doing what I do !)”
Orders:
from the authors
or
Graysonian Press - Inspirational books that change
the world www.graysonian.com
083 610 1113
We've
established a website http://www.haloandnoose.co.za
that offers The Halo and the Noose as an eBook.
It is also a Member's facility for those who are serious about their
story-telling and listening prowess in business.
Members can
·
access various resources, audio
streams, article archives
·
get their own newsletter
·
questionnaires
·
communicate with the authors
·
receive ongoing offers
In response
to a growing demand we will very soon be offering an eWorkbook, discounted to members (Story Matters @ Work)
that contains many new stories and exercises covering elevator, personal,
business issue, corporate, crucial conversation and other stories.
CDs:
More
Stories: Stories from
Some fifty
plus stories to entertain, tease, stimulate creativity, and prompt discussion R100 plus postage
The Stone
on the Stomach
a
Poetry CD with 30 of my poems old and new read by me and by my son Dominic R120
Friends at Work and Play
Aneta Shaw: Creative relaxation in a small group context
Enhance
personal growth and honour your soul through creative techniques. Aneta is a clinical psychologist and hypnotherapist,
has integrated years of experience and life in other countries with ancient
ways of being in this world.
Aneta
082 686
8118
021 8555415
Margaret Laubser:
A
literary journey with Dr Helene de
Villiers. Four evenings of
conversations around South African story and poetry during March - 19:30 to
20:30. Helene is a local storyteller and has written about Sheila Cussons and the Grail Image in
2 March -
San Myths
9 March -
Folk Tales
16 March -
English Poetry
23
March - Afrikaans Poetry.
Venue: Studio 6,
Bookings: Margaret Laubser 082 747 0530 or mlaubser@afterimage.co.za
Penny Day:
Richard Rohr
May 4, 5
& 6
Where you are is
where I will meet you.
Fr. Richard
Rohr, American theologian, will be conducting a three-day workshop, an overview of the spiritual journey, its goals,
its traps, its methods, and its reliance on divine grace.
Call Penny
Day on 082 77 11 952, or email pjday@iafrica.com
Venue: Schoenstatt
Retreat, Constantia,
Here is my favourite
extract from one of Richard Rohr’s books, Hope Against
Darkness:
Imaginal
knowing, the only way that the unconscious can move into consciousness, happens
through fantasy, through dreams, through symbols… and through well-told
stories. It happens through poetry… the words that create the image that in
turn creates a new awareness - that is in us already.”
Writing news:
Writing For Magazines: Absolutely Everything
You Need To Know by Catriona Ross, a
freelancer based in the
So today
may your writing arise from seeing and hearing.
Dorian
PS Thank you to all those who circulate this
letter.
Dr Dorian
Haarhoff
021 855
3937 / 082 873 6802/ fax 086 511 4751