Friday, March 31, 2017

2017 SOLC Day 31: Tending the field

"Whatever we set our days to might be the least of what we do, if we do not also understand that something is waiting for us to make ground for it, something that lingers near us, something that loves, something that waits for the right ground to be made so it can make its full presence known."
--Clarissa Pinkola Estes, The Faithful Gardener

We've made it to the last day of the annual Slice of Life Challenge!  For thirty-one days, almost two hundred and fifty participants have been showing up and writing, supporting each other in the process.

I finished reading Estes' book, The Faithful Gardener, this morning.  Her final thoughts are on the lessons learned from her foster family:

"Through the lives we lived, I Iearned the harshest gift-lesson to accept, and the most powerful I know--that is, knowledge, an absolute certainty that life repeats itself, renews itself, no matter how many times it is stabbed, stripped to the bone, hurled to the ground, hurt, ridiculed, ignored, scorned, looked down upon, tortured, or made helpless."

There have been some hard stories shared in my fellow Slicers' posts, and joyous tales, too.  A lot can happen in thirty-one days.  Just by showing up each day, we've made space for what Estes calls "this faithful force", "that which can never die".  That force has shown through our words and our stories, even on the days when we had nothing to write, but wrote anyway.  

Thank you, fellow Slicers, for holding this space with me this March.  May our fields of words continue to grow into forests of stories, producing seeds to inspire our learning communities to do the same.

6 comments:

  1. Chris, I see the connection between our posts today. Possibilities abound even? Especially? When times seem and are dark.

    Sounds like a fascinating book.

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    1. The similarities struck me this morning, reading your post after writing mine. I love Estes' portrayal of the fallow field. This book is worth the purchase--just a small pocketbook, only 96 pages long. I savored just a little of it at a time each morning for the past several weeks.

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  2. I love the analogy Chris. Your title is so apt. Writing is about nurturing. I frequently tell young writers that they must feed their notebooks in order to keep them healthy. Thank you for this final thoughtful piece and thank you also for your contributions and support throughout this month of sustained writing. Best wishes going forward.

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    1. Thank you for your kind words, Alan! A writer's notebook is on my to-do list, and soon. I've so enjoyed reading your posts, and hope to see you in our Tuesday Slices.

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  3. Holding our space together ... what a beautiful metaphor. What a fascinating work - I will have to get a copy of The Faithful Gardener. This is a powerful post and I love the "faithful force that cannot die," cannot be stopped. Our words will outlive us. So well-captured.

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    1. Thank you, Fran! It's been a pleasure getting to know you through your posts. You have a way with words that I aspire to achieve! If you haven't read Estes' "Women Who Run With the Wolves", I recommend it as well--though it's a far lengthier book.

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