Tag: A. Catherine Noon

  • New Workshop Starting June 14th: Finding Water | The Art of Perseverance (free)

    This is your invitation to come back to your center, to find the water at the bottom of the well, to become your own divining rod for your creativity. Join me. Together, we will find a way through.

    In March of this year, the Pandemic hit in full force and thus began The Great Pause. Stores closed. Supply chains were disrupted. Toilet paper became a hot commodity along with soap and hand sanitizer. People started gardening in record numbers. Children were homeschooled while parents struggled to work from home or, worse, lost their jobs and had to file for unemployment or make other arrangements.

    If you, like me, are heartsick and devastated, know that you are not alone. I am in pain, and yet I know my pain and outrage is nothing compared to what our Black and Brown friends, neighbors, and family members are experiencing: not just today, but all the time.

    As I write this, riots and protests are happening across the globe. The murder of George Floyd has sparked off a powder keg. Our communities are traumatized, enraged, and demand justice.

    I can’t fix that alone. And it’s not even about me, and it’s not about my outrage. If you feel, as I do, that things must change, there are many good resources and voices of color whom you can listen to, learn from, and support. If you need ideas, please PM me and I’ll share what resources I have. If you have resources to share, please PM me so I can learn and amplify their reach.

    But this brings me to you and me. If you are reading this, you are a fellow writer, struggling with your words to find Story and your own Truth. Me too.

    On Sunday, June 14, 2020, I will be hosting a free online workshop using Julia Cameron’s third book in the Artist’s Way trilogy as our guide: Finding Water | the Art of Perseverance. I picked this one because the idea of this book is around how to fend off prolonged creative dry spells, or how to come out of one if you’ve fallen into one. Cameron has given her tools away for free with two stipulations: facilitators must do the work with participants, in her words, “No gurus.” And second, we cannot charge for this work.

    I’ve facilitated Artist’s Way workshops since 2007 both in person and online. I find the tools deeply resonate with me and have helped me become and stay prolific. Right now, I’ve been struggling with finding that place of creativity, even while I have been outwardly creative: I’ve been journaling like crazy and weaving. But I’m not comfortable within myself, and that’s what I want to change. The collective trauma we were already experiencing with the pandemic (and over 100,000 dead in the U.S. alone; over 371,000 thousand worldwide as of this writing) has been added to by excessive police violence and racism. Let’s be clear here: the racist acts have not changed. What’s changed is they’re being filmed. While this is traumatic for many of us, for our beloved POC neighbors, friends, and family members this is daily lived experience. Yes, we are experiencing a trauma. My hope is, though, that we can come through this as a portal, not fall into it as a hole. With hard work we can emerge stronger, more equitable, more aware, and more creative.

    Join me on this journey. The only thing necessary is the willingness to be open, to experience, and to be honest with yourself.

    We begin Sunday, 06/14/2020.

    Workshop details below:

    The workshop will take place on our online forum, located https://writerzengarden.com/forums/

    . If you haven’t already done so, please sign up for a free user account. We will be together for 14 weeks. Each week starts on Sunday. We will use a combination of Zoom calls (in person) and written discussion. I will announce the schedule for the Zoom calls when we get closer to the workshop start date.

    Introductory Week:  Discuss the basic tools.  Share our goals and hopes, and maybe even a fear or two.  Figure out what we’re about so we can get the most out of the coming weeks.

    Week 1:  Uncovering a Sense of Optimism

    Week 2:  Uncovering a Sense of Reality

    Week 3:  Uncovering a Sense of Support

    Week 4:  Uncovering a Sense of Balance

    Week 5:  Uncovering a Sense of Autonomy

    Week 6:  Uncovering a Sense of Resolve

    Week 7:  Uncovering a Sense of Resilience

    Week 8:  Uncovering a Sense of Truth

    Week 9:  Uncovering a Sense of Perspective

    Week 10:  Uncovering a Sense of Safety

    Week 11:  Uncovering a Sense of Discipline

    Week 12:  Uncovering a Sense of Perseverance

    Wrap Up:  Look back and review what we’ve gained.  Look forward and figure out what next steps we want to take.  Honor the work, and play, we’ve done.

    Please let me know if you have any questions or issues. My email is noony AT acatherinenoon DOT com.

  • Z Is For… Zygote!

    Photograph of white flowers.

    A zygote is a fertilized egg. Or, a symbol of new beginnings. We are at the end of the A to Z Challenge, but that doesn’t mean the fun stops. We will keep writing.

    The world around us has changed, and some of those changes will be long-term if not permanent. Other changes are shorter term, and still deeply impact us. And we, left in the middle, must still find a way to move forward.

    Here are five suggestions for doing just that: continuing to be creative in the midst of the Great Pause.

    1. Meditate. You don’t need any special skills or tools, either. Just set a timer for five or ten minutes and focus on your breath. Count your inhale as 1. The next inhale as 2. The next inhale as 3. And so on, up through 10. When you get to 10, start over at 1.
    2. Make yourself a cup of tea or your favorite beverage. Sit down in a comfortable spot, or quiet place, and enjoy drinking it.
    3. Take a long, hot shower or bath. Really do it up. Light some candles, play some music, and let yourself enjoy the process.
    4. Spend some time making something.  If you have a craft that you’ve played with, pick it up and spend a half hour with it. If you haven’t got one yet, take a look on google for easy crafts you can do at home. In fact, here’s a link you can try.
    5. Make some time with a friend or family member for a video chat. Don’t just use voice; there’s a magic that happens when you see people close to you. Google Hangouts, Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Zoom all have free video calls.

    What about you? What are some of your favorite tools to keep yourself sane during the Great Pause?

    Thank you for joining us for the A to Z Challenge. Keep writing!

  • K Is For… Knowledge, and Other Smart Things!

    Image from airplane window while flying over two snow-capped volcanos in Washington State USA

    Noony here. As I write this, the U.S. passes the half-million mark of those infected with COVID-19 and my state, Washington, is still under a Stay Home, Stay Healthy order until the end of the month at least. It’s hard to overestimate the trauma caused by this situation: to individuals and families, forced to shelter in place; to the millions experiencing job loss; to the small businesses facing stoppages; children not able to attend classes, prom, and sports games; and a host of other things. This doesn’t even mention the families who have lost loved ones or are currently facing illness.

    During a time like this, unprecedented in its scope to us in modern society, it is incumbent upon us to follow the best knowledge that we can. Here are a few ways to do that:

    1. Remember that the media companies are in business and their business means they need your attention.
    2. Constantly focusing on the negative, whether it’s politics or a health crisis or something else, is unhealthy.
    3. If you do want to find out what’s going on, use good data sources:
      1. In the U.S., that means the doctors who specialize in epidemics and viral disease, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci.
      2. The World Health Organization.
      3. John’s Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
    4. If you want to learn about the disease itself, The Great Courses Plus has some excellent classes available to subscribers. In the U.S., you can access them through Kanopy via your public library’s electronic learning, or you can subscribe directly to the courses (which I enthusiastically recommend).
    5. Beyond that, ignore the news. Stop focusing on it, going bananas about what this or that person is doing or saying.
    6. Make something.
    7. Meditate.
    8. Garden.
    9. Nap.
    10. Take it easy. Trauma is exhausting. That’s meant literally: it makes our bodies physically tired. Get more rest, and if you’re tired, take a nap.

     

    Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. Read books, write in your journal, and use your mind. It’s easy to become scared in a time like this, particularly if you go online and find so many other scared people. But we need to take a deep breath and remember: we were given a mind for a reason. Use your knowledge. Build your knowledge. Keep calm and carry on.

    It worked for the British during World War II and it can work for us, now.

    Stay well, my friends.

    P.S. Wash your hands.

  • D Is For… Decluttering!

    by Rachel Wilder

    I don’t know about you, but since I’ve sheltered from home my house is cleaner than it’s ever been. It’s been therapeutic for me and a great source of grounding. But now I’m moving on to the next step- decluttering.

    I just have too much stuff.

    So, I’ve watched some videos and gotten inspired. There are many good ones out there and fun to watch. But now is the perfect time to actually get off my butt and do it. I’ve done it before- as I’m sure many others have- but now that I’ve been cooped up in my home I want things neater and place made so everything is put away and has a home that isn’t the corner hidden by my bed or the closet floor.

    I know a few of my other friends are doing it now for various different reasons and I cheer them on. I’m not sure if donation places are open but luckily, I have a storage shed I can put them in until the world is back to normal-whatever that will end up being.

    Image of household items bagged and boxed ready to be given away

    This is a great beginning. Also, this is a good time of year since many of us are putting away our winter clothes.

    I’m getting a lot of satisfaction on doing this. I think, deep down, it’s because this is one aspect of my life I have total control over. And to be honest- I really do have too much stuff. So, I urge to join me. If nothing else, it’ll make room for all of our new stuff when we finally can go out and shop!

    Stay Safe!

  • It’s the A to Z Blog Challenge, and A Is For All of Us, Sheltering At Home

    Photograph of bald eagle, missing one wing, taken at Northwest Trek in Washington State in February 2020

    Welcome to the A to Z Blog Challenge!

    We are all in this together, my friends, during the time of Coronavirus. But it’s also the first day of April, and that means it’s the annual celebration of exuberant blogging, The A to Z Blog Challenge.  And it’s also the Grand Relaunch of the Writer Zen Garden, and ALSO Camp Nanowrimo!

    My lovely fellow above is a Bald Eagle, photographed in February before the shelter in place orders really hit in Washington State. He’s missing one wing but he’s as gorgeous as ever. Fierce and unbowed.

    That’s my wish for all of us, my friends, that we emerge from this fierce and unbowed. Even as I write this, I know with tears in my heart that it’s not possible for many, many people. Families touched by the loss of loved ones, countries devastated by overwhelming losses. And yet, we struggle through and fight to come to grips with the challenges facing us.

    Humanity is, and ever has been, a resilient creature. We have survived enormous hardships from wars and conflicts to natural disasters. And through it all, creators have continued to create: writers write books and poetry, blogs and essays; painters paint oils and acrylics, street art and gallery pieces; dancers dance and design amazing shows that leave us breathless; and on and on through the litany of the arts. What it comes down to is expression.

    And here’s the thing: we are naturally creative. We, as in all of us – you, me, that child over there, that old man living isolated and alone in the upstairs apartment – we are, all of us, creative. And that’s what the A to Z Challenge means to me, at its most distilled: an exuberant outpouring of content creation in the month of April whose only stipulation is that Day 1 is related to A, Day 2 to B, and so on throughout the month with Sundays as rest days. 26 days to correspond to the English language alphabet. One can select a theme, or not, as they choose.

    And thus, we relaunch our website and blog into this atmosphere of unbridled blogging fun and creativity. This year, we have twenty bloggers to share with you: from professional authors and insurance agents, to poets, Reiki masters, life coaches, and a whole lot more besides. Our strength is in our diversity and we welcome you, Dear Reader, to journey through the alphabet with us. We’re glad you’re here. We hope that this provides a small oasis in your life, a place to rest, recover, and recreate within your own heart that solace which we sorely lack during trying times. And if you and yours are touched personally, please know that our hearts go out to you. May we all, collectively, be safe and well.

    Namaste.

    And, happy April!

     

     

  • Craft Circle and General Hangout Virtual Coffee Date Thingie

    Image of entrance to a sea cave with the words Craft in the time of coronavirus: a virtual craft circle with date and time, also detailed in body of the post

    Do you like to do crafts? Any craft, be it knitting, weaving, sewing, or other textile art; drawing, painting, collage, or other paper or canvas art; puzzles; writing; woodworking; cooking? Do you like to hang out with others who like to do that, too? Then join us for a restorative couple hours while we craft, chat, and have coffee (or what have you). We’ll be meeting on Zoom this time, which accommodates up to a hundred people.

    Granted, if we have a hundred people, it’ll be a little crazy and chaotic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as an antidote to the pandemic, eh?

    Join us!

    Zoom details as follows:

    Hi there,

    You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
    When: Mar 28, 2020 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

    Register in advance for this meeting:
    https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkdOmqqD4iFnL9ytlkh3dx0_P1ZyYxpQ

    After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

  • Let’s Get This Party (re)Started! April Is the A to Z Blog Challenge AND Camp Nano!

    Image of A to Z Blog Challenge Participation Badge for April, 2020

    It’s almost April. And we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, causing unprecedented societal change. Our hearts go out to all those who have lost family members and loved ones, and all of us at Writer Zen Garden HQ send out a sincere and heartfelt wish that we come through this more together than ever before, build solid friendships, and take our writing to the next level. Writing can be a solace in dark times and, we believe, it will help us through this.

    For that reason, we are re-launching our website to coincide with two global events: the A to Z Blog Challenge and April’s Camp NaNoWriMo (note that the format for camp is now as “groups” on the main NaNo website).

    We’ll have more about both in the coming days, and watch this space for our first post come April 1. If you haven’t joined the discussion over in our Facebook group, please join us. All are welcome and there is no cost to join.

    Stay well, friends. Best wishes, and good health to you and yours.

    Namaste.

  • Writer Wednesday – The Dangers of the Echo Chamber and Why Handwriting Is Important

    2016-09-07-pic-1

    We are surrounded more and more by media – social media, augmented reality games, television commercials at gas stations; the list goes on.  I’m the first to admit that the internet can bring people together – I am, after all, writing this on  blog I started with some friends, all of whom are geographically scattered.

    But I have noticed the echo chamber can have an unhealthy effect.  Psychologists call behavior that pushes against another person “impinging,” and it’s my belief that, if we’re not careful about our inflow, that can happen.  I noticed, for example, that when I had Facebook on my phone, the constant dings or buzzes of incoming alerts would break my train of thought.  As I checked in, I would get drawn into whatever was trending:  racist politics, cop shootings, and cats.  Lots of cats.

    I don’t mind cats.  I like them, as it happiness.  But I’m a novelist, and the first casualty in the war for attention is sustained train of thought.

    As a social experiment, I took Facebook off my phone.  My daily round got calmer.  I stopped drinking as much coffee and focused more on my journal.  I noticed a couple of things:

    1. Writing by hand disciplines my mind to hold a train of thought, since I don’t write as fast as I think.
    2. It felt like I woke up from a collective hallucination.  I don’t need strangers’ opinions in my daily round.
    3. I started writing more – always good news for a novelist.
    4. I started thinking more deeply about issues like politics, body image, feminism, and philosophy.

    This Writer Wednesday, I invite you to try it:  turn off the inflow and let your own thoughts loose on the page.  Nanowrimo’s coming.  Let’s be ready.

    Write on!

  • The Writer Zen Garden – Tools From A to Zen: Reflections on the A-Z Challenge

    2016-05-09 A-to-Z Reflection [2016]

    Wow.  It’s hard to believe it’s already well into the second week of May already.  It feels like it should still be April.  Or, if I’m being honest, January.

    Of 2010.

    But I digress.

    We all know that time seems to whizz by.  No sooner do we put away the holiday decorations and it’s time to take them out again.  So, too, for writing groups.  I’ve noticed small groups tend to wax and wane, some succeeding and thriving, others burning brightly for a short time and then fizzling.  There’s an old adage about groups, that they have several phases:  “Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing.”  It’s an idea that a guy by the name of Bruce Tuckman proposed way back in 1965 and it’s still true today.  Some folks add “Adjourning” at the end, to signify that not all groups survive through the performing state to continue.

    That’s why I’m so pleased about Writer Zen Garden.  The group as it is today is the merging of two different groups; the original Writer’s Retreat that started in March of 2008, and the local Meetup group and international online forum of Writer Zen Garden.  We’re still going, and we launched this new website, where you’re reading this post, in March of 2016.

    One reason I keep coming back to the A to Z Blog Challenge, is that I find it pulls the team together.  Even if we’ve slacked off from posting on the blog, by doing the challenge, we come together as a group and gather ideas and write.  Since on of the central missions of the Writer Zen Garden is to Help Writers Get On the Page, this is all to the good, as far as I’m concerned.  Next year, we might even come up with a joint theme ahead of time – we’re still noodling ideas for what to post for this year, so it’s definitely a work in progress.

    I want to thank you, Dear Reader, for visiting us and leaving comments for the various authors of the Garden.  We sure appreciate your interaction.  We invite you to join the discussion in other ways, if you’ve a mind; we have a Facebook group; a live in-person Meetup group in Chicago, if you’re in the area;  a Twitter stream; and an international writers forum.  We’re glad you’re here!

    Write on!

    The Writer Zen Garden Facebook Group

    The Chicago Area Meetup

    @writerzengarden

    Forum*

    *Note: if you’re interested in joining the forum, please let me know in the comments or PM me on Facebook, and I’ll reach out to you by email.

    For your reading pleasure, here are the posts for the challenge:

    The Writer Zen Garden, From A To Zen

    A:  A is for Artist’s Way…, by Tina Holland

    B:  B is for Blogging!, by Darla Sands

    C:  “C” is for Crayon, by Evey Brown

    D: D is for Day Dreaming, by Grace Kahlo

    E:  E is for Emergency, by Rachel Wilder

    F:  The F Word, by A. Catherine Noon

    G:  G is for Goals, by Tina Holland

    H:  H is for Hens, by Darla Sands

    I:  Is It Inspiration, Invention or Insight? or, Where Do You Get Your Story Ideas?, by Evey Brown

    J:  J Is For Just in Case, by Rachel Wilder

    K:  K Is For Using Krav Maga To Kick the Inner Evil Critique Away, by Grace Kahlo

    L:  For the Love of a Library, by A. Catherine Noon

    M:  M is for Man-titty, by Tina Holland

    N:  N is for Nice Girls Writing Naughty, by Darla Sands

    O:  Things My Grandpa Taught Me – O for Orion, by Evey Brown

    P:  P Is For Prepper, by Rachel Wilder

    Q:  Q is for Writing Quotes, by Grace Kahlo

    R:  Whoops! R Is For I Gotta wRite Something Quick!, by A. Catherine Noon

    S:  S is for Sex Scenes and Story, by Tina Holland

    T:  T is for Tastiness, by Darla Sands

    U:  How to Create an Oral History for your Family; or Unforgettable and Unfortunate Things my Kids have Done, by Evey Brown

    V:  V is for Viking Swords & Fantasy World-Building, by Grace Kahlo

    W:  W is for Why Do I Prep?, by Rachel Wilder

    X:  An Alternative to Xanax, by A. Catherine Noon

    Y:  Y is for Yoga, by Tina Holland

    Z:  Zen, by A. Catherine Noon

    Thank you for joining us for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave us a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

    The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

  • Zen

    2016-04-30 Pic 1

    End mind, beginner’s mind?  We’re at the end of our challenge for this month, the April A to Z Blog Challenge.  Six of the WZG crew participated this month, and we’ve brought you all sorts of content from, well, A to Zen.  Thank you for coming along on this journey with us.

    Why Zen?  Why Writer Zen Garden?

    zen garden symplicity and harmony form a background for meditation and relaxation, for balance and health

    One of the central ideas of Zen Buddhism is to be in the now.  By being fully in the moment, we let go anger about the past and fears about the future, and truly live as we are meant to live.  The Zen rock gardens, like the one pictured above, are a visual representation of what being in the flow, or the now, looks like.  The rock is seen as a metaphorical obstacle, something we must acknowledge and move around.  It causes eddies in our energy, which is represented by the flowing lines in the sand.  The more we make peace with that, the more smooth our metaphorical sand becomes and we are at peace.

    Writing is a little like that.  When we talk about writing, we aren’t being fully in the moment and writing.  We’re not existing in the now.  By learning to sit down and apply the pen to the page or the fingers to the keyboard, we teach ourselves how to get into the flow and to produce.  It’s a lesson we must consistently relearn, which is reminiscent of the quote, “Zen mind, beginner’s mind.”  Author Natalie Goldberg, who wrote, among other things, Writing Down the Bones, relates a story of speaking with her meditation master.  She lamented that she was spending all her time writing, and not meditating.  He told her to keep writing, that her writing was meditating.

    When I decided to start Writer Zen Garden, I wanted a name that embodied this idea of being in the moment while writing.  It seemed natural to include Garden, because we are all growing, and we are all living beings.  Connecting the three ideas of writing, Zen, and gardening made sense to me.

    However you found us, I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay here.  There are additional resources in the top menu navbar, and we blog regularly.  Hope to see you again!

    Remember, May 9th is the A to Z Reflections Post Day, and the Linky List is open from May 9 to May 13.  Keep an eye on the main A to Z Blog Challenge page for more info and updates, and of course come back here on the 9th for our reflections on our collective experience.  We do regular Writer Wednesday features here and will be coming up with some other regular features, so keep your eyes peeled.  And if you’re a blogger, and interested in contributing, please let us know in the comments.

    Thank you for joining us for the A-Z Blog Challenge.  If you’re blogging in the challenge, please leave us a link so I can come visit you too.  If you have a moment, please check out these other fine blogs:

     

    The theme on my main blog, Explore the Worlds of A. Catherine Noon, is The A To Z of the Zoo.  Join me as I explore Brookfield Zoo and finds animals, birds, and insects from A to Z.

    My theme on my Knoontime Knitting craft blog is Letterforms In Nature and the Built Environment.

    The theme at Noon & Wilder is The A To Z of Chicago.  Since I live here in the city and we have our Chicagoland Shifters based here, I figured I’d share a window into the city, Noon & Wilder style.

    The Nice Girls Writing Naughty have a new home, and we’re blogging in the challenge again this year.  Throughout the month you’ll be hearing from each of the Nice Girls, and during the RT Booklovers Convention from April 12th to the 17th, you’ll be getting live convention reports.  Join the conversation!

    The Writer Zen Garden’s brand new website is up and running, and we’re bringing you posts from me, Noony; my partner in crime, Rachel Wilder (the Wilder half of Noon & Wilder); the talented Darla M. Sands – a blogger in her own right, see below; as well as Grace Kahlo, Evey Brown, and author Tina Holland.  Check it out!

    My friends who are participating in the challenge (and if you’re not on this list, tell me and I’ll add you!):

    Write on, and Happy Blogging!