WRITE YOUR YEAR - SESSION 1 - Advice to Myself

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Thanks to all of you who joined me for Session 1 of WRITE YOUR YEAR last night. While cold winds blew and snow threatened to fall, a diverse and committed group of writers came together in a cozy little nook at East West Bookshop to focus their intentions and write their year.

Here's what we did:
  1. After introductions, I read the poem, "New Year's Day," for a bit of inspiration. 
  2. Then we got down to the business of writing. The first exercise: to write a letter to an advice columnist about the biggest challenge or problem you are facing this year.  Taking this column from Carolyn Hax as an example, we wrote for twenty minutes. 
  3. After a short break we came back together and shared our experience; then spent a few minutes in head-clearing meditation before tackling part two of the exercise.
  4. Next it was time to turn the tables on our ego and write some "advice to myself." Striving to be as objective, kind and compassionate as possible - while keeping in mind these words of Jane Austen, "We all have a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be," - we became our own advice columnists.
  5. After a time of sharing we closed our circle for the night.  
HOMEWORK for this week:
  • Take Your Own Advice
We will meet again next Wednesday, same time, same place. The topic will be "Releasing Your Story." Have a great week all!

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