June 30
The heat of a summer afternoon in an almost-deserted town The cool of the river The long days and short, hot nights
Author: winslow eliot
June 29
Old pine trees Waking up at dawn and going to the beach The early leaves on the catalpa tree against the silver evening sky
June 28
Finishing a really good novel Swimming at Swift’s Beach Nieces and nephews
June 27
Getting rid of clutter Driving to Cape Cod Playing tag in the evening as children
June 26
Happy childhood memories Buttercups, buttercups, buttercups everywhere The noon prayer
June 25
The sound of rain on my window at dawn Being cozy and warm Knowing you’re planting seeds for the future that are good
June 24
Georgette Heyer’s novels Spiders and all they represent and all they do Dreaming about someone who has died
June 23
Buttercup Days by Ethel Cook Eliot Good news Waking up feeling extraordinarily peaceful
June 22
The wine-dark sea The fragrance of lily-of-the-valley Persian lilac essential oil
June 21
A walk in the spring rain The long twilight in late spring The island of Delos
July 10
Cuddling a snoring pussy-cat The Berkshires Farmer John
Diva Do Over
The Letter
The phone rings. My daughter is calling from California. Not unusual – but imagine my surprise when she excitedly informs that she secretly nominated me for a Diva Do-Over at Body & Soul in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It’s a six-session program for women fifty years old and over.
Well, bless my soul. Here I am – a decrepit old lady – and I’m being offered an opportunity like this!
Samantha emails me the letter she wrote to nominate me:
Dreams – recalling them backwards
Try this exercise every day this week: write down a dream. Many people say they can’t remember any dreams, but if you do this exercise for just the next seven days you’ll discover something interesting: You DO start remembering them. Have a notebook right by your bed. While still in your hypnopompic state, write down Read more about Dreams – recalling them backwards[…]
Stimulating memory
Stimulating memory is similar to stimulating dream life. By tapping into deeply subconscious realms, we release thoughts and feelings we may be hardly aware we even have. Writing about dreams and memories is like a magic key to a kingdom. Here’s the first key: Write your very first memory in the third person. Try to Read more about Stimulating memory[…]
5 Paragraphs – Backwards
The Five Paragraph Essay – BACKWARDS If you’re having a hard time feeling the flow and confidence that mastering the five-paragraph essay offers, try doing it another way: start from Act V and move backwards to the introductory paragraph of Act I. Act V: The Resolution or Conclusion. This paragraph resolves the story, the experiment, Read more about 5 Paragraphs – Backwards[…]
Practice: 5 paragraphs
The 5-Paragraph Essay Fun writing exercises are … FUN. And everyone knows that mastering the five paragraph essay is essential to solid, coherent writing skills. Sometimes it’s been so painstakingly drilled into kids that college educators plead with high school teachers not to wear out students with the clichéd, boring style that permeates all their Read more about Practice: 5 paragraphs[…]
Chess Pieces
Chess Pieces From the time I was eight years old till I was well into my teens I played chess with my father practically every evening. Over the years, each chess piece became imbued with characteristics that brought each game to vivid life. Bishops tended to be pretty conservative. You knew as soon as one Read more about Chess Pieces[…]
Letter Writing
Writing a Letter Here’s a practice that’s practically obsolete: letter-writing. That’s okay – pretend you’re living during the last century when letter-writing was pretty commonplace. Here’s the basic block structure for a letter: Address Date Dear Friend, Body of text. Sincerely, Your name Now write a letter to a fictional friend: You’ve just arrived in Read more about Letter Writing[…]
Seth Jordan & Think OutWord
In an effort to try to shape society in a way that they hope will be healing, Seth Jordan and a group of friends recently founded an inspiring new organization called Think OutWord. Loosely based around Rudolf Steiner’s ideas on the threefold social order, Think OutWord is a peer-led training in social threefolding.
Around the World by Mistake
Around the World by Mistake
By Jane Winslow Eliot
In the summer of 1963 Jane and Alexander Eliot put the last of their money onto a trip around the world: a Yugoslav freighter that was scheduled to deliver all sorts of exotic goods from Rijecka to Osaka and then back again. They trusted to fate that they could pick up the pieces of their freelance writing lives again when they returned. […]
French Edition a Bestseller
L’innocence du Mal, the French version of The Bright Face of Danger, has been reissued for the fifth time in France! The latest edition is under the ‘Bestsellers’ imprint – “une marque deposee par Harlequin S.A.” Beautifully translated by Francois Delpeuch, L’innocence du Mal continues to be enjoyed by readers all over France!
Eavesdropping
Despite what you’ve been told, eavesdropping is a writer’s most valuable resource. For several days in a row write down a conversation that you overhear, without describing the people who are speaking. Use your ears, not your eyes, to imagine the speaker. Practice trying to remember phrases that are used. As you write them down, Read more about Eavesdropping[…]