WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers

Why do we garden? Gardens are backdrops to every Arabian Night tale, crucial to Alice in Wonderland’s mysterious adventures, vital in some Shakespearean dramas. Whether it is a miniature nature corner in a city apartment or a famous estate designed for an emperor or a queen, the garden is a symbol of something internal and eternal in each of us. Ideally, of course, the whole world is our garden. But it’s also one of the most personal, daily aspects of our lives.

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WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers An intense, although short-lived, flurry of snow fell dramatically during class this week. The seventh graders were entranced. Their exclamations were awed.  At recess they hurried outside to run in it, to jump in it, to catch snowflakes on their tongue. We had begun the week with a quote Read more about WriteSpa #15 – Sense of Wonder[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers Some of my favorite stories to read when I’m feeling lonely or lost are from the Thousand-and-One Arabian Nights. The free-wheeling sense of adventure, the enticing smells and sounds of a Persian bazaar, the ouds, the spices, the romance, the desert, the music, the waterfalls – all these images Read more about WriteSpa #14 – Genie in a Bottle[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers During the November full moon – called Frost Moon, or Beaver Moon, and in some places (probably farther north) Snow Moon by some Native American tribes – a poet-friend and I decided to try to collaborate on a poem together. He lives near the beach in Florida and I Read more about WriteSpa #13 – Creating a Poem[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers The wind blusters and dying leaves fly eerily through swirling mists and falling rain. Dusk envelopes the countryside early; the nights are damp, long, and chilly. Around here, the end of October is a yummy time to conjure up tales that are creepy, mysterious; tales of the dark, the Read more about WriteSpa #11 – The Ghost Story[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers A paper published recently in Psychological Science proposes that being disoriented makes the brain work harder and better. The two authors, Travis Proulx and Steven J. Heine, claim that our brains have evolved in a way that we are able to make predictions, and one way we do that Read more about WriteSpa #10 – Nonsense Makes Us Smarter[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers When my daughter was seventeen, and I was in my late forties, she remarked how sad it must be to grow old (she was focusing primarily on externals). I protested vehemently and pointed out that the view one has from a lifetime of experience makes all the difference in Read more about WriteSpa #8 – Writing for the ages[…]

WriteSpa – An Oasis for Writers The other day I was re-reading portions of one of my favorite books of all time: Meditations on the Tarot. The card known as The Tower, or Chaos, drew me in particular. The image is of a crumbling tower being struck by a bolt of lightning. Does it symbolize Read more about WriteSpa #7 – Planting a story[…]