Crafting the Words
How was your New Moon week?
Dearest Friends and Family,
I’ve decided that as my writing journey continues, I will share excerpts from my journal and any writing classes I’m enrolled in. I pray that you will join me in writing daily. Just find a quiet time and place to sit with a notebook and pen, set a timer for 15 minutes, and see what comes out. I promise it is cathartic and soul healing. While you’re there, practice a few breathing exercises as well and you’ve started a whole meditation practice. I find this is the best way to start my day. I feel more grounded and calm during the day when I make time for this activity. Sorry I didn’t get this out to you on Sunday as I had planned, but there were little boys here that demand I drop everything and make them my top priority so that we can build lasting memories together. Without further ado, here is my weekly offering to you…
When Writing, “SHOW Don’t Just Tell”
Advice my mentor received when she was a mentee and which she has now dispersed to her own students. I’m working harder to employ this in my daily writing journal to make it more interesting to read and hopefully lead me into writing that way naturally. Honestly folks, the craft of writing is hard for me. Sure, I can write just as well as my motor-mouth talks, but most of it isn’t worth reading. I like how writing forces me to pay better attention to everything around me and makes me look for new words to describe it. Some days I do better than others:
Monday 1.8.24
Stepping out on the back stoop to dump the black grainy grounds from yesterday’s coffee, the air was brisk and cold on my bare arms and legs. I peered into the dark sky beyond the leafless branches of grandfather pecan, searching for my friends-the moon and stars. The moon is nothing more than a fingernail as it wanes to the new moon on Thursday, but I couldn’t see anything but gloom in the heavens from the storms that are coming in later today.
Journey in Place: Week 1
If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for Janisse Ray’s Journey in Place course. It is a year long, deep dive, into a place that is close to your heart. She is a wonderful guide on this journey and probably more than anything, I am enjoying the journeys of others that are shared in the comments. It’s not too late, you’ll still receive all the posts that include an essay, some factual information about getting to know your place, and writing prompts. You work at your own pace. There are no deadlines to meet, and at the end you will receive a hard copy in the mail of this course. Honestly, it’s probably the best deal you’ll get all year! I will be sharing excerpts from my personal Journey in Place here on my page weekly. Hope you enjoy.
The place that owns me is part of a 400-acre tract that was obtained by my g.g.g. grandfather upon his return from the Civil War. Of those 400 acres, my family has held on to 56 acres for the past eighty years--a swampy 6-acre parcel along the Little Ohoopee River in the southwestern part of Emanuel County, Georgia and a 50-acre farm that includes pasture and forest, located a mile from the swamp. Between these two places, my childhood was full of wonder and magic, however, during my tumultuous teenage years, all I wanted to do was get away from here. I left when I was 18 years old, but it still haunted me in dreams and pulled me back for frequent visits even though I was 60 miles away. When I was 32 years old, my father and grandfather were both diagnosed with lung cancer, and I returned to this place to care for them. It was the most difficult time of my life, but belonging to this place was a balm for my grief. It's hard for me to believe that was almost twenty years ago. I sit under the huge magnolia my granny planted and watch my grandboys play while imagining they're all still right here watching from the other side of the veil. I feel their presence when I kayak through the tannic waters of my beloved ‘Hoopee, looking for a place to sit on the bank to fish for stumpknockers and red breasts. This place grounds me like no other and makes my soul sing. My son and grandboys also live here and my desire is to teach them all the stories and magic of the farm they are growing up on that is named for the river just one mile west of us.
Tarot for the New Moon
In an effort to bring more magic into my life and writing, I will be pulling tarot cards for the New Moon and Full Moon. I am no expert at this and appreciate any feedback anyone with more experience would like to offer. I use a beautiful deck of cards from M.J. Cullinane called Guardian of the Night which features colorful wild animals. To decipher my cards, I gain insight from the book Holistic Tarot: An Integrative Approach to Using Tarot for Personal Growth by Benebell Wen. I just made up my method for pulling cards. I have a strong attraction to “3”, so I shuffle them three times, then “cut” them three times, then pull three cards. If a card lands upside down, that is known as “reversed” and has almost the opposite meaning of a card that lands right side up. My picture shows them “right side up” but they landed reversed when I pulled them.
The Emperor (reversed)- Dominating the domineering. It rings with the idea of a new world order. Be assertive, domineering, and wield authority. Put mind over heart. Keywords: Passivity, Overthrow, Coup d’etat
Ten of Wands (reversed)- Learn to see the bigger picture at stake. Carrying too big of a burden and the toll it takes on you. Bearing more than can be handled at one time. Prioritize and alleviate burdens. (Wow! This goes right along with last week’s word of the year, Capacity.) Keywords: Accountability, Reassessment
The Moon (reversed)- In a state of confusion, uncertainty, instability, highly volatile emotionally. Stay as conservative and stable as possible-avoid high risk situations. “Everything that rises, must converge.” Keywords: Risky, Confusion, Uncertainty
The MOST Magical Mystical Moment of my Week:
The first cute little fairy egg from our bantam flock of chickens.
That’s all folks. I hope you were inspired or learned something new. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
May the rest of your week be blessed beyond measure,
Becki
Beautiful post! Your place sounds amazing. I had an opportunity to move back to my homeplace in WV, close to my family but have not chose to for various reasons. I'm envious, and maybe full of wonder and curiosity, for those of you who made the choice to go back!
Thanks for sharing the names of the decks. This pull is so interesting. If it is a past-present-future read I would say that you've already made a big change, and stood up for yourself maybe (reversed Emperor in the 1st position). But now you need to pull back, move slow & with caution, & don't get caught in the details (see the big picture) so that you don't end up with a situation where there's a lack of clarity/confusion about your situation (reversed moon). I don't know if that's helpful without knowing the situation you had in mind or if you were just doing the week ahead.
I'm loving Journey in Place too and want to start posting those here too!
Becki, I’m just getting started with Journey in Place because I have three weeks left in the Nature Journaling class. I need to focus. I think it’s time to plan that Zoom call we discussed. I love reading about Over the Hoopee Farm and seeing how you are applying the lessons from Janisse’s classes in your Substack posts.
My writing is a bit more sporadic, but I did contribute an article to the American Guinea Hog association this week and made a Substack post. I guess two published articles is something. I also gathered sketchbooks, watercolor paints, drawing pencils, and colored pencils for my nature journaling. I love how all the classes I’ve taken the last few months intertwine and build upon each other.
The place that owns you sounds magical and unique. I’m looking forward to reading more.