CreateWriteNow is pleased to host Wendy Brown-Báez and her poetic story of self discovery and love, 'Catch a Dream', as part of her WOW-WomenOnWriting Blog Tour.
People often ask me what the difference is between journaling and self-reflective writing. Both are valuable and both can be cathartic. However, self-reflective writing taps into our intuition with intention. Journaling can also include analyzing, making lists, comparing pros and cons, planning, documenting emotions, recording events, and kvetching. All of this is helpful but the studies done by James Pennebaker and others on writing for healing indicate that this is not enough. The final step of discovering meaning or the lesson learned shifts the writing to inner reflection, new perspectives, hope, renewal, and healing. Best of all is when the writing can be shared and the writer feels validated by supportive listeners.
Self-reflective writing uses a technique of spontaneous timed free writing, familiar to many of us. Spontaneous means to write without over-thinking, without correcting grammar or trying to find the perfect word. In this way, we soften the critical judgmental voice (in our left brain) and drop into our inner guidance.
I begin writing exercises with a poem since poetry opens the door to the subconscious. We don’t discuss the poem, as this will take us back to an analytical linear process and we want to tap into the creative imagination. I choose poems with images that might trigger an emotional response. A timed session of 5-15 minutes trains our brains to write immediate thoughts down quickly but sometimes mid-way through, an image, memory or emotion will arise that is unexpected and what we really need to write about. The story we are compelled to tell will come to the surface if we practice spontaneous free writing on a regular basis. Writing by hand helps us to connect to our emotions. If you can’t write by hand, just let your fingers fly on the keyboard without correcting yourself.
Even when I teach, I write and share with the group. Although I write quickly, I can control the direction my work takes. I can travel deeper into the story of what happened to me or I can change direction to a shift in perspective. I choose the path of an uplifting interpretation deliberately. And this has been transformative and healing for me.
If we find ourselves going back to analyzing, we can consider if we are using the left-brain thinking and coaching ourselves back to intuitive writing. The images, emotions, and memories that come up often have messages and insights for us. We may be surprised what flows out on the pen. We may start in one place and find ourselves in a completely different one. But we can shift perspectives, understanding or awareness which is the hallmark of a healing practice. We can allow our inner guidance to direct us. Sometimes writing this way doesn’t lead to anything useful for crafting stories (although it can be great for poetry!) but it will help us understand our human nature and personality and desires and motivations, which are necessary for character building. It can alleviate anxiety and fear, which block our creative flow. It can uplift and affirm when we feel disheartened and especially when we feel so alone in our writing practice and our lives. When we learn about ourselves, we learn we are all connected, the human experience is one in which we all endure heart-break and loss, as well as hope and exuberance. The human mind is illimitable and writing can be a meditative practice like walking a labyrinth, sinking deeper into our inner world and coming back out with a gift of words and stories.
Catch a Dream - Book Summary
A woman’s healing journey begins in a country embroiled in relentless turmoil. In Israel, the first Intifada has just begun. Palestinian frustration for a homeland erupts in strikes, demonstrations and suicide bombings and Israel responds with tear gas, arrests, and house demolitions. Lily Ambrosia and Rainbow Dove arrive in Haifa with their children on a pilgrimage to sow seeds of peace. Lily’s fascination with Jewish culture inspires her to dream she can plant roots in the Holy Land.
She falls in love with the land itself, with its people, and with Levi, a charming enigma, dangerous but irresistible. Eventually she is fully immersed in Israeli life, earning her way as a nanny, hanging out in cafes with friends, and attending Yom Kippur in the synagogue. Her son rebels against the lifestyle she has chosen and war with Syria looms on the horizon. Will she be able to stay? What does she have to give up and what will she be able to keep?
Print Length: 196 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: BookBaby (March 24, 2018)
ISBN-13: 9781543925579
Catch a Dream is available as an eBook at BookBaby and Amazon.
About the Author
Wendy Brown-Báez is the author of a poetry CD Longing for Home, the full-length poetry collection Ceremonies of the Spirit (Plain View Press, '09), and chapbooks: transparencies of light (Finishing Line Press, '11) and Elegy for Newtown (Red Bird Chapbooks, '14). She has published both poetry and prose in numerous literary journals and anthologies, both in print and on-line. She received McKnight, Mn State Arts Board and Saint Louis Park Arts & Culture grants to bring writing workshops into non-profits and community centers.
Wendy has facilitated writing workshops since 1994 including at Cornerstone's support groups, the Women & Spirituality conference at MSU Mankato, Celebrate Yourself women's retreats, All About the Journey healing center, The Aliveness Project, Unity Minneapolis, El Colegio High School and Jacob's Well women's retreat. Wendy received 2008 and 2009 McKnight grants through COMPAS Community Art Program to teach writing workshops for youth in crisis. The project at SafeZone and Face to Face Academy developed into an art installation showcasing their recorded writings. When it was noted that students' reading scores improved, she was hired as Face to Face's writing instructor.
In 2012 she was awarded a MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant to teach writing workshops in twelve non-profit arts and human service organizations. She continues to teach at Pathways: a healing center, in Mn prisons, and in community spaces such as public libraries, yoga studios, churches, and cafes.
Wendy has taught memoir at MCTC continuing ed and through Minneapolis community ed.
In addition, Wendy has managed shelters for the homeless and visited incarcerated teens. She is trained as a hospice volunteer and as a facilitator of Monologue Life Stories. Wendy studied alternative healing, ceremony, and spiritual traditions with Earthwalks for Health and lived in Mexico and Israel. She has collected wisdom teachings from these diverse cultures, as well as written memoirs of her adventures.
You can find Wendy Brown-Baez at:
Website: www.wendybrownbaez.com
Blog: www.wendysmuse.blogspot.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wendybrownbaez
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wendybrownbaez.author
#CatchaDream
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