Grief hurts! It hurts like hell. The pain of loss can be so intense it stops us in our tracks. I know; grief has been a shaping force in my life. A Guide Through Grief is the book I wished I’d had when I was fourteen and my father died after a long battle with cancer and I was thrown into the rollercoaster of emotions that accompanies the loss of someone or something you love. It has the tools I needed when my brother Matty killed himself at twenty after struggling with schizophrenia for many years. The tools I had when my infant son Teddy died after only a few days from a congenital heart defect.
For years I searched for a book that helped me find a way through what felt like the impenetrable maze of grief, something to show me the way forward. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s book On Death and Dying helped a bit, but every other text on grief I picked up only made me feel worse. I needed tools, practical ways to help myself feel better.
I never did find a book that helped, so I wrote one myself. In the years following the death of my son, I wrote A Guide Through Grief and in it I share all the practical and creative tools that helped me recover my joy in life.
So I am very happy to announce that I will be holding a
Yes, shit happens. But turn that shit into fertiliser and grow yourself a beautiful garden. Let me show you how.
There is a way forward, you won’t always feel so lost. Let me gently guide you through some easy, soothing activities in a small group to help you find a way to smile at life again. Find your way through the maze of emotions grief brings in this gentle, nurturing 2.5 hour workshop led by an experienced facilitator who has experienced grief herself many times over and come out the other side, happy and strong.
Explore how using a variety of creative techniques and simple, non-strenuous yoga practices, will help you heal the pain of losing someone or something you love. This workshop will leave you feeling comforted, heard and held. You may even laugh a little 🙂
Places are strictly limited to no more than 15 participants so do DROP ME A LINE to confirm availability.
MOVING THROUGH GRIEF WORKSHOP SUNDAY MARCH 26 10:30 – 1pm
Find your way through the maze of emotions grief brings in this gentle, nurturing 2.5 hour workshop led by an experienced facilitator that will leave you feeling comforted, heard and held. Explore how using a variety of creative techniques and simple, non-strenuous yoga practices, will help you heal the pain of losing someone or something you love.
PLACES STRICTLY LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 15
Morning snacks included in price
Got a feeling you might be a writer? Do this quick quiz then add up your points and see how you go!
5 Sure Signs You’re a Writer
You READ – a lot. Is your bedside table, floor, desk covered in books half-read and to be read? Writers read voraciously and widely. Reading is your safe place and your sanctuary. Not only that, when writers read we’re always looking at how the book is written, especially books we love. We’re always thinking, “How did the author DO that?” Give yourself one point for every book in your pile.
You WRITE. Do you have a diary or journal you’ve been keeping for years? That’s a sure sign of a writer and the best way I know to develop your unique writing voice. Not keeping a diary? Do you write long letters, or emails or blog posts? Do you write to make sense of things? Write to bear witness? Does the act of writing give you pleasure? Does writing soothe you? Do you find comfort in shaping words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs? Give yourself 5 points if you write regularly. An extra 5 if you’ve kept a diary for over a year.
You REMEMBER IN STORIES. When you are remembering events from the past, do you find yourself writing the memory in your head? Are you forming a story with words rather than images, or images and words together. Are you trying to find a way to tell this story in a way that adds meaning to the random events of life? If so give yourself 5 points. If you’ve started writing these stories down, give yourself an extra point for every story you’ve started and an extra 5 for every story you’ve finished.
You DREAM IN STORIES or WAKE UP with story lines fully formed, or a CHARACTER wanting to be written. Do you remember your dreams and think, now THAT would make a great story! Do you wake up with the beginnings of stories in your head, with sentences, maybe whole paragraphs already formed? I woke up once with this: “My name is Condolezia, but I don’t speak Spanish. I was born the year after my brother who died the day he was born.” It was so strong I still remember it! Do you daydream in stories? Do characters tap you on the shoulder and demand to be heard, to have you write them into being? Give yourself 5 points if any of these nerdy, wordy visitations have happened to you. Give yourself an extra 5 for every story you’ve written from these prompts.
You FIND YOURSELF WRITING YOUR LIFE WHILE YOU’RE LIVING IT! This is a sure sign you’re a writer. If, in the midst of some life drama, turmoil, blessing or tragedy you find yourself searching for the words to describe it, then you are unmistakably a writer. The day my infant son died, I found myself sitting on the loo thinking about how I could ever write this terrible story. Thinking of a title. “Of Milk and Blood” I thought was pretty good. But I thought again and ended up with my Guide Through Grief instead. So if you’ve found yourself sitting among the wreckage, thinking up titles for this period of your life, then, I’m both afraid and proud to say – You, my friend, are a writer! It’s a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I just want to LIVE something without putting it into words. Give yourself 10 points if this kind of thing has happened to you.An extra 10 for every story inspired in a similar way, that you actually wrote.
SO, are you a writer?
IF YOU SCORED
0-5 points – you love to read, but haven’t actually spent much time writing or even thinking about writing. You’re happy to let others do the story telling. The world needs readers and we writers LOVE YOU!
5-15 points – you love reading and writing and a deep part of you is calling out to be expressed in words. All you need to do is give yourself a chance. Try getting some of those stories out of your head and onto the page! See here for a guided meditation to quiet that inner critic holding you back and get you started!
15 – 30 points – you’ve got what it takes to be a writer! In fact, you know it in your heart but you just need a little nudge to get those stories out of your head and onto the page. See here for a FREE WORKSHOP that will help you use all those great inspirations and thoughts to create stories.
30 points and over – CONGRATULATIONS! YOU’RE A WRITER! Yes you are! You know this, you’ve been writing and getting some of those ideas onto paper. Writing is a rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle. Writers are always observing and learning and creating meaning through words. Words bring comfort and order to our lives. We can create something beautiful from all we experience, even the darkest moments. See here for an affordable live online course in creative writing that will give you all the craft knowledge you need to make your stories engaging and compelling and, most of all, publishable!
WHATEVER YOU SCORED, if you’re reading this post, something is calling you to writing. Consider yourself on notice. Sooner or later you’re going to have to get those stories out of your head and onto the page. See my FREE WORKSHOP and then check out my UPCOMING CRASH COURSE IN CREATIVE WRITING
Let me help you set out on the magical journey of writing! I’ve been writing and publishing for over 20 years and have been teaching creative writing at universities, schools, festivals, at the Queensland Writers Centre and in the community since 2005. I’ve helped more writing students than most people have had hot dinners, so let me help you make a start on your writing adventures too. See more about me HERE.
Now, stop reading and start writing!
Wishing you the joy of creativity this holiday season. May you and yours connect in love and harmony and may the year ahead be filled with fun, creative adventures, lots of laughter and friends and fantastic good luck! YAY!
Edwina Shaw 