When we get caught up in racing deadlines, striving for a result like pushing ourselves to publish our work, it is easy to forget the simple act of giving the gift of our writing. In Bali recently we practiced this daily in our small groups (mutual mentoring triads). After our morning guided meditation and writing exercise we would break into triads for reading and feedback sessions. Here writers were able to go more deeply into their writing and share the (sometimes very personal) background and ideas informing their work. The deeper you go into another persons writing and the more you allow others to do the same for you it is impossible not to feel this as a gift. On this writing retreat we also gave the gift of writing in another way, by sponsoring Indonesian writers Arizona Firgi (Java), John Waromi (West Papua), Made Suryadharma (Bali). Longtime Bali residents Jan Mantjika, Sarita Newson and Kadek Krisna joined us along with Bali poet Ketut Uliarsa (for one evening) bringing the gift of their work and opening our hearts and minds to stories of the country we were visiting for just a short time. Giving each other the space and encouragement to write (especially where this is not normally available) is a principle I am firmly committed to. Of course on the last day we set goals for finishing our drafts as usual, but as we said our goodbyes we were also aware that our pockets were more than full – with the gift each others writing.
See pics on Flickr to the right of this page.
Backstage Bali 2012 July 8 – 15 booking now!