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Susan Reuling Furness M.Ed.  LCPC, LMFT, Registered Poetry Therapist, M/S x x x x        Jefferson Street Counseling and Consulting • 1517 West Jefferson Street • Boise, Id 83702 • 208-385-0888

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I will put chaos into fourteen lines . . . Edna St. Vincent Millay

If your world seems topsy-turvy, turn it write-side up. With a few prompts for guidance, you will sort out what is true, what is important, and what is right (and write) for you! Depression, grief, and malaise fade as you access your inner wisdom.  If you know how to write a list, you are ready to write your way Into the Light.

 Stephen King vs. Ruth King  

When Stephen King sits down to write, he abdicates ownership of his story to imaginary people. Writing without an outline, his characters evolve and interact with one another as the plot takes on a life of its own. Things just happen and for Steven King they happen well. This is how he describes his formula for success in his book On Writing.

Another King, Miss Ruth King, who taught junior-year English at my high school, thought differently. Using the Ruth King model, the author must pre-determine the story and its elements. Before pen hits paper, one must determine the characters, time, place, plot and subplot. An essay's ending is determined before the author writes the beginning. 

Miss King lived by the rules of order and control. She graded our conduct and the neatness of our notes rather than focusing on the creative quality of our work. Her world leaves no room for spontaneity or inspiration. No room for the Muse. At the time, her way seemed the “right” way to write because she held the key to report cards. Later, I had a few college instructors who reinforced the Ruth King method.

Yet when I practiced Miss King’s strategies, my writing tastes like force meat. Clumsy phrases pass through the meat grinder and the resultant stories are worse than chopped liver. 

I prefer to take my chances with Stephen King rather than Ruth. When I give up control of my story, everything changes. This is when I fall in love with writing. When I listen to the voice (or is that voices?) inside me; when I follow the train of my thoughts, the door opens to destinations I never imagine beforehand. This must be how it works for Stephen King.

Isn't this a perfect metaphor for life? The person who said, “ Life is what happens while you are making other plans,” understood how much we need flexibility and spontaneity.  Giving up control of how things “should be” is not always easy. Learning to “go with the flow,” however, will enhance the story of your life. When your characters throw curve balls, when the plot twists and turns without your permission, try to relax. Knowing what comes next is not always important. 

I'm sticking with the Stephen King method. Life may be preparing me for a delightful ending.

For more reading, check out the archives; they are chock full of things to inspire. Archives

 Something You Don't See Listed? 

In the spirit of creative thinking, Susan believes that what you need will exist. Let us help you design services to meet the needs of you and those around you. 

• GET UNSTUCK: Writer's Block? Creative Slump? - Offering private sessions * In Person * By Telephone * By Email for therapists, writers, visual artists, photographers, and other creative thinkers. 
• TEAMBUILDING: Susan travels to you or offers space for your group of co-workers, family or friends. Gather your group to restore harmony, create new vision, innovative solutions.
• COUPLES: Unlock your potential as a creative two-some. End relationship doldrums before the doldrums end your relationship. 

TRAINING IN POETRY THERAPY: Poetry Therapy Training for those interested in becoming a Certified Applied Poetry Facilitator , a Certified or Registered Poetry Therapist. For more information see the article in this newsletter.

When your sense of the creative languishes, take time to play with these prompts. Discard any judgment about what you write. Repeat this mantra before you begin: “I will write without pause, without changing what flows from my flying pen. I will write with no expectation that I need to be clever, exciting, or profound. I will write for pure pleasure and play.” Have fun!        

1) Recently I  read Maya Jewell Zeller's poem, My Grandmother's Cow ( published in Rattle, Poetry For the 21st Century, Winter 2010.)  The poem begins, "My grandmother didn't have a cow/ but if she did it would have been a Holstein . . . " The poet builds a fantasy based on an imaginary cow. How it wanders from the pasture into the yard. How the poet's mother must untangle the phantom cow from the clothesline. How the cow changed mother and therefore, the poet herself.  

Tune into your make-believe station. Listen to your thoughts and capture them on the page: What if your mother owned a cow? Or a goat? when she was younger or now! What if your father grew up in California rather than Iowa? What if your mother fought in the war rather than dad? What if your grandfather had run for president and been defeated by Richard Nixon or JFK?  What if your brother was anointed as the Dali Lama? (It is true, the Dali Lama does have a brother.) There are 10,000,000 fantasies to entertain. Write what happens next in your life and the lives of others when one tiny fact is invented. 

2)    Write a letter to Winter. Discuss your feelings about her crystalline frost or long nights, or about  her friendly sun if you happen to live in a warmer clime. 

3)    AN OLD FAVORITE: Write a finger-wagging lecture for your inner critic – the one who stands in the way. Invite him or her to bow out, wait for you to finish your first draft, or simply speak with respect. 

4)    Open the newspaper to the personal ads. Choose any ad and answer it in  your journal. Will you be sincere or playful? Sarcastic or more compassionate and polite? Remember you can say whatever enters your mind because (of course) you're not really going to mail your response . . . are you??? 

5)    ANOTHER OLD FAVORITE:  You know those obnoxious holiday greetings . . . the ones that go on ad naseum about little Billy's sporting prowess; the ones that showboat hubby's new Corvette? Imagine you feel cheeky enough to blow your own horn in a similar (or more obnoxious) fashion. Write the letter to share with friends who get the joke. 

6)  WRITE TO CHANGE A MOOD

Who said that keeping a journal takes too much time? Here are ideas for very brief journaling to help you stay in touch with your life.

Those Marvelous Miracle Geese

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.~ Blaise Pascal

 I’m not creating miracles, I am finding them.

Miracle is loosely defined here as something which inspires delight, surprise, and awe. Recording miracles in a journal will help you feel good. In the same way expressing gratitude enhances your brain cells, writing down "everyday miracles" promotes positive thinking.

 Recently I ran into a snag in my “miracles journal.”  While recording daily miracles, I kept writing about the geese outside my window. Those marvelous geese along the river began to dominate my journal. Perhaps this says that I need to get a life!  But think about it; those amazing wings, the downy goose feathers, and the perfect flying formation of goose-dom. The marvelous miracle geese deserve my admiration and awe. Just the same, the goose and gander helped me realize I need to expand my vision – to look deeper and further into the awe-inspiring world around me.

It helps to remember that most miracles come in small packages. If we expect a Parting-Of–The-Red-Sea kind of moment, flashing lights and thunder, we may wait forever. But what about the small inexplicable events? How can one not gape in amazement? For example, moisture in the air creates it own miracle. One cold winter day a bit of fog hermetically sealed the wrought iron gate. It took a cauldron of boiling water to open it. Annoying? Maybe. Amazing just the same.

The science-teacher-in-my-head wants to offer a textbook explanation for the extraordinary. Yes, yes, I know why geese survive, even though I would surely die in the icy currents of the river. It’s about their down insulation of course. Still, I ask my know-it-all-teacher, “Why do the geese have insulation and you do not?” How is that down protects the ducks and geese yet a fish with no feathers also survives?"

Picasso said, “It took me four years to learn to paint like Raphael, but it took a lifetime to paint like a child.” It may take a few days, or a week, before you begin to remember the world is a wonder-ous place. It may take a lifetime to truly appreciate all the miracles in the  world around us. Yet there is no better time to get started. Write the wondrous, amazing, marvelous things you see in your own miracle journal. Find two or three miracles each day and write them down. By deliberately seeking the moments of awe you will put a brighter shine on your world, geese included.

• Grief Letters will help you walk through the dark hours of sadness.
• Share your Grief Letters with a safe someone to help ease your loneliness.
• Write without editing. Keep your hand moving. Don't worry about grammar and spelling.
• Quite simply, write from your heart.

1. Write a letter to your lost or deceased loved one explaining how you feel. Explain how his/her death affects you.
2. Write a letter of protest to death or divorce. This may resemble a poison pen letter. Explain your anger and frustration.
3. Write letters to God or the universe, either in anger or devotion.

Photo-Therapy For Grief They say the loss of relationship is the core of our grief. When a dear friend or loved one leaves or dies, familiar old places often remind you of your loss. You need a new angle on these places. Creative assignments help. When you feel ready to reclaim some of your old haunts, grab your camera and hit the road. Your mission will be to build a collage of the old places. Choose a specific focus for your pictures - perhaps doors or natural plants or the signage of the place. Experiment with different angles, as you build a new perspecitve on life.

 Everyone knows how to write a letter. Jason F. Wright creates the plot for his novel from imaginary letters. The Wednesday Letters begins when Jack Cooper makes a promise to Laurel on their wedding day that he will write a letter to her every Wednesday until they die. After the couple are gone, their children discover thousands of these letters. As the three adult children read the notes, they uncover the story of how their parent's marriage survived a devastating, but untold, event. The Amazon.com review give the book 4-stars and calls it "a lovely, wholesome, humorous, suspenseful and redemptive story." The tale is especially lovely if you feel discouraged about the contemporary family.  

Read poetry cherished by Caroline Kennedy. She Walks in Beauty is a collection of poems from our greatest poets, which pay tribute to womanhood and the human experience. Amazon.com tells me: "She Walks in Beauty is a priceless resource for anyone, male or female, who wants a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a woman."

 From Mary Pipher, author of Saving Orphelia comes an inspiring book on writing. Writing To Save The World. At first blush, "saving the world" seems rather grandiose. Pipher comments on this in the introduction. "Good writing facilitates making connections in a way that inspires openheartedness, thinking, talking, and action." She notes that writing enlarges readers' knowledge of the world, empowers readers to act for the common good, connects people to one another, animals, and the earth. Pipher promotes personal writing so that even if you do not publish, I encourage you to read her book.

The Artist Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. Walk through a comprehensive twelve-week program to recover natural creativity. Overcome your blocks and replace them with artistic confidence and productivity. Don't bother buying the accompanying workbook unless you have money to spare . . . you can get started with any blank book. Cameron has other titles including a book released in December 2009 The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size.

 Sheila Bender's memoir A New Theology: Turning to Poetry in a Time of Grief explains how poetry helped her walk a painful journey before and after the decision to end life-support for her 25-year old son. No stranger to personal writing, Bender has authored a dozen books on writing and selling the personal essay. The lessons in those books come home as she offers us a window into grief and private healing.

 You Don't Have To Be Famous: How To Write Your Life Story by Steve Zousmer - Everybody has a story to tell and every voice deserves to be heard. Zousmer offers tips: motivation, organization, using your imagination. The publishers call this an accessible, friendly, and reader-focused book.

Poetry Slam - Twice monthly at the Neurolux Lounge and Women of Steel in Boise. For more information contact Cheryle Maddalena  mailto: cheryle=maddalena@yahoo.com 

Idaho Writer's Guild offers networking, employment and educational opportunities as diverse as the writers who join it. Visit their web site GUILD.

Open Mic Poetry at The Brick Oven Bistro on the Grove, downtown Boise. Every Tuesday, 7 p.m. Sign-up 6:30. Poets can read their own works or the works of others.

Winterhawk Press is starting a poetry book club to meet one Monday evening each month. Poets and books chosen by the group. If interested, please call Susan at 323-1218.

Idaho Writers Update available via email twice each month. Contact Betty Rogers

Boise poet, Ken Rodgers, teaches online classes for poets who are eager to expand and polish their writing skills. Ken, a veteran of Viet Nam, encourages other veterans to tell their stories through lyrical essay and poetry. Visit Ken's website. 

CONTESTS    

Idaho Writers Guild and The Writers & Readers RendezvousxDeadline: March 10. Submit short stories, short screenplays, and poetry. Writers of all ages. Entry fees $10 - 30. Feedback - $15 extra. More

Passager 2012 Poetry Contest - for writers over 50. 
Deadline: April 15, 2012. Winner receives $500. Reading fee $20. Encouraging older writers and life-time creativity. Honorable mentions will also be published. More info & Guidelines.

Proceeds Go to Write Path Scholarships. Contact us at 208-385-0888 or writing@writepath.org

Susan Reuling Furness is a Registered Poetry Therapist, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, practicing in Boise, Idaho. As facilitator of Write Path groups, she weaves the art of personal writing with the art of healing. Susan has studied with many poets and writers including: Joan Logghe, Kim Stafford, John Fox, and Myra Shapiro. She was trained in Poetry Therapy under the supervision and direction of the National Federation of Biblio/Poetry Therapy.

In addition to her regular Write Path groups, you may find Susan teaching personal writing at Barnes and Noble Bookstore, the Vital Longevity Project in Boise, Idaho, and at businesses and universities in the Intermountain and Pacific Northwest. Susan's creative approach to therapy for adults, children, and other professionals opens the door to optimism, confidence, and better health.

For Susan’s complete professional vitae, visit http://jeffersonstreetcounseling.com/therapists/susan-reuling-furness/susan-reuling-furness-professional-profile