Becca Lawton Talk - “Writing Begins with Wishing”

            April 6^th was another beautiful sunny spring day. It was sunny inside at Marvin’s Restaurant during the Redwood Writers general meeting too. A few of the poets of the club shared some of their poems to kick off the meeting in honor of National Poetry Month. Rebecca Lawton, author and geologist, followed this wonderful interlude with a talk on the power of positive thinking and writing. Lawton’s talk was motivational for both new members and established writers alike.

April is National Poetry Month

            It was the Academy of American Poets in 1996 who convened a group of publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians, literary organizations, and poets to discuss the need for a month-long holiday to celebrate poetry. From this effort twelve years ago, the first National Poetry Month was introduced – April.

            Redwood Writers celebrated National Poetry Month with a selection of poems read by Juanita Martin, Carol Hoorn, and Tyler Stanley. Juanita’s piece, “Battlecrys of Our Mothers” was so well received an encore was requested. Next up was Carol Hoorn with two excellent selections; an oldie from the 1980s called “100 Woman…” and a new one called “Ode to Pat,” a tribute to Pat Tyler, a long-time supporter of the Redwood Writers. Tyler Stanley contributed a short piece called “A Time…” All poetry readings were well received.

This month also signaled the debut of “Poetry Place,” a new column managed by Tyler Stanley that will periodically appear in the Redwood Writers Newsletter. Remember to send your poems to Tyler Stanley at nolongerlaw@comcast.net for consideration for upcoming editions.

Writing Begins with Wishing

Rebecca Lawton or simply Becca shared some thoughts from her new book Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life, written with Jordan E. Rosenfeld.  She conducted a mini workshop on creative writing and read from her San Francisco Chronicle Bay Area bestseller, Reading Water: Lessons from the River too – http://www.beccalawton.com/books.html.

Ms. Lawton using her background in science – a degree in geology – began the meeting/workshop by invoking one of history’s greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton [1]. The power of the physical and the metaphysical was synthesized by Newton during his lifetime. He set the tone for many scientists who followed and have believed in the power of the scientific method to help improve the quality of life for humanity. Lawton echoed this theme as she saw the power of science in its precision in describing life on the planet. She read a piece from Write Free: Attracting the Creative Life, suggesting like attracts like. The flow of creative vibrations during our life’s experiences allows the words to appear on the paper. The notion of the role of vibrational energy was shared and the audience resonated with the idea. Writers can relate to the ebbs and flows of the writing process.

Next up was a workshop activity requiring each writer to build a wish list, reflecting objectives and desires for the next month, six months, and year, spanning his or her writing and personal lives. Lawton encouraged us to play the list game slowly. In this way, writers can assess how they feel about their objectives as they document them, on the next day, and when they next look at them. The wish list becomes a living, breathing document to set and manage goals. The idea of the wish list is to follow these steps:

-          Vision

-          Creation

-          “What if scenario” thinking, and

-          So it is!

The beauty of the “so it is!” phase is the chance for the writer to imagine how his or her success looks like by specifically writing what it will be like. For example, Lawton wrote down that her book, Reading Water: Lessons from the River, would become listed on a bestseller list, and it did. The power of positive thinking helped her five-year-old-book climb the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list. Writers know that writing is a powerful way of expressing their ideas, so use this skill to nurture their wish list.

Redwood Writers Talk About the Wish List

Questions were interactive with some great points brought out by Redwood Writers as follows:

-          Lawton acknowledged that building and using a wish list is hard at first, but it gets easier. Practice with the wish list makes it easier – just do it!

-          With regards to mental blocks, Lawton suggested the afflicted writer “let it go!” Tap into a deeper place. By writing through it the mental block will go away.

-          Surround yourself with people you feel good being with. Feel the positive energy and write. Leave those people that drain your energies. Move on from those relationships and situations. Remember, our feelings are our own.

-          Discover and use the flow of energy between you and other people.

-          Einstein knew energy – as one space-time continuum [2]. No person is an isolated individual looking out at the world.

-          As Jennie Butler said, “Practice the attitude of gratitude.” Lawton agreed with exercising gratitude and choosing a positive attitude over a negative one.

As one reviewer writes, Lawton has an uncanny knack for "journeys of self-discovery, transformation, inner awareness, and recovery." This sentiment came through on a beautiful sunny day in Sonoma County.

[1] For more on Sir Isaac Newton, please check out this web site: http://www.nypl.org/research/newton/index.html. Also, contact Rob Koslowsky at editor@redwoodwriters.org for a short article on Sir Isaac Newton if you are interested in learning more about him.

[2] For more on Albert Einstein, go to this web site: http://www.physics2005.org/. Also, contact Rob Koslowsky for a number of short articles on Albert Einstein.

[3] Danah Zohar wrote the “Quantum Self” in 1991, which addresses many of the themes Lawton touched on during her talk. http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Self-Danah-Zohar/dp/0688107362. Zohar suggests the insights of modem physics provide understanding of everyday life and insights to our “relationships with ourselves, to others, and to the world at large.”