Deeds & Words - A Festival of Women's Voices

I had the welcome opportunity to attend a poetry reading on 7th October at 'Deeds & Words Tonbridge - a festival of women's voices'. As part of the three day programme, two established poets, Elisabeth Cook and Rebecca Goss, read poems from their own published and soon to be published collections. Whilst listening to their stories through their words and looking at those present in the audience with me, I reflected how many people must write poetry but simply aren't published. If we all got published the world would be saturated with words, but would that be a bad thing? We all have stories to tell and we can all learn from sharing and listening to each other. Regardless of the merits of being published or not, it is great how writing poetry is so accessible to many. You just need a pen, some paper and the courage to write down some thoughts and see what happens. Granted, some  people will be more successful than others on a first attempt, but there are plenty of 'How To...' videos online to help. With a continuous view to keep an open mind regarding the theories of poetry writing (I tend to write mine automatically, like a personal journal), I attended the follow-up workshop by Elisabeth Cook: 'Starting to write: A Practical workshop.'

This was a great opportunity to hear a poet's perspective and try out a different approach. First of all, as part of the warm up, she offered some lovely observations about poetry: 'It's really important that we do give certain experiences a voice and recognise that they do matter.' - 'Don't dismiss anything as not exalted enough to use in a poem. At the heart of it is observation' - 'Things observed in a certain way have a sacramental clarity', and finally, 'You discover your feelings about objects by writing about them. You discover meaning. Let yourself play.' So we did just that. We observed our surroundings (quite a bland and dark indoor studio interior), focussed on a few objects and tried to write around them. This was my creation (of no title):

The shiny cavern of the curve of the chairs,

are looked over by the lights

as if to say:

'It is by my might, not thine,

that you shine so bright.'

The bright light of the beams of the lights so high,

are looked over and across at by the wires

as if to say:

'It is by my power, not thine,

that you shine so bright,

your glory I deny.'

The power of the wires that are curled so high,

are looked over and across and up at by the scaffolding all around,

as if to say:

'It is by my might, not thine

that your power flights,

that your beams shine so bright,

that your curves are alight.'

At this, they all agreed,

the sound resounding back

into the background of this scene

so yet unseen

by you or I.

7 October 2018

Copyright EH 2018

As part of the discussion, we also touched upon line breaks in poetry, something that has intrigued me before whilst writing or retrospectively. She offered these thoughts: 'In poetry, line breaks are incredibly important, the line becomes something you see, a unit of meaning.' This has given me fresh perspective on the allocation of line breaks and I shall mull further both as I continue to write, and as I re-read ones that I have yet to type up. 

'Released' Women's Conference TBC 31 Jan 2015

It was a pleasure to have been part of the programme at the 'Released' Women's Conference held at Tonbridge Baptist Church today. The worship at the start was incredible, the speaker, Jenny Baker, presented a discussion about gender equality, image and empowerment, and the lunch included a wonderful rustic bread and cheese spread. My eyes widened on seeing what looked like a French dinner table scene. In the afternoon, I had been asked to lead a workshop on 'Released to Create', in which we explored a range of ways to release our creativity with words. I used Isaiah 55:8-9 as inspiration to reach higher than our normal self-imposed limits, whilst Isaiah 55:10-11 was used to encourage those who felt less confident in their potential:

Isaiah 55:8-11 New International Version (NIV)

 

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

 

Having the pictures of enlarged flowers in my mind to represent the buds flourishing, I had a go at an overdue creative project and made some giant paper flowers, formation and materials courtesy of Pinterest and a wonderful trip to Hobbycraft. Some lovely women participated in the workshop, reminding me that gold can be found in the fewest of words, whilst experience and context can make some writing styles more accessible for some than others. It was a precious time of personal reflection and intimate sharing. Feedback as we worked our way through various word play techniques included: 'It was fun! I did things I did not think I could do.' Thank you for making it enjoyable to lead.

 

  

 

 

Women's Creative Worship Evening, 16 November 2013

I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the team setting up the women's Creative Worship Evening at the Tonbridge Baptist Church on 16th November 2013. We had areas set up for varied avenues of expression, designed for the women to filter in and out of throughout the evening with no fixed timetable. I was brought in to add a 'Words' section where those who wished could write, in any form, standard or amount, in order to express their worship to God, (even blank pages are fine). However, following a picture in my mind of a river, during one of the pre-event prayer / planning meetings, the area I was developing moved from a simple table with examples for thought and resources, to a full blown river, created out of material and cardboard boxes, (to create the 3D illusion), placed / sewn together. (Six hours of sewing was involved, but I have been looking for a project to use textiles with for years so it was a very satisfying process.) I knew this had to be an interactive space, so I researched the bible for 'water/river' linked quotes and I was excited to find Acts 16:13:

'On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.' Acts 16:13

So I set about putting cushions around the 'river' to allow the women attending the event to sit around and 'reflect, contemplate, think, doodle, write, pray...' I also created a 'tree' at the top on a stand alone notice board and the remnants of material, to frame example poems of mine, one being tree based, which were offered to prompt inspired creativity or simply just something to meditate on. I was also excited to find the below example from scripture:

'Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,    and who meditates on his law day and night.³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.' Psalm 1:1-3

To encourage the women to interact with the 'river' further, I put a selection of water/river themed quotes from scripture at the bottom of the 'water's edge' to be taken away and kept by those who felt the quotes spoke to them in some way. One woman said that she had had a picture of a river in her mind that morning which was evening more exciting! What an honour to have been part of the process of her meeting with God. I was inspired to see the women interacting with river and tree area, and all in all it was a wonderful evening full of time to stop and reflect on God, whether via sung worship, art, prayer, words, dance or prophecy. I look forward to the next one...



Adoring Alliteration Adventures

During a poet's workshop yesterday I discovered a love of "form" i.e. writing poems with some constraint to them, rather than simply off loading my soul's mumblings without a care for metre or rhyme (see 'Poetry - Intellectual vs Soulful' blog post). It was rather refreshing and I discovered a craving for experimenting more with word creativity. This is what he said about alliteration: 'It's a battle between you, the writer and what you want to say, and the constraint (i.e. having to write with only words beginning with a certain letter). The skill is to make it look like you are writing what you want to say (rather than your words having been obviously directed by the constraining letter).' I had a go and here is the result: 'W' being my spontaneous, unplanned constraining letter:

Wild are the winds of my wanton words,

Wrapped around Wednesday's wicked wrangling of wanting word whores.

What, when, who and why,

Waste not words or do and die.

Copyright EH 2012.

He also spoke of 'Oulipo' the French poetry group founded in 1960, which sought to add constraints to writing in a reaction against the Surrealists. Their idea was that the more constraints you have, the deeper into your consiousness you will go in order to write around it, hence you are freer than the Surrealists ever were. How fascinating! He offered us a poem where we had to guess the constraint. No-one managed it but once said it seems obvious. Only the vowel 'e' was used. This is called Univocalism. I'll offer an attempt of my own when I can get my head around that one...

Creative Worship Workshop - TBC Youth Camp 2008

Unmistakenly this was another hard working youth camp. However, I never regret for one moment going and being part of the team. Things were sent to try us, yet we overcame all the obstacles and it was an honour to witness the faith of the young people grow on many levels.

I had the great pleasure of leading the creative worship workshops where the youth were encouraged to be creative in their means of communication with God, and to experiment with new ways of communicating be it art, music, prose or poetry. See below for examples of painting and photos from the workshop. Art created in these sessions was used as background to the song lyrics whilst the young people led us in worship. It was a good opportunity to show their work and it was inspiring to see young people finding expressive ways to communicate with God.



I was also honoured during one of the workshops that two of our many musically creative youth put music to my poem entitled "Eternal and Faithful". Another member of our youth wrote a poem, as well as creating art, which, with his kind permission, I include below:

The Rise and Fall

Lord I have given you my heart
You have taken me into your presence
I have been welcomed into your temple
You show me true love and mercy
I’m so happy that you are with me
I’m in awe of you
But then you make me look outside of your temple
And it is so ugly, full of pain and suffering.
I want to look away but I don’t want to disappoint you.
You take me by the arm and you lead me to the temple door.
You ask me to leave
You ask me to change the ugly world
You ask me to do the impossible
Lord how can I change people who don’t want to change?
Lord how can I love people who don’t want to be loved?

And my Lord answers:

“Because you have me”

Some feedback from the workshop itself:

"I liked the fact that there was freedom to do what you wanted. I enjoyed being able to look through the different versions of the bible and reading some of the poems."

"I liked the fact that there were no people grading my work, like in school."

"Awesome. It helps show there are a lot more ways to worship God."

"It was brilliant. God really spoke to me and touched me and answered my prayers."

"I enjoyed the freedom to do what I wanted (paint, draw, write, soak, pray) and really experience praising God in new and exciting ways."


All in all I loved being part of such a dynamic week where we were able to draw alongside the youth, discuss their life of faith, encourage their worship and to see them grow.

Two weeks on...

Life's been a blur since the "Be Transformed" women's day, but memories of God's words to me on that day are still strong in my mind. How nice it was to get the space to listen (for that I thank the organising team!). It reminds me of a line from one of my poems: "...Oh how I love it when you speak to me."

It was such an honour too, to deliver a workshop and to use my poems to highlight how what we have to say to God is important to Him. He is listening to each and every one of us. Some of the women wrote poems, some drew, and other simply read and took the time to reflect.

Some comments from those who attended:

"It was really inspiring and encouraging. I will definitely give it a try. Letting things out in such a potentially beautiful way is very exciting."

"It was good to hear of someone else's way of communicating with God and to hear of the good and not so good times..."

"Creative atmosphere and freedom. Inspiring resources. Your honesty like a fragrant offering before God. Thanks"

"A sense of opportunity to search for new areas of contact with God...Thank you."

"Having the opportunity to express myself in a way that I haven't before. Thank you!"

"Enjoyed the space to do some writing and Esther's enthusiasm and honesty reminded me we have different gifts."

Two weeks on and I have had the chance to repeat the workshop at The Well women's group at Tonbridge Baptist Church. Thank you to my friends, old and new alike, for allowing me the opportunity to share my experiences with you in this way, and for sharing with me how this has helped / inspired you. I feel truly blessed.

Painting With Words

Using the written word to communicate with God and to express the images He presents us with.

There are many ways that God can communicate with us, and we with Him. Mine’s poetry – what’s yours?

I'll be leading a workshop at "Be Transformed" - a women's conference at St John's Church, Tunbridge Wells, 28th June 2008. Follow the link on http://www.tbc-online.org.uk/.

Conference Workshop Summary:
After a brief talk about my experience of using the written word to both hear from and communicate with God, this workshop will then allow time and space for you to enjoy your current means of expression, be it poetry, prayer, drawing, listening,… alongside the opportunity to experience and / or experiment with others at various themed stations. Simply express yourself as you choose, or enjoy other people’s creativity.

Time will be allowed to share experiences both before and after a creative soaking session. However there will be no obligation to write any poetry or to produce anything at all. Just come and enjoy communicating with God in any way you choose!

Conference attendees, whether attending this workshop or not, are invited to take part in the poll: “How do YOU communicate with God?" prior to the conference. To access the poll see above right on this page.