the makings of courage
weekly story work exercise
This week, the Story Work exercise is open to all subscribers. Paid subscribers receive Story Work exercises every Sunday night at 8 pm et. If you are interested in receiving this weekly flow of self-reflection ideas for your writing practice, plus access to our monthly group journaling session, The Practice, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Read on for reflections on courage and reminders for upcoming workshops.
If you’re new here, Story Work is the name of my current book-in-progress. It describes a process of reflection, reclaiming, and reimagining the stories of our lives. It involves looking at your life experiences as creative material that you have the power to shape.
When you see yourself as the main character in a story full of turning points and transformations, you can use creative thinking to reshape narratives that don’t serve you. By cultivating this ability, you can uncover compelling storylines and new visions for your life. Story Work offers exercises to practice self-discovery, vulnerability and courageous storytelling, along with guidance on how to take care of yourself emotionally while you do this deep work. The weekly story work topics cover universal life themes, with references from literature, philosophy, science, and spirituality; offering perspectives that spark ideas for personal growth and creative expression.
For the past few weeks, our theme was The Art of Conflict which included making the personal universal, main characters and their conflicts, and fate and free will. These exercises explored what causes internal and external conflict in our lives, how we identify these factors and make meaning from them in the stories we tell. We explored how conflicts on the surface of a story lead to insights about what’s going on in our inner worlds.
For the next few weeks, our theme is The Makings of Courage. Let’s get started.
“you can not
remain
a
war
between
what you want to say (who you really are)
and
what you should say (who you pretend to be)
you mouth was not designed to eat itself.
— split”Nayyirah Waheed, Salt
A lump in the throat. A tremble in the voice. The shivering nakedness of being seen. An inner battle between authenticity and the unknown.
How many times do you face this battle each day on the job, in your relationships, in your creative work?
How will people feel if I say this? How will I feel? But wait, what will I lose? What will I gain? Imagine what I could give! Oh no, but will I sound ridiculous? How will I be judged? Can I handle it? Is it worth it?
Questions like these led me to the page. Where I could say the things that I couldn’t say out loud. The page led me to a practice, and the consistent effort taught me a few things about courage and showing up.
I wasn’t trying to save the world, I simply wanted to experience a life that wasn’t so strangled by fear. If I could gain even a little courage through writing, I’d consider it worthwhile. A writing practice, or any creative practice, creates an opening where there was once a closure. It restores a flow of life-giving energy, where there once was a blockage. Many of us don’t realize that our creative blocks are energy blocks, and through intentional practice, we can open them.
opening up
I imagine that my opening started in my throat. In Ayurveda, chakras are the body's energy centers. In her Chopra article, ‘A Primer of the Chakra System’, writer Parita Shah explains:
“The chakras align along the spine, starting from the base of the spine to the crown of the head. The spheres run along the spine, but extend through and past the front, back, and both sides of your body. Chakras are a spinning vortex of energy that is not seen by the human eye but can be seen, felt, and sensed with intuition. This invisible healing energy, called prana, is a vital life force, which keeps us vibrant, healthy, and alive.”
Vishuddha, or the throat chakra, is the energy center that has to do with communication, self-expression, and personal truth. My writing practice was the inner workout (shout out to
for the language) that I needed in order to exercise and start opening my throat chakra years ago when I put pen to paper and found an outlet, but got stuck in only writing about my pain.Eventually I had to go back and work through the lower chakras, starting at the root, to transmute my pain and rediscover my authentic power. Without that deeper journey, while writing was helping me express myself more, I was mostly expressing shame, guilt, insecurity, and fear. I knew there was more to discover.
According to Mind Body Green, naturopathic doctor and reiki master Erica Matluck, N.D., N.P. says that when the throat chakra is not free to transmit our truth into the world because shame, guilt, regret, blame, and so on, our ability to create the lives of our dreams is limited.
We find ourselves disconnected from our creative callings, weighed down by limiting beliefs, and unable to imagine new possibilities for ourselves.
So you see, to find your courage, you have to go beyond the daily battle of what you want to say and what you should say, and dig deeper to address the pain and shame that is blocking what you need to say to be whole.
To unblock, you have to commit to self-discovery and creative exercise. Story work is an effective way to do that. As we explore and open, the chakras can help us understand how stagnant energy from past experiences is influencing our present and future. Further, the wisdom of the chakras can inspire story themes and character studies that resonate in that universal way that we seek. (Interested in a deep dive on Chakras for Storytellers? This article provides a thorough overview and examples.)
For our exercise today, we’ll be reading “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action by Audre Lorde. After a health scare, Lorde writes, “I was forced to look upon myself and my living with a harsh and urgent clarity that has left me still shaken but much stronger.” This essay is a powerful example of opening up to fear and transforming it into courage.
Exercise:
Let’s practice activating our throat chakras by consuming and interacting with art. Below I’m sharing quotes from Audre Lorde’s essay, “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action.” First, read the essay. Then choose one of the quotes below and use it as a prompt for a personal reflection.
A note for those of you who might get caught up in rules—Do I have to use these exact words in my reflection? Do I have to answer this exact question? Can I write a poem?— please know that what I’m offering here is simply an entry point to your own self-discovery and imagination. Using these excerpts as prompts simply means to start writing based on what the questions and statements bring up for you.
Here are a few ideas. You could write a response to Lorde. You could write a story about a time when you silenced yourself from fear of being seen. You could use your imagination and write a fictional story about a mute character who finds her own ways to speak up about something she values. This is an invitation to open up and run with your ideas.
“I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect.”
“What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?”
“But most of all, I think, we fear the visibility without which we cannot truly live.”
“We can learn to work and speak when we are afraid in the same way we have learned to work and speak when we are tired.”
write with us:
If creative courage is a priority to you, you need somewhere to practice it. If being around creative energy inspires you, then you gotta put yourself in places where it's flowing. There are environments in our daily lives that drain our creative energy, and there are spaces that recharge it. So we need to be intentional about frequenting those spaces that light us up. Here are some opportunities to get support and connect with our community.
December 16. The Practice: Group Journaling Session #10 w/ Dr. Sophia Godkin // 11 - 12:30 pm Reminder: The Practice, our monthly group journaling sessions, are free for paid subscribers, or you can drop in for a $15 fee. Paid subscribers, scroll down to the bottom of this page to access the Zoom info.
Open until December 15. If you’re seeking a transformative series on courage, vulnerability, and the creative process, the next cohort of The Creative Courage Writing Intensive starts in January. Early bird registration is open until December 15. To access the details, you can sign up here and I’ll email you the link.
Open until December 31. If you’re seeking a soul-focused creative mentor and community, through the month of December only, you can join the Inner Story Writing Circle at a 12% discount by signing up for the full year of 2024. You can learn more here.