#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
I woke up with mixed emotions: anger at Jeff Flake for manipulating what turned out to be a stunt rather than a true call for an investigation. Affection, for my writing group and the support we give each other to develop our poems, and how grateful I am to work so intimately with such a fine group of writers. And, I felt tired, from a late night, and my mind was fussing and complaining: I don’t want to get up. But I got up, and my body spoke to my mind and said, run. I want to go for a run. And my mind said, no, a walk. I don’t have the energy for a run. But my body insisted. I want to run. And my mind said, okay, for a bit of the way. But my body said, no, for the whole way. Finally, my mind shut up and said, go for it. It was muggy and wet in the woods, and the leaves are falling fast and swirling, and I ran and I felt, wow, this feels good, good idea, body. And I stopped for only two pictures and sloshed through mud when the trail was mud, and Charlie and Susie kept up, and I felt, this is how I want to feel this month, turning sixty, just energetic as hell, and my breathing was so even and peaceful in my body, I feel alive and awake and aware of the beauty around me and grateful for my writing life, for my three children I’ve raised who are nice people to be around and my husband who says yes, always yes, to my ideas and my goals. Coaching my client on the phone this morning, I felt so honored for her trusting me, so grateful for what she shared about her life, a door opening into her soul. Tonight, in a board meeting for the International Women’s Writing Guild, I felt so honored and privileged to be helping to lead this organization: the brain power, the passion, the generosity. And, an Our Voices participant interviewed me about the festival because she’s writing an article about it, so I got to express why I feel it’s so important for women’s stories to be on stage.
How was this year’s Our Voices different than other years? What did it mean for you that the festival took place in the middle of Kavanaugh’s hearings?
Empowerment! It felt like an assertive act, seizing a stage, using our voices and imaginations to take a stand against a clique of entitled white male “gatekeepers” who wield their political power with a manipulative, exploitive self-interest: You cannot silence women.