tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.comments2024-02-15T05:19:39.489-05:00Your ability to write is always Present. Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-71654061885105031672022-01-29T16:49:22.640-05:002022-01-29T16:49:22.640-05:00Practicing gratitude mindfulness at the very start...Practicing gratitude mindfulness at the very start of your day is an amazing way to set the tone of your day. When you awake, pause and take a deep breath (even if that means that you don’t have a chance . Take a moment to make a mental list of those things and people which you are grateful for. As the day goes on and you interact with these things or people, reflect on how taking this moment of grateful mindfulness in the morning helps to shift your perception of these things throughout the day. Taking a few moments of gratitude in the morning helps facilitate a greater sense of appreciation. I can recommend to read this guide net-bossorg/mindfulness-by-julia-hannerJanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11247541371969081528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-16452779575033450652020-12-26T12:05:47.871-05:002020-12-26T12:05:47.871-05:00Insight #2 : "Delays are inevitable. I’ve met...Insight #2 : "Delays are inevitable. I’ve met far too many people who self-diagnose their occasions of verbal emptiness as a deficiency in themselves as writers, a misperception that may cause them to quit trying altogether. " Being a writer myself I can say that this insight is very true indeed :)Alexhttps://abouthappylife.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-149194900065825312015-03-30T10:11:29.426-04:002015-03-30T10:11:29.426-04:00Love this! One of my daily rituals includes the Co...Love this! One of my daily rituals includes the Corpse pose. Although I don't write, yet, I will incorporate the pose into photographing and painting. Thanks!Debshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12539110749267628141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-5523021514173798052014-08-30T05:49:58.523-04:002014-08-30T05:49:58.523-04:00Sure!Sure!Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-86410147075698496012014-08-29T11:27:30.311-04:002014-08-29T11:27:30.311-04:00How about trying a highlighter for such usage? Eit...How about trying a highlighter for such usage? Either within a fountain pen or a felt pen? Sounds adequate?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-5851968166384646932014-07-19T20:14:33.407-04:002014-07-19T20:14:33.407-04:00What a lovely practice! Thank you for sharing . ....What a lovely practice! Thank you for sharing . . . . Debbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02097794673233325044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-62154844871322937342014-07-08T10:47:16.072-04:002014-07-08T10:47:16.072-04:00I am interested in perhaps doing a poem with henna...I am interested in perhaps doing a poem with henna on the hands as shown here... hmmmCarol Willette Bachofnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10851607014763514265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-74934291384776407282013-10-23T17:30:42.827-04:002013-10-23T17:30:42.827-04:00Yes. I see what you're saying now. I did not ...Yes. I see what you're saying now. I did not read carefully enough your "Unlike most people when creating..." paragraph. I absolutely agree.m.a. robinsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-79890675846333514262013-10-23T17:19:13.254-04:002013-10-23T17:19:13.254-04:00The work and the approach of the naive artist are ...The work and the approach of the naive artist are not perfect--not even perfectly innocent. Many of us have a bit of "unschooling" inside us, a desire to resist instruction and teacherly judgement. (Here I think of Robert Brooke's marvelous work with underlife.) I think instead that there is real value in exploring some of the strategies of the unschooled: chiefly, gaining distance from the teacher-in-the-head. Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-45209646854994387132013-10-23T17:00:25.875-04:002013-10-23T17:00:25.875-04:00I am also a big fan of Ueland, and I like what you...I am also a big fan of Ueland, and I like what you say about the importance of beginner's mind. It felt to me, though, that you were setting up an opposition or dichotomy that I see as a tension or paradox. The Buddhist monks meditate and study and practice applying a lifetime of discipline to achieve their spontaneity; you teach people how to be "untaught." As people who are trained, is the goal to untrain ourselves--which would be a denial of our actual experiential selves? I have no answer to this dilemma, but I do think it goes beyond envying the untaught as that runs the risk of setting up another "perfection" (the perfect innocent) that we can no longer achieve. I don't mean to disagree with you, only to complicate the opposition.m.a. robinsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-49401639732907028082013-08-29T15:38:17.274-04:002013-08-29T15:38:17.274-04:00This is great!This is great!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07515963488893311265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-31869291548687861052013-04-12T06:44:32.187-04:002013-04-12T06:44:32.187-04:00Yeah, I think there is an inherent opposition in t...Yeah, I think there is an inherent opposition in the duality of breathing: breathing in versus breathing out. That back and forth is like a little metronome inside each moment: the type my piano teacher had: mechanical, a wand moving back and forth. And that duality is a source of energy--not conflict or block.Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-39797480577132023472013-04-11T17:26:04.397-04:002013-04-11T17:26:04.397-04:00Alex,
loved this take on the inherent oppositions...Alex,<br /><br />loved this take on the inherent oppositions buried in the dual role of writer/teacher and especially your take on koans as eternal puzzles. Answered by living, recalibrating, ruminating, living some more, rubbing (forgive me) elbows with everyone else in the room. Have so enjoyed reading through your posts today; look forward to more.Tania Pryputniewiczhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12177520317393803035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-78471157335159043142013-03-20T15:24:47.995-04:002013-03-20T15:24:47.995-04:00I love your relationship analogy! It is sooo true...I love your relationship analogy! It is sooo true! Thank you :) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-18121269397317753562013-03-17T09:32:25.448-04:002013-03-17T09:32:25.448-04:00Thanks Jill. I'm working on a book for grad st...Thanks Jill. I'm working on a book for grad students, and in recent years I've pretty much devoted my teaching to them, because the struggles they face are so neglected.One of them told me that while his undergraduate papers were a "series of one-night stands," his dissertation and research articles were "long-term relationships," with all the patience, frustration, and persistence that entails.I told this to another grad student, and a few months later she came to see me with her finished master's thesis, ready to file.When I asked her how it felt, she said, "Long-term relationship, I'm SO ready to break up with you!" It reminded me that we shouldn't take the damned things TOO seriously, that they come to an end, aren't supposed to last forever.I have to remember that Stafford also said, "all these things are expendable, and the more expendable you keep feeling these things are, the more likely you are to have things happen to you." Serial monogamy?<br /><br />With best wishes,<br /><br />KeithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-22121107357179685912013-03-11T17:24:25.890-04:002013-03-11T17:24:25.890-04:00Hi Keith Hjortshoj,
My name is Jill Adams, and I...Hi Keith Hjortshoj, <br /><br />My name is Jill Adams, and I'm a student in Dr. Peary's graduate class. As a student with a literature concentration, I am loving her writing class. I am learning so many productive concepts to help with my own writing and also wonderful ideas to use with my students. I teach tenth grade English and a creative writing elective.<br /><br />First, I wanted to tell you that I find your book UNDERSTANDING WRITING BLOCKS to be so helpful. Your first chapter about what writing blocks actually are is so clear; you ascertain that blocks are not imaginary. I also could relate to the example you give in chapter four about Monica, a graduate student who is blocked while writing her masters thesis. I did not begin to have blocks until graduate school. It seemed for me that as the stakes got higher, I began to worry more about what my professors expected of me.<br /><br />I really enjoyed reading your post. Our class was very excited that you were guest posting on Dr. Peary's blog. Your explanation of writing as "embodied movement" is so cool! I often think about writing as mental, but you make good points about how it is physical, too. I liked that you said, "William Stafford called writing 'one of the great, free human activities.'” I have never heard that quote before, and I think I might have to add it to my classroom wall. My broke high school students would appreciate it!<br /><br />Thank you,<br />Jill Adams :)<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-29377944377558643792012-08-24T05:48:58.299-04:002012-08-24T05:48:58.299-04:00Hello Shirley--
I never thought of using the devic...Hello Shirley--<br />I never thought of using the device on a specific phase of a piece of writing (i.e.: figuring out the ending). It's so true that people can get blocks at different moments in the writing process. Thanks very much for contributing this perspective. It's great to hear from a fellow writer.<br />Alex Alexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-65828301367547921472012-08-23T21:04:28.654-04:002012-08-23T21:04:28.654-04:00Dr.Peary,
I really enjoyed reading your blog and I...Dr.Peary,<br />I really enjoyed reading your blog and I will use some of your suggestions tomorrow when I try to find an ending for a piece I am writing. You would think that writing an ending for a non-fiction piece would be easy since you are telling what really happened, but in fact I always seem to struggle with where exactly the story should stop. I think after reading your blog that it may be related to not writing in the moment and being present, but instead thinking so much about where I should be going next that I don't even recognize when I have come to the end of my own story. You have helped me see it in a different light. I also love your poem. That is one area of writing I have never ventured into, but I like the idea of trying different kinds of writing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this blog and I will be a faithful reader. Shirley Shirley Phillipsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-79044111234872116542012-08-23T11:11:24.722-04:002012-08-23T11:11:24.722-04:00Hi Matt,
I'm glad you brought up the art of a...Hi Matt,<br /><br />I'm glad you brought up the art of acting. I've never acted, but I'm guessing that excepting practice sessions by him/herself, the actor (unlike a writer) always has some sort of live audience. I mean, with writing, I can adopt a persona or even use a voice that's not my speaking voice...that's altered for the genre...but most of the time, when I do that, I'm alone. Any actors out there want to weigh in? I'm really curious what it's like.<br /><br />That spontaneous flow--would you think it means that the writer/actor/athlete is completely present with the self--the thoughts, the body, and the body-thoughts?<br />AlexAlexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-80580674451368793462012-08-22T12:58:43.756-04:002012-08-22T12:58:43.756-04:00It seems to me that actors also have this problem ...It seems to me that actors also have this problem of pushing the bar too far to the audience side. It's obvious to even us laymen when an actor seems "fake" because he is too aware of his audience.<br /><br />A Hindu would say that action should be performed without regard to the fruits of the action (karma yoga), which is what you are saying in Paradox #1 about writing without undue regard to your audience.<br /><br />Performing action without regard to the fruits of the action is a prerequisite for spontaneous flow. Athletes call this spontaneous flow "the zone". I'll bet writers have a term for spontaneous flow as well, but I don't know what it is. I've heard writers talk about magical periods when it's as if they are channeling the writing, as if the words are coming through them.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15799816498393082453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-60444776157842322832012-08-10T17:21:03.338-04:002012-08-10T17:21:03.338-04:00That's a high compliment, Tania. I very much w...That's a high compliment, Tania. I very much would like to create a "peaceful blogspot." Thanks for saying so. <br />AlexAlexandria Peary, MFA, MFA, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05586896167663351299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8298431477138846862.post-77449870216849816522012-08-10T15:09:26.392-04:002012-08-10T15:09:26.392-04:00Beautiful, Alex..."horsebacks" as a verb...Beautiful, Alex..."horsebacks" as a verb...you've outdone yourself. What a peaceful blogspot you've created...I love the candor of your About Me. I too am grateful the writer's block has passed (for us both).Tania Pryputniewiczhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12177520317393803035noreply@blogger.com