this week, after a lovely eight-week immersion into and excavation of the creative and written mothering world, the online new mothers’ writing circle came to an end.
before i say more, i’ll get this out of the way: i found myself really jealous of those on the call with first babies, exploring all of these matrescent thoughts that i only encountered by myself through reading motherhood books 2.5 years into my pandemic matrescence (circa 2022). because of this, i somewhat joined the course “late”, having come across many of the topics before in different books and courses. i can only imagine how mind-blowing the course will be for a new mother who hasn’t ventured very far into the language of motherhood, a language that catrin kemp tenderly introduced so that we could make it our own.
i absolutely still received a lush, spiky, wildly empowering abundance from the course; it was full of seeds which will continue sprouting for me. we grew as a group, sharing individual and collective stories and the writing and discussions nourished me within the blur of my mothering and working week. the writing prompts in the sessions mean that i now have so many notes to shape into finished pieces. guest writers liz berry, leah hazard and saima mir also made a lasting impression.
𓍊𓋼𓍊
i knew i would need something communal lined up so i could continue with this exchange of inspiration and accountability, rather than writing alone. i work at my library job in the mornings and i’m not keen on evening groups due to energy levels and/or headaches, so inviting others to join me during the afternoons at a time when i have the capacity to carve out time to write felt like a sustainable evolution of my writing practice (though the headaches may still show up unfortunately).
you can read more about MYCELIAL MOTHERS HERE. i’d love you to join this relaxed writing and sharing group. you’ll find the zoom link at the end of this post if you’re a paid subscriber. to lead us into the group, which starts this wednesday, i’ve created some gentle writing exercises on themes of tending your own garden and nurturing the threads of your interconnected community.
five writing exercises
prompt one:
what comes to mind when you think of ‘community’ and ‘interconnectedness’?
i encourage you to make a list to begin with. note down all associations you have and then draw lines to connect words or threads that you feel can be grouped together. you can come back to this list when working on the following prompts.
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