The Experiment – A 365 Day Search For Happiness

Tomorrow night, in the first class of what will be an ongoing Sunday night writing group, the first set of exercises that we will do is about fear. The fear we feel, how we will conquer it, and move forward. Many of us are afraid this first night. People don’t know what to expect. Some are nervous about a video format. Others have never been in a group where they wrote with others and then read their work aloud. The reading can be scary, and it not mandatory, but is a very important part of the process, gets easier with time, and is a powerful and healing part of the process without which you don’t get the full benefit of the experience.

What I want, in the weeks ahead, as we journey onward and do this important work together, is to help people realize who they once were before they became afraid. Before they were short circuited by life, when, once upon a time, everything seemed possible, nothing was impossible, and we believed we could do anything, be anything, that we could have it all. The passing of time, and the living of life, temper us. This happens to us all and is not a bad thing. But giving up on all of who we once were, all that joy, the potent possibilities that were once abundant, dying to our dreams, giving up on life, happens to too many people. What we are doing in this writing group is to begin to unearth long held dreams, dreams that once were, and prepare ourselves to begin again, to live again. We will not be writing about that this week, this week we are paving the way, we are finding our way in, we are connecting to one another, we are learning that we are safe in this space, and we are taking a chance. We are learning that not to risk (read, say) is the greatest risk of all, because if we have come to the edge of everything and we are not now ready to engage and take flight, when will we be?

If not, why not?

If not now, when?

Indeed.

We have come to the edge of everything, when we close our eyes we see the little girl we once were, everything in our body, every cell, remembers that once there were dreams that not only seemed possible but that nothing in us would have allowed us to believe otherwise. There are very good reasons that we may have drifted away from that place. Most of us were taken up with the work of life, marriage, children, for some of us, sadly, divorces, and just plain trying to survive on every level. But one day we find that we have come to a crossroads. One path is a return to life, the other is progressing toward death, the death of dreams, of everything that is enlivening, of all that might be possible. I choose life, and it is scary as all get out, but if we come together, in a group, and we write our way toward a place of waking up again to who we once were and the possibility that we might live and dream again and find our way into whole new, exciting, maybe scary, but thrilling possibilities, no matter what we have been through, how old we are, and even though we don’t know how we will find our way, if we do this together, we will find our way. We will make it.

This group that I have created, that begins tomorrow night, The Sunday Night Writing Group, is, yes, a writing group, but it is not a “creative writing” class, it is transformational writing. And it is a place for tender-hearted people to come, on Sunday nights, to be in a group, one that is gentle and safe, to know that they are not alone in the world. This, too, is one of the most important things of all about this group I have created. Yes, we will write, but for many of us who have felt alone, alienated, and afraid for a long time to know that on Sunday nights we have a place to go, to be in community, where we will be safe, and honored, and that through the week there is a “secret” (private) Facebook group to go to with those in the community to continue the amazing grace of our connection, and then another Sunday comes and we write together again, and then there is the Facebook group to see us through the week between our classes, we will have a sense of continuity and community, of sharing and love and support, so that we will find our way, more easily, back to that sweet, pure place where once it did not occur to us that our dreams might not be made manifest. Dreams are still possible. Together we will find our way to the place where we might begin again.

Today I have read through my notes, made a few revisions, and printed them out. Nerves have given way to a kind of joyful peace. It is that peace that comes when we know we have finally come home. We have found our way. There is nothing for us but this. That is where I am. No matter what little glitches might come up with technology it will not throw me. It is the work that is important, the work of decades, the work of my life, and no matter what technology throws at me the work will get through. Nothing will stop me now.

This is thrilling! I would love it if you could join us. If you would like to read below to be added to our group…

If you are interested in joining us on Sunday nights please send me an email to: TheSundayNightWritingGroup@gmail.com. I am going to be using a MailChimp list to send out information about the group and I must have your written permission to add you to the list. Simply say “Please add me to the list” and give me the email address you would like to use plus tell me why you would like to join the group. This extra step is a security measure. For more information about The Sunday Night Writing Group click on the link herein.