Your Writing Mentor

Mary Knippel

Creativity on stage with NSA & Pro Track at Morgan Hill Playhouse

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I took part in NSA’s (National Speakers Assn) Video Day last Saturday and made an amazing as well as a delightful discovery. All of our presentations had a common theme. Whether they focused on what foods we should eat to nourish our body, adjusting our attitude, overcoming adversity, or how to close a sale, all the talks revolved around creative routes to wellness and authenticity. Some 20 of us had gathered at the Morgan Hill Playhouse for the opportunity to make a professional quality video clip. As a fledgling speaker learning all the elements involved in the speaking business through NSA’s ProTrack year long course, I was eager to take advantage of the seasoned videographer along with the theatre acoustics and lighting. In a few weeks I’ll have a little piece of my “performance” on my web site so interested parties can preview my presentation.

While our subjects varied widely, we also have in common our passionate pursuit of sharing our messages via speaking gigs. From 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., we took our turn at center stage, or the adoring, intensely interested audience. Various degrees of stage nerves and performance anxiety were displayed and successfully circumvented. It was exhilarating, exhausting, and absolutely worthwhile. I’m so glad I did it!

Stop by the web site in mid August and enjoy the show!

Creativity, Collage and Beauty's Images

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Yesterday I had lunch with Catherine (Kate) Farrel, a new friend from Redwood California Writer’s Club and The Women’s National Book Assn-San Francisco Chapter, and we discussed her book, Girl in the Mirror. Kate had come across the Golden Gate Bridge to meet with me on the Coastside so we could brainstorm about the workshop Kate wants to offer in conjunction with her book. As we sat enjoying our delicious food in the bustling coffee shop, I found myself nodding at all the many valid issues facing teens:   poor self-image, vulnerability to dating violence, depression and disorders. But with competition from things like reality TV, peer pressure and text messaging, I knew it would be hard to get their attention unless the workshop was fun and related to the girls’ daily life. Collage accomplishes both of those criteria. Supplies are simple:  old magazines/colored paper, a glue stick and a sheet of paper or a notebook. The simple hands-on activity draws in the participants because they choose the images from their favorite magazines to create the collage picture. It engages their sense of sight, sound and touch. It sparks their imagination and invites them to play with purpose. More importantly, it gives everyone common ground to start from.

Self-image is a challenge for females no matter what our age. We are all works-in-progress. Very beautiful works-in-progress; each in our own way. I’ve included an example of a collage I did with a self-image theme. What would you create if you sat down with your favorites (Glamour, Vogue, Good Housekeeping, People, Redbook, Moore, Self, Shape or W), a glue stick and your imagination to create a vision of your self-image?

 

Investing Time in Yourself – Coaxing Creativity Workshop

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Last Saturday I had the opportunity to play with friends at a Creativity Workshop I entitled, Investing Time in Yourself – Yields Creative Results. We talked, shared ideas about de-stressing, wrote, worked on our collages, got to know each other, and played. The message I wanted to share with the participants, along with all of you readers, is that we have to choose to make time for ourselves. No one can do it for us. Carving out a small amount: 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes at noon, or 15 minutes before you go to bed, can make a huge impact on your day. When someone we care about is upset, the first thing we may tell them is to take a deep breath and relax. Well, let’s take our own advice and take a few deep breaths a couple of times a day. Investing Time in Yourself could (and I hope it does) lead to longer opportunities to explore what brings you joy. But for now, let’s start with small shifts in attitude. Fifteen minutes, a simple addition on that TO DO list to give you a chance to pause and catch your breath. As we all know, if it’s on our TO DO list, we’re going to do our best to make it happen!

I invite you to invest time in yourself today!

Thank you, Daddy for creating a nurturing spirit in me

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Happy Father’s Day to everyone this weekend! I hope you have a chance to celebrate with those who have nurtured you in a “fatherly” fashion whether they were of the male gender, or called upon to find that spirit within herself. My Daddy was the strong, silent type Gary Cooper type and a stubborn Norwegian who could be vocal to let you know when he was upset about something, but he also knew how to have fun and he loved his kids. We watched TV together – Ed Sullivan, Lassie, especially Gunsmoke, and Bonanza were favorites. And because farmers couldn’t get away easily for lengthy vacations, Sunday afternoons were special family outings with the boat. It was also difficult to do just about anything together with a family of 8! Living in Minnesota there were lots of lakes around, but somehow we ended up going to an Iowa river for our adventures. It was strange to see Daddy in anything other than his bib overalls, denim work short and Red Wing boots, but to go to the river he wore trunks and matching terry cloth shirt my mother purchased at JC Penneys. You couldn’t pay him to wear sandals, so he always wore his bedroom slippers with his bathing trunks. Mommie would make a picnic of fried chicken, or sometimes Daddy would grill. He had a special trick to get the charcoal to heat up really fast – douse it with lighter fluid! Guess that’s why his hamburgers always tasted like lighter fluid. My brother would attempt to get up on water skis, and the rest of us would splash around in the shallow, muddy water waiting for our turn to get to ride in the boat. Sometimes we’d float on black inner tubes and ride the “waves” into shore the passing outboard motors created when they sped by.

My wish for you is that you’ll have a chance this weekend to make a special Father’s Day memory and let those you love know how much you care!

Creating connections with pink treasures

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This afternoon I took a break from preparing for a Cretivity Workshop I’m hosting on Saturday by puttering around the house and rearranging my collection of Pink Depression Glass. Details about my presentation and my desire to do a good job for the participants became clear as my  perspective and my energy shifted while I washed and handled the delicate pieces. I thought about family and friends who had given me the many plates, bowls, pitchers and sugar and creamer sets over the years and it made me smile. I have a pink measuring cup sitting beside a green measuring cup because my I discovered a pink Depression Glass measuring cup casually in use at my friend’s summer cabin as if it were a Woolworth plastic cup. When I pointed this out to her and offered to do a trade she declined as the item belonged to her parents, but she did understand my attachment. Her husband went on eBay to find another one, but didn’t realize he was getting a green one. She gave it to me at Christmas, apologizing because it wasn’t pink. I love it that much more. I have since gotten a pink measuring cup of my own, and I display them side by side. The memories associated with the pieces keep me connected with the family and friends who gave them to me. They are all precious to me.