mother’s day reTreat: writing exercise

Today is Mother’s Day in England.

Some of us are not mothers, some are.

Some of us have living mothers, some have not.

And all of us have been brought forth by mothers.

Some joyfully, some not.

Whatever your relationship with motherhood, mothering, or mothered-ness, I invite you to join me, at any time over the next few weeks, in this simple, reflective, practice based on creative writing workshops that I give.

All I ask:

as you set aside time (a couple of hours) for this Mother’s Day reTreat, become aware:

and take good care of your bodily needs, your sensory needs, your emotional needs.

I am not a trained therapist, and therefore I need to trust that you will take full responsibility for caring for yourself.

You may want to share any tender outcomes with your trusted therapist or soul-guide.

You may choose to do this creative activity in the company of a close friend, so that you can support each other with hugs, laughter and tears. In person or by email.

You may decide that you want to share this worksheet with others (I can email you an A4 copy from  poet@mcvittie.me.uk ), in which case I ask that you acknowledge my work,

and consider making a donation of £5 to £20 to my chosen charity Toilet Twinning.

I invite feedback on how this writing process is for you. Please share that with me by email:  poet@mcvittie.me.uk   or by leaving a comment on this page.

I shall not publish any of your contributions here without your express permission.

Now, on with the play:

Writing our Way Whole 31 March 2019

Mother’s Day reTreat

Ingredients for treating yourself on Mother’s Day:

about 2 hours; comfy, warm chair; refreshments;

one bound notebook (A5 or A4) or your regular journal;

at least one favourite pen or pencil;

a few old magazines that you can rip up freely;

(optional: coloured pens, glue, bigger paper/card to glue onto

an old newpaper or side of a cardboard box would do)

Method: how to do it

1 brain-dump: try one, any, or all of these, just letting the words flow out into your notebook higgledy-piggledy, for ten minutes at a time:

• Today I am feeling glad that…

• Today I am feeling sad that…

• Today I am grateful for… (three things)

  • ……………….this

  • ……………………………….this, and

  • …………………………………………………..this

Now put that exercise aside. You can re-read it another day. Not now. Why not take a refreshment/exercise break, or have a nourishing body stretch?

2 word-jump: see how many words (of 1-many letters) you can make from the letters in MOTHERS DAY (None occurs more than once.)

Here they are in alphabetical order: A D E H M O R S T Y

For ease of rearranging them, you could write each letter on a piece of paper, then move the pieces as if playing a game like Scrabble^TM …

3 tearing: taking your finished-with magazine or brochures, zip through and rip out any images that attract and resonate with you today. Random words are OK too, just don’t get distracted by reading any articles!

Now, taking your backing paper, arrange any (or all) of the rip-outs in a way that appeals to you. Notice how you feel just now, and perhaps write in your book: After the tearing I feel:

… Now be kind, be gentle…

4 what’s there-ing: after another caring-for yourself break, gather yourself with these images, and read again the MOTHERS DAY word list.

(If you get stuck, there is a partial list of words, in green, at the end of the page)

Settle down and spill into your notebook a piece of private, free-flow writing, just as it is, incorporating some (not all!) of the words and images that you have encountered today, and any that arrive from Elsewhere.

You don’t have to use any of them, they are just there as triggers.

Below are some optional starting phrases to help you get going – just flow!

“When I recall those early years, I remember…”

“The young women had met at the cafe just before the first Baby Massage Class…”

“The song that came through at the end of her/his life was…”

“With my fondest memories, I would like to…”

“It was hard to accept, until… ”

“I sometimes thought that being a mother was…”

“Wrapped in her apron, they…”

“The smell of …. transports me back to ….”

“The image that comes into my mind now is…”

“Just now, I really feel moved to…”

(When you’ve finished, date, sign, and save your precious work for another day…)

Well done! Now it is time to give yourself another treat, another hug, another act of kindness and self care.

Perhaps to make an intention to go back to this exercise – and/or your “creative children” from it – in a few days time, and to listen to what they say to you.

Perhaps to resolve to share some of your findings with another tender heart

or to donate a few pounds to Toilet Twinning .

… a partial Mother’s Day anagram list …

Ah! ado adore am are art army ash aye

Dame dare dart dash day dear death do doer dory dyer

Ear earthy eat

Ha! had ham handy hardest harm harsh hasty head heard hero hers hoard hoad home host

Ma mad made marshy me mead more most my myth

Oh! oast ore

Ram rate ray road roam rose

Sad same say shamed shed sort stay sty

Tad tar trade taser tread toad tor tyre

Ya! yam yard year yes yeast yore …