11.06.08
Walk, stop, turn – an exercise
Last night up at Monroe I was leading the group. Not only leading, but leading on my own as Gloria was sick. It’s one of those moments when you just take a deep breath, prepare your notes and walk in and act as if of course I can do this, of course I’m not nervous, or course I believe whole-heartedly that I have somehow reached a place in my writing studies and career (?) to present myself as a teacher. Of course.
Perhaps in an act to make the night my own, to declare my style of teaching as a tad unique from Gloria’s, or perhaps because I was worried we’d run out of things to discuss (this is clearly the more likely of the two) I came prepared with two additional writing prompts. Turned out that we had plenty to talk about, but at a certain point I realized we actually could use a break from some very intense conversation about everything from the shaman territory in stage 7 of the hero’s journey (Approach to the Inmost Cave) to discussion of the “heart” of a story, as well the “heart” of a life. So, I asked the guys if they wanted to write.
The exercise I gave was a rapid, free-writing exercise. Select three words. In this case I tried to pick words that were in someway related to stage 7 of the hero’s journey, which was the topic for the evening. Give one word at at time and allow writers to write for 2-3 minutes. The goal is to keep the pen/pencil moving at all times, even if they are just writing the word over and over again, or writing, I don’t know what to write over and over. Just write. After 2-3 minutes everyone pauses to get the next word. Again everyone writes nonstop for 2-3 minutes, picking up where they left off. Repeat with the last word.
I did this twice with the guys.
The first set of words were change, deep and friend.
The second set of words were walk, stop and turn.
What they wrote was of course beautiful. I’m always amazed at what comes out of these free-writing exercises. It’s good for a writer to take a break from analyzing writing and just write. You remember that beautiful, powerful words and images come quite naturally actually. One man, the quietest in the group all night, wrote at the end of one of his pieces, I will keep turning, turning, turning, turning, turning until I find the direction I am meant to go.
I also experienced this lovely moment of looking up and seeing seven prisoners focused on writing, everyone’s head bent toward their papers, writing as fast as they could. I felt some pride as a teacher, seeing my students work.
11.02.08
Myth and meaning
“A mythological order is a system of images that gives consciousness a sense of meaning in existence, which, my dear friend, has no meaning — it simply is. But the mind goes asking for meanings; it can’t play unless it knows (or makes up) some system of rules.” — from Campbell’s, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation
I like hanging out with people who ask themselves, on a regular basis, what is the point? And by point I mean all of it. What is the point in waking up each morning, slogging through the day, maintaining relationships, keeping house, making money, spending money, even putting words on a page, going to school, learning for the sake of learning? Why bother? I have yet to come to good answer, one that I would stand by from day-to-day. Yet, I continue to get out of bed, dress, eat and create as if I know why I do any of it.
Campbell’s quote made me laugh. He’s a funny guy. Watch his interviews with Bill Moyers or read his texts and you’ll find a man who has come to have a good sense of humor about life and it’s meaning. What I love about the above quote is the way in which he states, so matter of factly, and as if he is talking to a young child, that there is no meaning to life, but certainly he understands why we must look for one none the less. He seems to believe that a person can hold both realities — that there is no meaning and that finding meaning is the ultimate human journey. Sigh.
When I think about this quote in relationship to the guys in the group at Monroe I feel like it sheds light on why they bother to come at all. Imagine the struggle to find a point to day-to-day life in prison. How could you not ask yourself, what is my value? what does it matter if I get out of this bed or not? what is my purpose? Yet if they are to survive their time, and perhaps if they are even to play by the rules of the prison system, they must create a meaningful reason for their existence. Not easy to do when most of society has already deemed your existence to be of lesser value, if any value at all. It is making more and more sense to me then why a man serving time would turn to creating story. Of course he would. Story writing and story telling link us to those who came before, who survived their own trials and sufferings and who celebrated their own victories. Story connects us to the larger world conversation, the one taking place all the time in cafes and living rooms and churches and bars all over the world. If you have a story to tell then you have a purpose, you have meaning.
In prison I imagine you come right up against the reality that life is, more often than not, tragically without meaning. If you can find the beauty and wonder of that fact, however, then you can begin to shape your story out of a truly deep and ancient collective wisdom. Campbell would likely not be surprised at the interest in mythology at Monroe. He would perhaps say that of course a prisoner would be drawn to myth for who else needs to find a new meaning for his life more desperately than one who has been cast out by his society? Myth brings people into a society, into a culture. Myth makes one a part of something that has come before and that will continue on after any given life has come to an end. To be able to think about something so big in a place that is so small — prison — must be part of what is of value to the men in our group.
