This is a short story called "Dharmalebrity" I wrote in 2017 and performed last year at Sacred Storytelling here in Los Angeles. The story centers around a Buddhist drug and alcohol recovery program and the intersection between celebrity (a religion in Los Angeles without tax-exempt status) and the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha). Listen to the audio recording on Soundcloud here, or below. … [Read more...]
Writing With Dreams
Our bodies create stories. Give yourself a minute to take that in. While we are unconscious, we weave narratives. One-third of our lives are spent sleeping. On average, we can dream anywhere from one to two hours every night. Moreover, we can have four to seven dreams in one night. Five minutes after the end of the dream, half the content is forgotten. After ten minutes, 90% is lost. How can we get to know ourselves in a new way by investigating our dreams? I've been keeping track of my dreams since I was a teenager, and even before then I had dreams that were recurring as a child. As … [Read more...]
Writing Into the Mundane and Discovering Ourselves
I hear this voice all the time. No one is going to want to read this....it sounds...too personal, too unprofessional, like nothing I've read in the pages of the New Yorker. I am here to tell you that sometimes it sounds crazy. Sometimes it is rough around the edges, gap-toothed and feral. Writing that is batshit bananas is on to something - something new, perhaps honing into your own style, unique voice, and personal experience. I was recently circling something in my life and trying to figure out why it made me so *incredibly* emotional. I have always said, if trouble shows up on my … [Read more...]
Writing With Triggers and Trauma
(Re) Considering Trauma In my new day job, I work tangentially with people in drug and alcohol recovery. I say “tangentially” because I do marketing and am not a therapist, but being around it starts to seep in. Most of us have either had some sort of trauma or have known someone close to us who has an addiction problem. One thing about trauma is that once you start to see it or recognize it in other people you begin to see it in yourself. Looking through the lens of trauma puts your own in focus. Most people have trauma – it is very hard to get through your life without an accident, … [Read more...]
10 Books to Inspire Your Personal Maps
As a personal mapping enthusiast, I have been collecting books that inspire me to keep drawing detailed pictures, even though I would not consider myself a visual artist. The pen to paper, having no idea what forms will come out, thrills me. It is pure emotional drawing....much like we did when we were children. The colors, shapes, images and words all come from a very deep and personal place. It feels good to have an intimate map of my internal state - it gives me a release and it is a "visual aid." I have explained my pictures to friends and suddenly we have a glimmer of understanding and … [Read more...]
Writing Advice to My Fifteen-Year-Old Self
New Writing Prompt: How to write a letter to your teenage self! Try starting out with second-person to make it intimate (I recorded a video here on YouTube about the second person if you need a refresher). A good jumping off place is "You think that..." or "When you try...." Really imagine yourself - get out a photograph. One of those hideous school photos or a yearbook. Doesn't it look like a different world? What would your teenage self be the most shocked by? Is it something personal that has happened to you? Have you overcome something you never thought you would be capable of? Can you … [Read more...]
MemoirClass’s First Livecast: Community, Politics, and Goals
Did you miss our LiveCast? I know how incredibly difficult it can be to sign in at the right time so I have the recording available below. In it, I discuss how to use Stunt Writing as a tool for political engagement, the idea of setting up a local Stunt Writing group, and "organic" vs "futuristic" goals for 2017. Enjoy! P.S. I am working on higher resolution for next time! Sorry for the "underwater" feel. … [Read more...]
Writing Prompt: What are Your Life Gifts?
There are certain things that are woven into the fabric of your life that become part of who you are, but because they seem so inevitable it is hard to think of them as a gift. One of my friends experienced a rift in her life - when she was a child her mother decided to leave her husband in the US - and she took her daughter and resettled in Portugal. Leaving San Diego, California behind as an 8 year old, and starting her life again in Lisbon with her mother was a strange process. Not knowing the language or customs, not having any friends or people to go to for comfort radically changed … [Read more...]
Writing Prompt: Writing Your Recipe for Resistance
Sometimes it feels like the world is bent on telling you who you "must" be. As a prompt, write your own recipe for resistance. What do you suggest for shaking it up? Today is a day to look for cracks to move through. Change form. Pick a new exit. Try a new greeting, and a new way of saying goodbye. If it feels like a yes, say yes. If it feels like a no, then no way. Stop coming up with a reason. Today you don't have to explain yourself. Move towards people who you can sit in silence with. Share things you have made with people, but don't ask for feedback. Feel free to change your mind, … [Read more...]
Metamorphosis a Writing Prompt
When you Google the word "change" and ask for images, you get pictures of butterflies. These miraculous creatures undergo a metamorphosis that boggles the mind, from a caterpillar to pupa to butterfly. Change implies that we are many things at once and there are not clear boundaries. Being in flux means that we hold different viewpoints, and some that are in conflict. We are not whole because we can not be contained. Our edges seep between being a man/woman, natural/synthetic, right/left, living and dying...the list goes on. Anyone who thinks they are one thing are in for a big surprise, … [Read more...]
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