Why I Started The Writing Shed

I’ve started The Writing Shed because I want to help you express what is on your heart. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted to express myself, but didn’t know how or didn’t have the space to experiment. I felt awkward sharing my heart. I felt uncomfortable crying. I could feel the blue balloon in my throat and had to remind myself to breathe. I wanted to tell my grade school teachers I was lonely, but the word lonely was not spoken at home. Speaking from this experienced pain, I can now say that expressive writing about my life has helped me find liberation from this sore throat. 

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I have come to understand that expression, for me, is everything it means to be whole and healed. It means I have come home to myself, and I can talk to her. I can form a wave with my body, from one end of my fingertips to the other end; I can say a prayer for myself; I can ask a stranger if she’ll let me cut the rose blooms off her bushes; it means I can say “no” when I know it’s not part of my future self; it means I can be in the habit of writing a journal; it means I can draw squiggles with watercolor.

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I can utter, move, forgive, speak, and share with authenticity. That’s what expression means to me. And yet, it’s not always easy.

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Mary Pipher in her memoir, Seeking Peace writes: “[M]any of us are fighting for our lives. We are struggling to be present for our own experiences. There is no more important task before us, or anything that could bring us more love and joy” (212).

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The Writing Shed is a safe place that asks you to be brave in your expression, whether creative, emotional, written, or verbal. It asks you to dig deeper. It believes that everything about being yourself is possible. It asks you to honor your emotions, find patterns in your world, and have fun with who you are. You are my pequenas flores, the garden I always wanted to plant. May we grow together. May we express our truths and be honest with ourselves. May we be present for our own lives. May we embody expression as our birthright.