For five days each month and every day in April, I write with ethicalela.com in addition to writing with Slice of Life every Tuesday and every day in March. In fact, two years ago I kept on blogging every morning, and the last day of February 2023, I celebrated two full years of daily blogging. I’m also looking for more groups and would LOVE to have a calendar of writing groups so that I am better able to carve the time for more writing. If you have a calendar you’ve created, I’d love for someone to share it.
Today, we are writing Pile of Good Things poems after the mentor text shared by Stefani Boutelier, written by Amy Kay. You can read Stef’s prompt here. She’s an Associate Professor of Education at Aquinas College in Michigan, and she’s certified in all the tech tools of the trade, it seems. I first met Stef when I interviewed her for the Oklahoma State University Oral History Project as many of us shared poetry we’d written during the days of Covid. That project, led by Dr. Sarah Donovan, is available in OSU’s library, and the videos are deeply moving. From that project, our book Bridging the Distance was published, featuring the poems we shared in those interviews.
I didn’t meet Stef in person until November 2022, when we convened in Anaheim for the NCTE Convention and were part of a presentation group together. Everyone pitched in – Glenda wrote our proposal and rallied us to success in getting there, Margaret set up a dinner, Stef organized a time of writing with our group, and everyone worked on some part of making the time together magical, including teaming up to create prompts for the times we host during the coming year – Barb and Glenda did that! I still remember us trying to get the famous green couch moved out of the exhibit hall into a public place so that we could gather around it. While we weren’t able to use the green couch, we sat on the benches and the floor sharing sacred time together. Melanie Meehan from Slice of Life joined many of us. I remember Bryan Ripley Crandall strolling by and joining us for this time that I still consider one of the highlights of the trip – it was warm, intimate, and deeply moving. There were plenty of tears that morning as we were both sad to leave our friends and ready to get back home to our families with long flights or drives in between.
I’m celebrating all the writers in my life today, and the friendships that writing communities create. Whether I’ve met you or not, you may know me better than most of the friends who are part of my daily life. Thank you!
Today at the Open Write, Stef leads us through the process of creating a Pile of Good Things poem and uploading it to Canva to create a colorful graphic form of the poems, ready for sharing. Come write with us at www.ethicalela.com. Here is mine, written from Campsite 108 at F. D. Roosevelt State Park in Georgia:
Common Threads 
Wonderful way to celebrate your writing groups and writing friends. Love your poem! Happy writing and congratulations for your continued success and efforts with blogging and writing amazing poetry!
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Thank you, Barb! I appreciate your kind words so much. My writing community is so empowering and truly my fellow writers stretch my thinking to consider other angles and other forms of writing. I love the productive struggle of writing.
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Kim, what great photos with the reminder to celebrate the writers in our lives! I am running a day behind you with the Open Write posts but it is intentional… I am still not well and it’s my way of being able to keep on going. On that note – it’s so often other writers that keep us writing, which is part of the value of the writing community: encouragement to write anyway, noticing and reaching out when someone isn’t there… it’s all part of that vital sense of belonging. And iron sharpens iron; we get better together! As mentioned in the comments on Ethical ELA – your ability to paint a scene with such detail and so few words is just incredible. I am thankful for you (I think you know!).
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Fran, I am hoping you feel better soon. Is this still lingering from when I sent you a message a few weeks ago? I know what you mean about pressing on and writing through it all. I am glad you are doing the challenge. I missed you when you were not posting as often. Friend, I have had a tension headache since February 1st, thinking it was vertigo and ending up having an EKG and a head scan to see if there is anything troubling there. It checked out. Hormones checked out. Next step is neurologist and opthalmologist. It may even be Long Covid – – the brain fog that just lingers and lingers and lingers like a wrinkled veil over my think spot. Thank you for reading today – – and for keeping on writing. I do love those finches! I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers – – I had no idea you were still struggling with not feeling well. It’s so draining.
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There are days when I wonder if blogging is still the thing to do, but then I read posts like this and remember the wonderful people I have met online and in person, and I realize that even if it’s not the “thing to do”, it is still important to me. And I guess that is all that matters. I loved seeing FB posts when this book of poetry came out. It was such a positive thing that came out of so much heartbreak and tragedy. I’m curious to what other groups you belong?
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I just realized I forgot to comment about the poem! I do like this “pile” form. It’s listy and gratitude combined. What a fun capture of adventure.
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Leigh Anne, I know that there is a Magic Group (Sharing Our Stories) and I have written with that group a time or two. I’ve forgotten the days, so I’m trying to create a collective writing group chart with all of the opportunities, dates, and predominant types of writing of each group and I would love to know of new groups. I have heard that there is a spirituality group, and I know Margaret Simon hosts This Photo Wants to Be a Poem. I have a local in-person writing group for adults that meets at my local bookstore, and I meet with a group of middle school writers once a week because we just like writing. Most often, I write online with Ethicalela for the Open Write and Verselove, and also with Slice of Life on Tuesdays and this month. Do you have groups you write with? I’d love to see a big table or chart with collective information with all of the opportunities we have to write.
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Ruth Ayres had the Sharing Our Stories #SOSMagic group, but the posting there has stopped. I need to look into Tammy’s coffee share group. The spiritual Thursday group has Ramon Behnke, Margaret Simon, Fran Haley, and a few others that post on the first Thursday of each month, with a different person hosting each month. But I don’t know of any others. I am actually considering one called Solace and Connection which focuses on Nature and connections with other writers. I’m not sure how it will go over, but I came up with the idea after reading this response and reading a book called The Curious Nature Guide with several Teach Write members. Finding teachers who write in any capacity and nurturing that practice is so important.
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Leigh Anne, I started compiling a table today of all the ones I know about, and I had the SOS Magic group there. I wonder if she will resurrect this. I’m really glad you commented with this information. I love your idea for the new group. My sister in law wrote a guest post on Ecotherapy one day, and there is so much that can be shared in nature, from herbs and plants to grounding to ecotherapy to conservation…..and I would love to be part of that group.
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Denise shared about this poetry opportunity during the zoom call. So glad you include info about your meet up in Anaheim! I just read Margaret’s poem and now yours! Love how the poem grounds in length line by line, a true pile. And because you were camping, it captures your weekend so well! Well done!
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Thank you, Sally! Margaret should be having some wood ducks hatch anyday now and jump into the water. She often hides a camera in the box so we can watch. I love seeing those little babies jump and swim – their launch into the big world. The form today is a lovely visual form of poetry led by Stefani.
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NCTE in Anaheim was fun, and our poetry session amazing. I did not meet all who participated in our session, however. Still, the energy of that session was a highlight of the conference, and I’m so grateful to Sarah, Barb, and a couple others from our group who supported me on Sunday during my session w/ Carol Jago, Jennifer Fletcher, and Michael Guevara. It’s the people who keep me coming to NCTE each year, and as as Fran and Leigh Anne say, it’s the people who keep us writing in each group. Sadly, that works in reverse, too, and so I find myself questioning my place, wondering if I’ve overstated my welcome, outgrown or shrunken i’m ways that result in diminishing returns. I do love your poem and the visual you created in Canva. I can see Canva as a tool broadening opportunities for sharing poems. I think it’s the way many Instagram poets share their verses. Of course Boo Radley has to be in your pile of good things, and it’s fitting you’re writing from your favorite camping spot in nature. I’m going to write a poem some time today and create a visual for it.
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Glenda, you are a source of inspiration for writers in these writing groups. I’m so grateful for the efforts of those who have pushed me, challenged my thinking, and stretched me to become a better writer. Technology does not come easily since I’m not a digital native and don’t have the natural inclinations to explore and wonder what all I can do with it, but I have heard that Canva is a tool that so many teachers love. I’m glad to experiment with it today. I’m glad you will create a visual. Every time you post those gorgeous travel pictures, I think about how I’m able to experience the moments vicariously. When I think of visuals, I think of your photos.
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Kim, Your poem is a perfect pile. I enjoyed all the images you shared. Thank you, also, for pointing me towards this writing group. I will check it out.
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Kim, what a great post, summarizing Open Write and the overarching importance of writing groups. A calendar sounds like a good idea. I hope you get some comments about that. Have you heard of Laura Shovan’s Facebook group who write a poem together each day in February? (Something to add to your calendar for next February. https://laurashovan.com/2023-february-poetry-project/) Also, you might like to do Poetry Friday, which I started in 2021, and has been a fun place to read and write more poetry, especially kids poems.
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Thank you Denise! I’m adding this to my list of writing groups. I’ll check it out!
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Kim, what a wonderful shout out to all the writing circles! How I wish I had been able to be in Anaheim with y’all – that sounded like such a fun trip. It must have been so amazing for all these ‘online’ friends to become ‘real’ and ‘3D’ with laughter and personalities, lol. Two Writing Teachers/SOL and Ethical ELA have been a real source of community for me, and my writing has greatly improved thanks to all. (With the exception of this blather of a comment, lol.) Thank you for spotlighting Stef – I hope you share this slice with her, if she hasn’t read it here, herself. I am filled with appreciation!!!
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A community of writer friends is essential these days. The support is important so thanks for adding your group’s actions in the past and writing in the present. I enjoyed your pile of good things poem and as I told Fran Haley, I plan on writing one., too. Thanks for sharing, Kim.
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