eleven: contemplative writing.
... a love story.
You met Miriam Hall in 2011. You were 26 and learning that time was the greatest gift of all. For your birthday, you and your mum booked onto a Miksang course. You still have the email where she says she’ll send the cheque in the post (- cheque!).
In that email the Shambala Centre in Clapham, London described Miksang as:
contemplative art form which enables us to explore our world with open eyes, using the medium of photography
It was a 4-day retreat where you began photographing colours, then patterns and ended up being mocked by a street performer on the South Bank for taking photographs of puddles.
At that time, you were a songwriter – focusing on lyric writing. When you heard that Miriam offered contemplative writing retreats too, you were delighted.
It was just a feeling then. You hadn’t put it all together, but you knew it was meaningful.
You had begun work as a trainee lawyer in a firm dominated by men who went to posh schools and made your work bleed with red-penned comments. Contemplative writing was the antithesis to this. It was a means of writing without judgment. It gave you agency to follow your own mind and a freedom to hold the pen and explore with curiosity.
You attended many more retreats with Miriam – including a trip to Paris in 2014 on a whim where, following a breakup, you thought it would be a good idea to attend a writing retreat where everyone spoke French with no more than a GCSE to support you. It was a good idea.
Following COVID, and with the availability of Zoom retreats, you have shared your words and heart with people all over the world. You have beloved friends in Maddison, Wisconsin who you’d love to meet in real life one day.
This year, you have been learning how to facilitate writing sessions inspired by Miriam’s contemplative writing. You’re ready to offer them into the world firstly though Monday Morning short writing sessions. For more about contemplative writing and these sessions – see write through the noise.
For more information about Miriam’s offerings – see https://www.herspiral.com
