Magical Memoir Moments
Simplicity: A Very Short Mennonite Memoir
“The more we have, the less we own.” Meister Eckhart I grew up in a simpler age, the 1950’s. We lived on a 100-acre dairy farm. We were Mennonite. I should know all about simplicity, right? Of course, it’s not that simple. Recently someone asked for advice on how to simplify his life. In turn,…
Rhoda Janzen, First Lady and Hottest Chick of Mennonite Memoir
There’s news from Rhoda Janzen, author of Mennonite in a Little Black Dress. Her sequel memoir Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? is available for pre-order. Here’s a short blurb from USA Today to whet your appetite. Now is that a catchy title or what? The subtitle comes back to remind the reader of her…
Sailing Acts: A Memoir and an Inner Transformation
We’ve just returned. In so many ways I am home again. Back from Brooklyn, back from the world’s best job of being a Granny Nanny, back from living out of suitcases for three weeks and a studio apartment for ten months before that. Back from writing ten chapters of memoir on a dining room table….
Jean Raffa on Dream Interpretation and Memoir Writing
Author Jean Raffa has been sharing her knowledge of dreams in a series begun with this post and continuing with last week’s post about the Big dreams of childhood. Here are two more concluding questions from me and Jean’s answers. Q: If we don’t have dream interpretation training like you do, do we need an analyst…
Understanding a Childhood Dream: With Help from Jean Raffa
When I saw the picture that author Jean Raffa sent me to represent the landscape of western North Carolina, her summer home, I smiled. The picture shows a root cellar, a place that must be important to Jean as she looked for landscape to represent who she is. Synchronistically, cellars are also important to me….
Dreams and Memoir: A Way to Discover Inner Truths About the Past
I’ve been carrying on a conversation with author Jean Raffa ever since she posted this essay about the active imagination and her creative process, excerpted below: Here’s how it works for me. I find a quiet, comfortable, private, and distraction-free place to sit, usually in front of my computer so I can record what is…
Dancing With Change — A Memoir About Parting
Today is the first day of the last week of taking care of Owen in Brooklyn. As I get ready to walk to Owen’s house, I am filled with gratitude and a little grief. Yesterday I took a walk in the park — Ft. Greene Park — on what might have been our last sunny…