Men’s Morning Write

Monday’s April 6, 13 and 20 on Zoom from 9:00-10:30 PST
$50- All fees will go to Doctors Without Borders

• 9:00-10:00 Individual Writing (the 9-10 session will be recorded and sent to all participants)

• 10:00-10:30 Optional Breakout Rooms

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...and now for something completely different.

When was the last time you were in a group of men and brought your authentic, unedited self to the page in a safe space? Maybe, like myself, never.

That’s what we’ll be doing on three Monday mornings in April. I’m inviting you to join me.

I’m a Wild Writing teacher. I’ve been wild writing for six years and leading groups for the past several years. Wild Writing is a practice where we write to a jump-off line from easily-understood poems for up to fifteen minutes per poem. We write without stopping, just saying yes to whatever arises. It’s a come as you are party, a chance to come home to ourselves and put whatever is true on the page. No prior writing experience is needed.

In the course of the hour, we’ll write to two different poems. I’ll warm up the space, I’ll read a poem twice, including possible jump-off lines, and we’ll write. We’ll then write to a second poem. There will be a few minutes at the end for questions or reflections.

Does this sound safe? Well, maybe not.

But, here’s the thing. It’s just for you. It’s a chance to take a breath, lower the bar and, yes, write as poorly as possible. You’ll decide what happens with what you write. It may sit in a notebook. It may get edited or expanded. It might get torn up and become confetti.

You can stay at 10:00 and be in a breakout room with four other men and read what you wrote. It’s worth it when you’re ready. It’s the safest format I know to share what I’ve written.

The secret sauce that makes Wild Writing so powerful is that we just listen to each other in the breakout rooms. We don’t comment, critique or discuss anything anyone has written. This sharing is a gift to ourselves and each other and brings us closer together as human beings.

Do you want to give it a try?

Here’s how to sign up:

Step One: Email me at steveneuberger@jeffnet.org saying you’re in.

Step Two: By Friday, April 3rd, go to Doctors Without Borders and make a $50* tax-deductible contribution. Email me a copy of your contribution OR mail me a check made out to “Doctors Without Borders” to PO Box 463, Ashland 97520.

Step Three: I’ll send out a Zoom link well in advance.

I hope I get to meet you. Pass this along to other fellas.

E-mail or call me with any questions.

*I offer social equity rates. I want everyone to be able to join in. So just let me know if $50 doesn’t work for you!