Writing as Transformation, Transforming your Writing

This event is currently sold out. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please reach out to The Well at thewell@csjoseph.org

Are you drawn to write about some surprising, radical, or gradual change in your life?  When personal transformation is our inspiration, story-telling patterns offer us easy, practical guidelines.  In this five-day retreat, we will contemplate memories of transformation both profound and ordinary by generating personal narratives.  We’ll learn practical techniques for revising (re-seeing) our stories, inviting us into deeper understanding and making available to potential readers the gifts of our experiences.  Along the way, we’ll also experience the transformational powers of the writing process.

Some areas we’ll explore together:

• The periods before and after moments of change
• The importance of articulating expectations
• How to use chronology to honor our felt experience
• How to link the outer story’s movement to its emotional and spiritual import

This retreat is for those new to writing as well as experienced writers looking to learn how transformation works in their lives and their stories.
Facilitator: Elizabeth Jarret Andrew

Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew is a published author and teacher. Some of her books include Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art & Practice of Spiritual Memoir; Living Revision: A Writer’s Craft as Spiritual Practice; and The Release: Finding Creativity & Freedom After the Writing is Done), through Eye of the Heart Center for Creative Contemplation. She is a co-founder of the Eye of the Heart Center, a new collective of artists and wisdom teachers dedicated to nurturing meaningful community and supporting spiritual transformation through the arts.

July 22th, 7-8:30pm CST-Sunday, July 26th, 1pm CST
Zoom $400 (In-person option is sold out)

Register Now

Retreat Schedule:
Wednesday, July 22
7-8:30pm Opening, introductions to one another and to our retreat

Thursday, July 23
8am Breakfast
10-11:45am Outer and Inner Stories
12 noon Lunch
1-2:30pm Crafting Transformation:  Expectations / “Before”
5pm Dinner
7pm Optional group conversation

Friday, July 24
8am Breakfast
10-11:45am The Turning Point:  “During”
12 noon Lunch
1-2:30pm Consequences: “After”
5pm Dinner

Saturday, July 25
8am Breakfast
10-11:45am The Narrator You, the Character You
12 noon Lunch
1-2:30pm Story Order
5pm Dinner
7pm Optional reading and celebration

Sunday, July 26
8am Breakfast
10-11:45am Closing Session
12 noon Lunch

Need to reach Elizabeth?  elizabeth@spiritualmemoir.com

Weekly spiritual memoir writing prompts:  www.elizabethjarrettandrew.com

Free microcourse, The Gifts of Writing, and gift-based online community:  www.eyeoftheheartcenter.org/writing-community