Another Public Readaround

I started with Women Writing for a Change in the fall of 2007 after doing a weekend retreat they offered.  Right away I recognized kindred spirits in the facilitators and innately understood how it all worked.  Enrolling that fall seemed a no-brainer.  I have never felt as naked, as vulnerable as I did that first semester.  Every word seemed to peel off a little more of my skin.  

Each class begins with a poem.  One of the very first poems Kathy Wade shared was The Book of Hours by Joyce Sutphen.  I was inspired by the poem to try to list my best 12 hours.  12 simple memories of light and beauty.  I tried and failed to write that piece for days.  What I wrote instead was a piece about the shadow hours, my darkest moments.  It was a scream in the dark.

I sat on that piece for weeks, afraid to read it to my small group.  Compelled by the power of those words, I would eventually do that.  My small group then encouraged me to read it at the Public Readaround.  I could not bring myself to do it that first semester.  Only three other people had heard that piece, until tonight.  Four and half years later, I finally read that piece out loud at the public readaround.  My small group was right.  Those were good and powerful words that I found in the shadows.

I no longer felt naked and vulnerable.  I felt strong.  I felt heard.  I felt empowered.