Kortney Garrison

In a recent letter Holly Wren Spaulding mentioned what she calls embodied and improvisational tools including slowness, benevolent company, quiet, rest, space, and courage. Holly’s spacious improvisations overlap with my own reasons for loving handwork.

My life and work as a mother and homeschooler is filled with the 10,000 things that need doing. I work on embroidery projects to give definition to my time off. I don’t want it to slip away because I have failed to pay attention. And yet I’m looking for a way to step away from obligation and requirements.

Embroidery stills the insistent voices in my head and in our world that says we need to do more, we need to consume more, we need to be more.

For a few minutes each day I claim my sovereignty.

By choosing to slow down, to be quiet, to rest, I create a space where courage becomes possible.

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Yesterday I mentioned the #AmWriting podcast. Another favorite is Ann Kroeker. She’s a writing coach in your ears!

I first came across Ann’s work 10 years ago while searching for Ann Voskamp. Isn’t that a blast from the past?! I emailed her or left a comment about looking for one thing and finding another. She was so gracious! How serendipitous her first book felt for me.

All through the years I’ve been a reader of her blog and listener to her podcast. Then our paths crossed again when I wrote the prompts for Tweetspeak Poetry, one of her publishers, for a season. These tiny affirmations early on in my Homeschool MFA were the spark, the sign that I was on the right path, that I hadn’t let go of the thread.

I was riveted listening to a recent episode on free writing vs. thinking before you come to the page. It’s a false dilemma of course. The two practices reinforce and strengthen each other. But hearing Ann puzzle it out is enlightening. And it made it easy to see how both practices could enliven my writing.

I’m due for a re-read of Ann’s excellent book On Being a Writer. I think it might be just the thing for the new year. A way through the dark of winter with writing together as our guide. I’d love to have you read along with me!

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Whatever my submission goals shake out to be in the coming year, whether or not a particular poem gets published is not something I control.

It’s my job to be learning and growing and sending things out. But then that’s where my work ends. I can’t manhandle editors into publishing my poems!

I first learned about this idea from the #AmWriting Podcast–an excellent listen all around. In Episode 140 they were talking about goals in the new year and mentioned this concept of things you control and things you don’t.

They weren’t advocating shirking responsibility or a lackadaisical approach. These writers are committed and driven. But they were advocating a clear headed look at where all that drive settles down into something deeper.

A softening, an open hand, the boat moving freely in the current.

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In my Homeschool MFA it all counts–daily writing practice, reading, journaling, watching movies, reading craft books, taking classes. Because I don’t have great swaths of time to devote to this project, I aim to use every bit of my life to build up my writing.

But how can I be sure that I’m not just covering the same ground? How can I be sure that I am growing as a poet? Well, in a lot of ways I can’t be sure! I’m in it for the long haul and am working on habits that will be with me through time. I don’t want to just put in the hours, but also grow horizontally–to develop my craft while putting in the time. Here’s how I’m doing that.

Take Classes

This doesn’t come as a surprise does it? I love the accountability and passion that a class stokes up. I love learning from someone who is a few steps further down the path than I am. I love the small serendipities that develop as my work intersects with a teacher’s offering.

Meet with Friends

Something happens when you talk to other people who are doing the work you want to do. I do this online primarily. But every once in a while I get to see people in person. In a couple of weeks my writing group will meet over bowls of soup and glasses of wine. There will be music and laughter and deep conversation. I can’t wait…though this morning on a walk I realize that I should probably bring poems to share. That made me a bit nervous! So there’s my assignment between now and the cold night’s moon.

Submit Work

Sage Cohen says that you can’t get published if you don’t send it out. This month I’ve heard back from three publishers–two said no and one said yes. Hall of Fame numbers! Regularly submitting work keeps me returning to the work in revision. It honors the first heat of creation. I don’t know what my submission goal will be for this coming year. Maybe 12 submissions over the 12 months? I do know that I want to spend more time and thought in the revision process and learn better how to move poems forward.

Click here to see all the Listening to My Life :: Homeschooling an MFA in Poetry posts.