Welcome to Elul Spiritual Writing Bet. I’m excited both to offer you what I hope will be singular opportunities to explore your own inner life during Elul this year, but also to augment that spiritual work with intimate communities of care, support and nourishment, held in safety by a Derekh Associate and the other colleagues in your writing circle. To support and facilitate your soul-work and self-care, I will be emailing you a new set of writing prompts each Sunday from August 8 through August 29, stirring your memory and helping you to begin a process of gentle turning as you move into the Yamim Noraim.
The individual writing you will do over the course of each week and the sharing within groups will allow you to dig deep, looking back on the year which is ending and reflecting on how you lived in the year, discerning what can be learned from high moments and painful moments, and then mindfully visioning how you might continue becoming in the year ahead, aligning your day-to-day life with the center of who you are.
How to prepare – in advance of Sunday August 8, buy a new notebook, one with pages large enough to stretch out thoughts and feelings. (I myself favor those old-fashioned composition notebooks, ample pages, inexpensive and therefore not threatening.) Why a notebook? Why write by hand? I’ll explain that along the way. Each week you will receive a variety of prompts – you may write on just one prompt or all, you may write once or twice during the week or each day – the choice is yours.
I hope this month offers you many riches of insight, intrigue, spaciousness, even healing, and that new paths open for you as you enter the new year.
Feel free to reach out with questions/comments.