What is my relationship to writing, now?

Hello,

Last week I shared a clip of a poem I wrote a couple years ago called “You’re Doing Fine”. I wrote it during a moment when I was feeling incredibly anxious. This was an attempt to write myself into presence.

It's one of those rare poems where the final draft was not all that different from the first draft.

My relationship to writing has changed so much over the last decade. I used to use writing as a substitute for my voice when my experience of shyness was too overwhelming to speak through. The process of journalling and writing poetry taught me that I that I had something to say, and could say it both eloquently and precisely.

But eventually, that way of writing stopped working for me. It was no longer genuine. I don’t feel afraid to speak anymore. I can’t use writing for that same purpose. So, why am I still drawn towards writing? What is my relationship to writing now?

I wrote this early last week in an attempt to clarify my experience:

I’ve tried to use words to prove my worth and although
they acquiesced in the beginning, happy to meet me,
with time they began to rebel, displeased
with being forced through a spigot.

Like water, they knew themselves to have many shapes
and not all of them were fragile. They resisted staying
in one form for too long.

—

What is your relationship to writing and creative expression?

I started designing and teaching writing workshops out of a desire to support folks to engage with this question. If you’d like to explore with me, I have several workshops coming up on poetry’s relationship to the body, using poetry to define our authenticity, and on using metaphors to reimagine our relationship to the world. With each of these classes, reflection and community-building are central to the class experience. View all upcoming classes here.

FALL TERM Writing Classes (ONLINE):

The Fall term at the studio starts September 11th!
There are 4 different workshops coming up. Click the link below to learn more.

Heal Through Poetry: 
Documentary Series Screening Night

Join me this evening for a special screening of the first 4 episodes of the doc series 'Heal Through Poetry', funded by the STORYHIVE’s Voices 2.0 program.

✨I'm being featured in episode 1 with an episode on anxiety (here’s a clip) ✨

Details:
When: Tuesday, Sept 5th
Location: The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe Street Vancouver BC
Time: 5:30 - 8:30pm (including a 30 minute panel, which I’ll be facilitating).

On one of the days when we filmed, I was actually experiencing quite severe anxiety and I allowed Garima (the director) to capture me as I offered myself a breath practice and attempted to bring myself back to presence. That moment is shared in this clip from the film.

Questions about any of the above content? Email [email protected]

with warmth,
Christine Bissonnette

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