Wanted:

- Exploration. Reflection. Bigger questions and quieter, simpler answers.

I want to stand at the entrance of a cave carved into volcanic rock by Etruscans, 3,000 years ago.  Caves for protection; for storing grains and wine and water; for housing doves and olive presses.  I want to know how it feels to stand in that doorway.

I want to meet local people, over wine and conversation…  or in a kitchen that serves up fresh, local specialties to local patrons.

I want timeless time for a little while.  To explore. To discover. To reflect on where I’ve been, and where I might go from here.

- Options for writing around the edges.

I want to rekindle the urge to create. I want to write.  Not necessarily the formal, official kind – more the meandering, wondering kind. 

Writing – that wondering kind – is a lot like travel: it offers up surprises and new perceptions.  It’s sometimes confounding, usually better than planned … and always nourishing somewhere deep inside.

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- No pressures required:

No promptness, rushing, or otherwise quietly hollering, “go faster, quicker, better…!”

- Room for the unexpected:

Delight, discovery, company, and the occasional nap.

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Slow Travel:  Orvieto, Italy  

May 12-18, 2013

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Olive groves, vineyards, art

- Frà Angelico, Luca Signorelli, Greco  -

Cobblestone streets. Thursday open market.  Perspective.  

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“A good thought, like a good donkey, is something

to be nurtured.  Neither likes to be rushed.”  

–Slow Travel Europe

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More….

Orvieto, writing, and donkey-pace

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- Further temptation and information:

our hosts:  Adventures in Italy

details and registration: Pathways to Discovery

website:  www.mainstreetwriters.com

email: mainstreetwriters@gmail.com

Orvieto Doorways ... Rest, Relax and Reflect ... Pigeon Holes ... Giovanni's Vineyard

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Hello – and Happy New Year!

Someone wise suggested that rituals are all about transformation. If January First marks the transition into a new year, perhaps New Years resolutions are the rituals that invite  transformation.

The Cart and the Horse

Over the years, I’ve made all kinds of resolutions.  Some stuck, some didn’t.  If I’m going to get the best out of it, though, I think I need to see resolutions as the “cart” – and understand that the “horse,” the driving force, lies in reflection.  It’s not so much about losing 10 pounds or drawing more often – it’s about the desire that underlies those ideas: having more energy, experiencing more joy.

So I’m off for the day.  Reflecting.  In the mean time, for everyone who’s considered blogging but hasn’t taken the leap, here’s the annual data for this blog.  I started it last March, as a way to reach out to a handful of new and familiar writers.  This morning, I find I’ve had readers from six continents – who knew?  This could be you….!

Happy reflections, happy New Year. May you find new opportunities to meander, dream, and create. 

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WordPress Stats

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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On Writing…

“There is no place for hierarchies in the heart, and the making of art is a matter of the heart.

Art is the creative expression of the human spirit, and it cannot – it must not for the sake of the human community – be limited to those few who achieve critical acclaim or financial reward.

…Genius is hidden everywhere; it is in every person, waiting to be evoked, enabled, supported, celebrated.  It is in you.  It is in me.”

  — Pat Schneider: Writing Alone and With Others

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Pat Schneider is the Founder of Amherst Writers & Artists, and  creator of the AWA method.  Author of nine books, including “Writing Alone and With Others” (Oxford University Press), Pat has mentored writers and workshop leaders from all walks of life for more than 30 years.

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Pat and Nellie

“Many of us talk around the supper table, tell stories, jokes, repeat what happened as we went through our day, and never know we are creating fictions, dialog, suspense, climax.

…Not being able to write is a learned disability. It is almost always the result of scar tissue, of disbelief in yourself accumulated as a result of unhelpful responses to your writing.

…Those wounds can be healed, those blocks can be removed. Even if you don’t talk easily to others but spin stories out in your own head – if you talk to yourself – you can write.  You are already an artist.”

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You can learn more about Pat,

her writing, and the AWA method here.

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And you can write with Kathy Dunn

using the AWA method…

In Western Mass:  Outdoor Voice: Day-long Retreats in the Pioneer Valley

In Orvieto Italy: Pathways to Discovery

Registration Deadline: July 18

The Slow Road to Italy

The road to Italy began, for me, three years ago. I was a partner in a local company, handling some part of everything and working overtime. I spent too little time with my family, too much time on my cell phone, and somehow eked out enough time to keep the writing workshops vital.

An accident took me off that train. I spent six weeks in a recliner, with a broken jaw – sipping protein shakes through a straw, googling everything I could think of on a laptop, and watching the sun move across the yard.  I had plenty of time to reflect, and enough pain to keep me from diving back into old routines.

Long Story Short…

The rest of the journey is a book unto itself.  The short version is: I thought long and hard about what I should and should not be doing.  I was pretty clear about the roads to not-take anymore – but the road to take was much more elusive.  The only compass I had was a deep desire to heal, to write, and to continue the writing workshops.  And to cook really good food.

It’s the Journey

Friends of Quabbin: Richard Johnson

So here I am, on the road to Italy.  Along the way I have discovered the Slow Travel movement; met Bill and Kristi Steiner; and co-developed a creative writing adventure in Orvieto. This spurred conversations with a workshop member, and led to the creation of Outdoor Voice: day-long retreats in local settings that are worlds away from the everyday. All in all, it’s a slower and richer journey.

Why am I going to Italy?  For me there is no other path.  By guessing and wondering and risking and trying and learning and trying again, I have come to a path that restores and challenges me. It offers new perspectives, new answers, and new opportunities.  I want to share this with others – and that’s how my road leads to Italy.

What Calls You to Orvieto?

I asked our host, Bill Steiner this question – he was quick to respond:

Giovanni shares his wisdom

“There is so much that calls us to Orvieto.  As we return for our 9th year, we are drawn by the relationships we have built with people in Orvieto.  This translates into more personal, insightful interactions – which in turn make it a more meaningful trip for everyone.

“Beyond that, Orvieto is a beautiful setting. The city’s physical character is embodied in its medieval streets and Renaissance Cathedral; it is flat and high up – set apart from the more modern world that sits at its base. The food is superb, they have fabulous wine, and their olive oil is fantastic. What’s not to like!!”

And Why Writing…?

Again, host Bill Steiner:

“We’ve always felt there is a certain contemplative nature about being in Italy – and particularly at the peaceful, quiet convent B&B in which we stay.

“We’ve enjoyed sharing this experience with others – and believe that writing, which is contemplative in nature, is equally inspiring and moving.  It deepens the experience for everyone.”

The Tufa Stays in the Soul

Further reflections from Bill:

“There is something about Italy that gets into your system, your psyche, your soul. Giovanna, at our B&B says, ‘the tufa absorbs you’ – tufa being the porous volcanic rock on which Orvieto sits.

“I agree. Slowly, imperceptibly, gently, deliciously one becomes a part of the place. There are few visitors who are not touched by the magic of Orvieto.

“We are just back, and as always, I am changed. The bottom line feeling of being absorbed by the tufa is that all is right with the world. Why? I think because Italy impels you to live life, to live it fully with passion and joy and gusto.”

Art, history, wine, community, market day, Etruscan caves, stunning works of art, nap time, olive groves – truly: what is not to love?

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Experiment, Explore, Discover

Register Here for Pathways to Discovery

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Settembre a Orvieto!

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Many Hands, Many Arts

Gothic to a "T"

Art is huge in Orvieto.  At the heart of the city lies the Cathedral, or Duomo.  Constructed on the site of an earlier, more humble cathedral, the first stone for the new Duomo was set in place in 1290.

Across nearly 300 years of construction,  the hands, hearts and souls of generations of workers, artists, and architects shaped and re-shaped the building – blending and evolving it in style from Romanesque to Gothic. The façade of the Duomo, Gothic to a T, is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages.

Carving Stone, Shaping People

Creation of Eve

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In the early Renaissance world, only the few and the privileged knew how to read. The vast majority learned the great lessons and stories of their time through spoken word – and art.

The sculpted panels that frame the main doors of the Duomo served its 15^th century visitors as both creations of beauty and tellers of stories.

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It’s the 1,000 Words Thing

Luca Signorelli

Inside the Duomo is a treasure trove of stained-glass and frescoes – including works created in the mid-1400’s by Frà Angelico (Frà Giovanni from Fiesole), and completed 50 years later by Luca Signorelli – whose personal masterpiece also graces these walls.

Stories within stories abound, as Signorelli went on to fresco every inch of the San Brizio Chapel. His Biblical scenes reflect fellow Florentine Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” and among Signorelli’s many characters one can find a young Raphael and Dante, himself – along with striking resemblances to explorer Christopher Columbus and Renaissance Humanists Boccaccio and Petrarch.

Art Through Time

Right next door, art predating the Duomo masterpieces can be found at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.  Lives and lessons from earlier times can be found in frescoes dating as far back as the 2^nd century BC, along with items from pre-Christian tombs.

Emilio Greco

And a few steps from there, the Museo Emilio Greco  is home to 32 bronze sculptures and other works donated to the city by contemporary Sicilian artist Emilio Greco. The bronze door that graces the Duomo is also the work of this gifted sculptor and printmaker.

Today, artists and craftspeople thrive in this community of 8,974 families.  Age-old gestures are repeated as local people work with clay, metal, leather, wood, and lace unique to Orvieto.

Creativity Changes Lives

In creating art – in tapping one’s gift – the artist is changed.  The world is also changed.  And in witnessing these gifts, observers are often transformed as well.  Gifts multiply.

Simona loves to teach cooking

Creativity comes in many forms.  Whether it’s art or writing, dance or music, raising children or teaching or playing baseball – doing whatever moves you deeply is an act of creativity.

The process can be challenging, frustrating, or exhilarating – it doesn’t matter: when you tap into your own creativity, you can sense that you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing….It’s that timeless feeling.

You can learn more about Orvieto’s deep history in art here and here.

And you can explore Creative Writing, art, wine, food, history, olive groves and the Slow Life in Orvieto here.

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Register Now for Adventures in Orvieto, May 12-18, 2013

Settembre a Orvieto!

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What Draws You to Orvieto?

“What drew me to sign up for Orvieto was the allure of Italy – what’s not to like? – and the chance to visit it purposefully, with the opportunity for self-development and cultural edification…something more than just staring.”

Orvieto Draws Maureen; Maureen Draws Orvieto

Maureen Moore is a gifted writer, artist, and  book publisher.  She is also very patient with me – so when I pestered her to tell me all about her experience with Bill and Kristi Steiner’s  Journeys of Discovery, she was kind enough to share her insights, along with some of her Orvieto watercolors.

What were your reservations when it was time to plunk down money?  “I didn’t have any reservations; the tour costs were so reasonable and fair, I had no doubts.”

the market has it all: books, bags, bikinis, cheese... and more

When you arrived in Orvieto, what surprised you?   “I was surprised to find Orvieto so literally ‘in the air’ – it had a dream-like appearance, flying above the valley floor.  We took a cog rail car up the near vertical cliff side.

“I was delighted by the pace – and the beauty of the language: overhearing it rippling all around and wishing I could make sounds like that and wishing more that I could understand it, as well.”

What confounded you? “I was confounded by the money, trying to figure out how to calculate it and distinguish one coin from another.”

When you returned, what did you leave behind – and what did you bring with you?   “I left my heart behind – no surprise there – and I took away a greater, deeper appreciation of the true value of a slower-paced life.

“I also took away the conviction that I would never have meals as savory again until I get back there.”

…And would you be willing to share an excerpt of the piece you wrote when you returned?   “I would gladly post an excerpt, except I don’t know where that piece might be!!   I do recall how pleasant it was to watch the people gathering in the square, chatting and watching each other – kind of like the flocks of pigeons do!  Very quiet… peaceful.  Nice.” ;

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Something More than Just Staring

Simona shares her secrets

Under the tutelage of  Simona, local chef extraordinaire, recent participants in the Orvieto adventure learned to make appetizers, eggplant parmigiana, their own tomato sauce, and a divine panna cotta – using fresh, local ingredients.

Giovanni shares his vineyard

Later in the week, they visited Giovanni’s vineyard.  He shared his philosophy for creating wines with character, while participants sipped several of his favorites.

Want more?  You can find additional pictures and narratives about recent Adventures in Italy here.

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Taking the Leap: Register now for Adventures in Orvieto, September 23-29

“There is something special about being in Orvieto, pursuing an art you love….Part of it is taking the leap, making the commitment to do such a trip. It is a reaffirmation of who you are and that a robust, fulfilling, exciting life is possible.”

Hosts Bill and Kristi Steiner sum up the Orvieto experience with these words. You can join us in Journeys of Discovery and this year’s Creative Writing Retreat by registering here.

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Settembre a Orvieto!

bellaumbria.net/Orvieto

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Armed with Sticks and Chocolate

Remember sitting with friends around a campfire, on hard benches – or harder stones – mesmerized by the dance of the flames,  the snap of sparks, the voices circling and drifting off into the darkness?

Marshmallows were likely involved, and if you were really lucky, while you warmed your feet you savored charred burgers and blackened hot dogs – neither of which would have been deemed edible in the bright light of the kitchen table…and all of which carried the immediate and unforgettable taste of a wood fire.

The Ancestor’s Breath

On a beach in France, you can see the remains of stone hearths built 300,000 years ago.  Fire was our ancestors’ sole means of cooking until the 1890′s, when the warm hearth gave way to gas and electric stoves.

Consider the numbers: 299,880 years of cooking with fire; 120 years with stoves.  We have been fire-cookers for 99.996% of our entire history.

Which is why, when we burn brush in the yard, or sit around a fire on a summer night, or set kindling and wood into the fireplace, we are communing with our ancestors.  And when we taste food that has been cooked over fire, our senses recognize something deep and familiar.

Those who have died  have never, ever left; the dead are not under the earth….  Tis’ the ancestors’ breath when the fire’s voice is heard; ’tis the ancestor’s breath in the voice of the waters.   — Breaths: Birago Diop

Beyond Sustenance

“The firelight…infuses everything cooked on the hearth with a touch of magic.” In The Magic of Fire, William Rubel celebrates the ancient craft of hearth cooking.  With every recipe, he evokes the  soul-stirring experience of cooking and eating in a room lit only by fire and candlelight.  Fire, he suggests, “casts a spell that stops time and bends space.”

Slow can be as simple as cooking burgers over a fire.   It can mean traveling in a meandering, donkey kind of way.  It can mean carving out time and space to write whatever wants to emerge.

Always it means getting close to what matters,  taking time to connect with what lies at the core – of a community, a family, oneself.  That’s what Slow is all about.

Slow

To see Birago Diop’s poem in its entirety, click on Breaths here .

To sign up for week-long Creative Writing retreats in Orvieto, the heart of the Slow City movement, click here.

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Writing on the Slow Train

“A good thought, like a good donkey, is something to be nurtured.  Neither likes to be rushed.”                                                         –Slow Travel Europe

In the world of Slow Travel, getting there can still be half of the fun.  And while some trips do require air travel, Slow Travel embraces the metaphor, if not the literal practice, of travel by donkey.

Creative writing is a lot like Slow Travel.  In many ways, it is a form of travel. It takes us to new places and offers up new perceptions.  It surprises and confounds and, more often than not, nourishes something deep inside.

Creative Writing explores inner landscapes, taking us deeper into stories we thought we already knew.  And, like Slow Travelers,  we are never fully in charge of what happens along the way – nor of when (or whether!) we’ll reach our intended destination.

Fast Likes Fast

Writing moves at donkey pace.  Sometimes that means a spirited trot, or a sure-footed climb up a steep, narrow path.  Other times it means barely moving, or stopping altogether to nuzzle sweet grass at road’s edge.

Writing is like that.  We have to receive it, encourage it, be open to its surprises.  Most of all, we have to not-rush it.

Fast, on the other hand, likes precision.  And promptness.  Fast is not very good  at meandering.  So if we all have fast lives, how do we make room for the unexpected? Travel is one way.  Writing is another.

You Don’t Have to Travel Far to Travel Slow

In the world of writing, Slow is about creating a protected space and time.  It doesn’t matter whether you sign up for the upcoming retreat in Italy, or shove boxes into the corner of the spare room, set up a comfortable chair, close the door – and start writing.

Poetry, fiction, journal entries, dreams, questions, memoirs, lists, recipes, editorials, capital-T Truths, small-t truths, myths, rants, short stories, long lies, ads, gossip, epics, aspersions, eulogies, fables, lyrics, and notes you don’t intend to send:  carve out the time, and there’s no end to the variety of writing that will emerge.

Slow Travel in Your Back Yard

Sometimes all it takes to shift out of Fast is an unfamiliar setting.  If you do your laundry at home, spend a half hour sitting in a laundromat…and write.  Or spend an hour occupying a local park bench.  And write.  Or indulge: test the scones in a different bakery each week – and write as you savor. Settle in somewhere new and close your eyes: what do you hear, smell…taste?

Use Your Outdoor Voice

Mass. Dept. of Conservation & Recreation

If you live in or near the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts, you can explore Slow Travel and Creative Writing through Outdoor Voice, a series of four, day-long Writing Retreats at different sites throughout the region.

We’ll experiment with writing and sense of place – among flowering trees of early spring, and on a hillside high above the Connecticut River.

You can learn more about exploring and skill building in the company of fellow writers through Outdoor Voice here.

As Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini put it, you simply have to  “give time to each and every thing.”  The donkey, the writing, and the day.

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…A donkey-pace.  At times, a spirited trot or a steady packing up steep, narrow paths.  At other times barely moving,  stopping altogether to nuzzle  sweet grass at the road’s edge.

Writing is like that.  We have to receive it, encourage it, be open to its surprises – and, most of the time, not-rush it.

Taking the Leap

“There is something special about being in Orvieto, pursuing an art you love….Part of it is taking the leap, making the commitment to do such a trip. It is a reaffirmation of who you are and that a robust, fulfilling, exciting life is possible.”

Bill Steiner, our retreat host in Italy, offers these words on his blog, and adds a quote from author Mark Nepo:

The Goal

“It seems, for birds, it is the act of flying that is the goal. True, they migrate and seek out food, but when flying, there is the sense that being aloft is their true destination.

“Unlike birds, we confuse our time on Earth… to the point that we frustrate and stall our human ability to fly. All the conditions and hesitations and yes-buts and what-ifs turn the human journey upside down, never letting the heart, wing that it is, truly unfold.”

Flying Starts with Slow

Why do I spend inordinate amounts of time writing and emailing and brochure-ing people about the writing retreat in Orvieto?  First of all, because I want to go – and I want to let people know about it in every way I can. Why I want to go has everything to do with the art I love – writing – and knowing in my bones that taking flight begins with Slow.  It begins with stepping outside of the busy and challenging lives we all lead and shifting into something akin to a stroll – somewhere around 2 ½ miles an hour.

When we find this pace, we suddenly notice that our imagination is offering us…images.  Along with insights and ideas and possibilities that we couldn’t perceive at fifty or a hundred miles an hour.  We have to slow down in order to take flight.

…And Orvieto, at the heart of the Slow City movement, is all about strolling.

A surprise at every turn

Unexpected Turns

Why I want to go also has to do with the way journeys, like flight, take unexpected turns and present us over and over with a choice: continue in the “usual and familiar” way – or open up to new landscapes, new stories, new people, new ways of perceiving and sharing and learning about the world.  Journeys are about allowing the unknown to surprise us.

…And it’s about people

Sharing is, after all, what writing is all about.  When people listen deeply and respond with generosity and insight to each others’ work, something new and important happens.  We begin to know our voices.  We begin to understand our stories and our selves in new ways.  The entire world opens up to us fresh and new – and we are able to embrace it more fully.

As  host Bill Steiner put it so eloquently, deciding to take this kind of leap reaffirms that a robust, fulfilling, and exciting life is possible.  I hope you’ll join us.

To learn more about Orvieto and the Slow City movement, click here.

To learn more about writing with us in Orvieto, click here.

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Ever notice how people like to share those unexpected, in-between moments when time stands still?  This note from a friend who’s been there -

Kathy,

When you’re in Orvieto, stand on the steps of the Duomo, and look out to the square. Then start walking a bit to your right, perhaps 20 degrees, and there should be a gelato shop from heaven. If it is not there, then find the next one around the corner, and that will be delightful as well. Oh, what a place!

The blog is great!  How I wish I could go……
Ted

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Slowing Down, Living More

Noodling around on my laptop on this freezing-rainy New England morning, I am happy to discover that Orvieto is a slow city. It is officially a slow city, a member of the Cittaslow movement.

I’ve heard of Slow Food, and I knew that our retreat hosts offer Slow Travel adventures – but I really didn’t know much more than that. So with the ice building up outside, I’m happily settled in and exploring the world of Slow via the wonderfully fast internet.

Slow wine

It turns out that Slow Food was the first of all the Slows, and it began in…Italy! In a country known for its cuisine (the most popular world-wide, according to Wikipedia), there came a defining moment in 1986, when culinary columnist Carlo Petrini decided that fast food had gone far enough. His campaign resonated deeply among fellow Italians, and quickly grew to become the International Slow Food Movement.

The Heart of Slow

At the heart of Slow Food lies a passionate commitment to local foods, farmers, and communities. It goes beyond recipes and ingredients to honor a way of living that is unique to every town and every region. During the summer and fall, you can find local “feste” or “sagre” throughout Italy on almost any weekend.  September feasts might feature mushrooms, chestnuts, chocolate, truffles, or wine – and always include a blend of conversation, music and stories that reflect the heart of the community.

Slow Food prompted the creation of several other Slows. Travel, gardening, parenting, wine, art – even the planet can be Slow. Cittaslow literally means Slow City – another movement started in Italy…and Orvieto is one of them.

What makes a town or a wine or a garden Slow?

Lots of things that sound wonderful. Slow is about a certain pace. It’s about listening, learning, embracing, participating, reflecting, and understanding life and each other more deeply. It’s about renewal, and becoming more whole. And from this place, everything works better.

Exchanging recipes and lore

From the Romans comes a wonderful phrase: Festina Lente. Make haste slowly.  You’ll find this term on Bill and Kristi’s website, as they describe their approach to hosting the Orvieto Writing Retreat.  You can read more about how they Make Haste Slowly,  here.

“What’s time to a settin’ hen?”

This is a rhetorical question, handed down from the Midwestern branch of my family.  It refers to a brooding hen who, once set on her nest, remains there trance-like, until the chicks emerge – whenever that might be.

Sometimes I think it’s not so much about fast or slow as it is about balance. We need both; we thrive on both. As long as there is balance.  …And a freezing rainy day is a wonderful invitation to shift into Slow.

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Orvieto, Italy crowns the top of a steep-sided hill forced up long ago through the vent of an ancient volcano. (Imagine a giant Play-Doh extruder.)  The Etruscans arrived at this lofty site some 3,000 years ago, and built their homes and their temple on its flat summit.  They also created a network of caves in the volcanic stone beneath – for water, for storage, and for protection.

Across the centuries, other civilizations arrived and built their own homes and places of worship atop the remnants of their predecessors.  They expanded the caves, and created areas to store wines, house olive presses, and shelter livestock.

Today, you can visit these caves – and apparently it is possible to own one, as well.  While searching the internet for pictures of Orvieto’s caves, I stumbled upon the following statement:

“Ancient Caves Come with Houses in Orvieto, Italy:

In Orvieto, Italy, when you purchase a house, you gain all the rights to the caves below your land.  Since the 9th century, the natural Orvieto caves have been expanded for many different uses… leaving a treasure trove for archaeologists today.”

This means that homeowners in Orvieto own not only their dwelling and the skirt of land around it, but also the layers of history that lie beneath it.  3,000 years of layers, running all the way back to the Etruscans.

I suppose this is true for homeowners everywhere, to whatever depth the local laws allow.  Still, I find myself imagining how it would feel to descend a series of carved stone steps into a cool, quiet keeping-room, and slide a bottle of wine into a rounded niche worn smooth by other hands and other bottles across hundreds and thousands of years.

You can find photos and information about owning a cave at: “Ancient Caves Come with Houses in Orvieto Italy”

And if you’ve ever wondered where the term “pigeon-hole” comes from, you can find at least one answer, along with many more pictures of the Orvieto caves, here.

Join us for a week in Italy, this September.  Visit Etruscan caves, explore new approaches to writing,  sample olive oils, taste wines, and enjoy slow lunches.  To learn more about Pathways to Discovery, September 23-29, click here.

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