Weekly-ish stories for humans seeking depth and meaning.

I'm Janelle Hardy and at some point you signed up for this 3-4x/month newsletter on memoir-writing, somatic (body) healing and stories. If you'd like to unsubscribe, just click the unsubscribe link at the bottom.

What does deep listening have to do with writing?

Words tumble and pile over each other.

Words spill out of our mouths, lavishing themselves on others. Smothering. Praising. One-upping. Contradicting. Rebelling.

Words form in our minds as we half-listen to the other person: "oh yeah, me too!" and "that reminds me of a time when I..." and "nope, nope, that's not true" and, and, and...

So many words prepare themselves to respond that the words coming at us get lost.

They land on the ground, they deflect off our busy minds, they spin into gutters and garbage cans and then "did you hear anything I said?!?" arrives, crystal clear, as we scramble back to the present, aware of how little listening we actually did.

• Hungry to be heard, there's a way in which we cannot hear.
• Hungry to be seen, there's a way in which we do not see.
• Hungry for praise, we critique and judge and assess and craft responses.

Common advice for writers is this: if you want to be a good writer, read a lot of great writing.

Although I agree, I believe that in order to be great writers, we actually need to cultivate the practice of deep listening.

• Listening without critique.
• Listening without response.
• Listening without praise.

Just listening, in the deep way that listening without responding offers.

• Listening with full presence.
• Listening, to receive, with our hearts, our minds, our pores, the very essence of the person and their writing, and their courage, their humour, their divinity.
• Listening to let it land. Simmer. Settle.

One of the great pleasures of my life is facilitating writing circles that prioritize deep listening, and strip away critiques.

So many of us have been wounded by educational systems that foster witty, cruel, misinformed assessments and critiques. Responses that crush the tender creative spirits and stomp the story seeds yearning to arise in their frail, unsteady, raw, emergent form.

So many of us believe we have to be 'good'.

So many of us think a range of creative expression - raw, brilliant, blech, confused - means we're 'no good' instead of truly, gorgeously human.

So, my greatest pleasure, in a world full of anticipatory responses and self-absorbed engagement, is to strip away the need to respond, and cultivate the space to write, share and listen deeply.

To cultivate the receptivity and grace of creation, in deep connection with peers, in spaces of profound listening, laughter, love and respect.

And the writing? It's marvelous. Hilarious. Raw. Tender. Clumsy. Exquisite. Wholly human.

I offer these kinds of writing circles every autumn.

We start in September, and if you're longing for a space that's supportive, playful, nuanced and oriented around writing and deep listening, this is it.

Here's what one repeat participant has to say about Keep Writing:

Janelle offers one of the safest, most open, heart-centered writing workshops I’ve ever had the good fortune to be a part of.

The invitation to write unfiltered, and then to share that writing aloud in a welcoming, creatively-nourishing space, is wildly powerful.

E. Ce Miller, Writer, USA

I keep the circles intimate - I run them with as few as 5 people, and as many as 10.

All skill levels and all genders are welcome, and all levels benefit from this kind of writing circle, as it's not about getting it right and being a good writer, it's just about writing in community.

Once people take Keep Writing, they tend to keep writing regularly. Truly.

Many of the participants have been returning to this circle for 2 and 3+ years. It's pretty special.

​Learn more about Keep Writing and sign up here.
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xoxo

Janelle