Write Speak Play

"I am telling myself I cannot look at another number" poem by Susan Brearley. Read by Susan Brearley.

This episode includes 

Edna White Founder and Editor of Speak Magazine sharing her transformational moment, how Speak Magazine got started and where she is taking the magazine into the future.

Thank you for listening to the Garden Variety Newsletter podcast. 

Garden Variety Newsletter Podcast Vol. 1, Issue 7, January 2022

Mary Elizabeth Pratt joins me to share the Trial outcome for the Military man who abused her. 

Mary Elizabeth was denied the opportunity to face her abuser in court, to read her Victim Statement, and in the end, her abuse claims were not taken into account during the trial, nor sentencing.

This is her story, so far. At the end of this episode, you'll hear how she continues to grow, and heal. 

In this episode:

The Garden Variety Newsletter, V1, I3, December 6, 2021

Links to 

In this episode of Write Speak Play:

Words Into Wool, by Nanci Arvizu

This poem was created in response to a Garden of Neuro Poetry Circle Prompt, hosted by Lisa Tomey.

The Garden of Neuro is free to join 🌱

"If God were to pray over you, what would She say?"

This is just one of the many memorable lines contained between the beautiful covers of Carla Cherry's latest book of words "Stardust and Skin."

In this episode of Write Speak Play, I turn the mic over to the Garden of Neuro Poetry Book Club Meeting from July 7, 2021. Our group discussed the book, sharing our favorite lines and what the words brought up for us as we answered questions presented by the author. 

Carla also gave us a 10-minute poetry writing exercise, to create a poem from a favorite line from one of her poems. The poetry and prose that flowed were uplifting and positively joyful.

Our words are powerful. We need to learn how to use them to make the world a better place for everyone, not just some.

Links to things I talk about in this episode:

It's the things we don't talk about that scare us the most.

Why is it people - we, us, you, me, find it so hard to talk about Mental Illness when 1 in 3 people on the planet suffer from some form of mental illness?

In this episode of Write Speak Play, I talk with author Sheree Ann Martines about mental illness and the effect it's had on her life. We discuss our inability to have uncomfortable conversations surrounding Mental Illness and offer possible ways we can begin to get comfortable talking about Mental Illness.

About Sheree Ann Martines (from her bio):

As a communications professional for almost three decades, Sheree Ann Martines has written extensively for the American Red Cross and Goodwill Industries. She is a poet, a contributor to NPR, and author of Rude Awakening, a true-crime thriller. Sheree is currently at work on her second book, Tempered Soul-Surviving Trauma, Grief, and Bipolar Disorder, about her dark struggle with the aftermath of child abuse, devastating grief, and her long battle with bipolar disorder. Learning how to survive and thrive, Sheree hopes this book will help others dealing with tragedy and mental health issues.

Discussing her writing style, Sheree states, “I have lived a life that leaves me no option but to torture paper with pen. I do so with the hope at least one soul will be set on the road to recovery.” She infuses her writing with personal, painful, sometimes graphic, but ultimately hopeful insight.

Martines graduated cum laude from Appalachian State University with degrees in Communications and Marketing. An avid outdoorswoman who loves camping, whitewater rafting, and “digging in the dirt,” Sheree calls the mountains of North Carolina home.

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Links To Sheree Ann Martines

WARNING: In this episode, we are discussing child predators, sexual abuse, and exploitation. 

This is why Write Speak Play exists. 

Every story is important. 

Our stories are even more important when detailing life-changing trauma while seeking justice for an altered present and future. 

Being denied our ability to Speak Our Truth inhibits our path to healing. It also ends the opportunity to make real change, by changing perceptions and behavior.

Today's guest was denied to right to read her Victim Impact Statement for the court to hear what an older, 'respected' military man caused in her life with predatory actions, sexual abuse, and exploitation. 

And here, for the first time, she will read her entire statement in full. 

I am honored to host this young woman's story. And, I've been so moved by what she has shared I've asked her to join me for a series of talks, to give her the opportunity to share more of her journey through the trauma of abuse and the work necessary to find healing.

Mary-Elizabeth is now an Advocate. She is sharing her story because she knows there are others out there, victims of the same man who prayed upon her who will not receive their day in court due to their extremely young age, and millions of others who are denied justice. the things she feels others need to know to protect themselves, their friends, family members, and children from the predators who unfortunately inhabit every spectrum of our world. 

LINKS TO

When we talk about trauma, we are usually discussing something that happened in the midst of a lifetime. 

When trauma happens our brains are forever changed. There is a 'before trauma' brain and an 'after trauma' brain.

But what if this trauma began at birth? 

Tia Ma shares her story, and I will let her tell it. Honestly, I'm glad this wasn't a video because for most of this conversation I'm pretty sure my jaw is hanging open, her story is that shocking. The beginnings of her life's story will stun you. 

But, in testament to the resilience of the human soul, Tia Ma learned how to turn her experiences into a path to enlightenment and healing, for herself and others.

If you've been a victim of abuse, narcissistic abuse, family dysfunction, or trauma, this episode is for you. I was especially interested in 'Identifying Triggers,' and how breathing is our best line of protection, defense, awareness, and our lifeline to coping, managing, and a way to unwind the wounds of C-PTSD.

We talked about so much I had to break this conversation into two episodes. Part 2 coming soon.

Discover more of Tia Ma's work here:

Mic Drop: Body Parts by Susan Brearley

Thank you for listening.

About Robin Klammer, writer, and poet:

Poetry has a special place in my heart and has helped me explore in a creative way how I might be feeling at any given time.  I play word games in my head when inspiration strikes, and it helps to create new material. The challenge was prevaricate.

*Note: This piece was read by Nanci Arvizu. And yes, prevaricate was a challenge.**

I met Linda through the Speaker Sisterhood. In her first speech, she let us know who she was, what had brought her here and now, how she was handling a 'really bad thing,' that happened to her and her family.

**This is an emotional topic, and I am grateful to Linda for her courage to share her story with me on Write Speak Play.**

Linda's son Brendan was killed in an accident days before he was to start high school.

Linda has found writing to be her way to heal, to help her two younger children through their own loss, and finally, to understand there is still joy in life to be had, experienced, and shared, even in the midst of grieving. 

This is one of those conversations I wish I would have started recording from the beginning. During the first few minutes, before I started recording, we talked about the way writing helps us heal. Linda found that writing about her loss, her grief, and her love for Brendan, she was able to see herself and the new reality she found herself in, from a different perspective, another voice, and it gave her a way to feel, something other than grief, again. 

Losing people we love is hard. But when we are unable to share our grief, our love, or our stories about those we've lost, we lose more - we lose the memories of them. 

These are the conversations we must learn to have more of. 

MIC DROP: Walking in the Garden by Susan Brearley

Mic Drops on Write Speak Play. Members from the Garden of Neuro are invited to share their poems and prose.

We were having a conversation about the opportunity for coaching within the Garden of Neuro when I asked how someone decides what they want to be coached on.

In this Daily Drop, Susan Brearley, Founder of The Garden Of Neuro explains how to decide what to pick a topic for personal coaching.

Mic Drop: Book Dreams by Susan Brearley on Write Speak Play 

Introducing Mic Drops on Write Speak Play. Members from the Garden of Neuro are invited to share their poems and prose.

My effort to create a daily podcast came up a little short.

But that's okay, it's my podcast and I can make changes. 

In today's daily drop share what some of those changes are. The possibility of yet another name change for Daily Drops. And the opportunity for members of the Garden of Nero to share their work in podcast episodes.

Today's Daily Drop is about the Wednesday Morning Centering Session in The Garden of Neuro. 

Today, Founder Susan Brearley guided us along a trail, letting us decide the where and what might surround us. As we shared our individual experiences afterward, Susan shared the ways our brains change when we allow the mind to visualize,. What our mind 'sees' can be something we've experienced in the past, or hope to experience in the future, each picture making different connections in our mind, sorting all those images out, putting them where they belong - in the past or in the future. 

This led to a conversation about using Psychedelics in therapy to heal from trauma and PTSD, which led to a sharing of fantastic TED talks, more books to go on the reading list, and finally this podcast :)

I love what the Garden brings to my world. 

Sharing more about what’s happening in the Garden of Neuro.

Today's Daily Drop is being published a little late. On Wednesday Anchor had an outage and Thursday was Thanksgiving. And for the first time ever I got to play golf on Thanksgiving. 

In This Daily Dro I talk about trying to remember those 'great thoughts' we have as we go about our day, and maybe the reason we can hang onto those Great Thoughts is we're trying to do too much. Just Maybe.

Are you able to recall Great thoughts later? PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU DO IT!

Today’s daily drop is about the proximity principle. At the beginning of 2020, I read the book the Proximity Principle by Ken Coleman. Applying these methods, even in 2020 has changed my world. And today I realized I needed to apply this same principle to my writing. I had to let go of my main characters and welcome new ones. 

To keep the Daily Drop short, I’ve decided to not include the anchor.fm commercial, which is how the podcast earns its pennies. Instead, I’d like to let listeners know you can support Write Speak Play in a Patreon-isk kind of way by visiting the main show website at anchor.fm/writespeakplay and become a monthly supporter for which I will be forever grateful and will send you all kinds of good karma. I'm loving LinkTree. How about you? Here's ONE LINK to everywhere I roam. So Cool! (And makes this podcast-day habit a lot easier to do!) 

Guest author Janie Emaus shares her decades-long "over-night success" story about Latkes for Santa, her new illustrated children's book now available!

Evolving as I grow. 

The transformation from a seed to a sprout.  It's a fancy way to say I've changed the name of these daily posts, again. 

It started as barn thoughts, then they became barn notes and probably a couple of others before resting on Daily Drops. I like it. Daily Drops are short episodes where I talk about the one or two topics I’m pondering for the day or share something new I’ve learned, or who knows? 

Daily Drops are all about the daily habit of creating and posting a podcast. To keep the Daily Drop short, I’ve decided to not include the anchor.fm commercial, which is how the podcast earns its pennies. Instead, I’d like to let listeners know you can support Write Speak Play in a Patreon-isk kind of way by visiting the main show website at anchor.fm/writespeakplay and become a monthly supporter for which I will be forever grateful and will send you all kinds of good karma. I'm loving LinkTree. How about you? Here's ONE LINK to everywhere I roam. So Cool! 

(And makes this podcast-day habit a lot easier to do!) 

In today's Daily Drop, I ask you, What Are You Reading?

I'm currently on a quest to read 200 books in a year. While I might fall short of the goal, I've certainly enjoyed trying. And developing the habit of reading.

In this episode, I talk mostly about "The Uterus is A Feature, Not A Bug" by Sarah Lacey. This is a book I'm giving out for gifts this year.

Thank you for listening! 

I am enjoying these daily drops, pondering a new name for them, lots of pen ink being used, and journal pages being filled. Which leads me to my question, do you journal? In this episode, I go over the journals I keep, how it started, and why. 

I hope I inspire you to give it a try. 

What is the story you believe?

I had the opportunity to meet with two writers yesterday. We were able to spend 5 hours together, writing and talking. There was a great balance between both.

Both are excellent writers, Each with their own stories to tell. And true to writers fashion, they write what they know.

That's what I talk about in today's Barn Thoughts. (My 6th in a row!)

Our Beliefs.

A little late in the day, but done! Day 5 of 30 days in a row.

Today is a short one.

I was able to meet with 2 writers today to write, for 5 whole hours! Okay, we talked for a good 2 of those five, and it was wonderful :)

How much writing are you getting done? 

Writing with a group can be inspiring, invigorating, and fun. Getting together, for now, can be challenging.

If you're looking for a writing group, I hope you'll check out the Write Speak Play Club. I'm hosting live, online write-ins at different times during the day and week and I'll add more as more people join.