Write To Wellness Creative Writing Sessions Start In April

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AARP Wyoming will host four virtual sessions of the creative writing series, Write To Wellness hosted by Matt Daly and Lucy Flood.

The series is free and you do not need to be an AARP member to attend, but registration is required for each of the individual sessions. Click here to check out this series or other AARP Wyoming event offerings. Search Keyword “Write”

About the Session Leaders
Write to Wellness is a reflective and creative writing-based program, started by Flood and Daly, that shares diverse writing practices grounded in current research on the benefits of expressive writing for wellness, engagement, and productivity. They work with diverse audiences of individuals and professional communities to create writing-based activities and experiences that help people thrive. They intend to help people live more fully, more joyfully and elegantly, using reflective and creative writing to foster new growth and self-nourishment.

Flood has written for The Atlantic, InsideClimate News, The Jackson Hole News and Guide, The Louisville Courier-Journal, and Berkeleyside, in addition to other places. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University in Human Biology, as well as an M.A. in English and Creative Writing from The University of Texas at Austin. Middlebury College also awarded her an environmental journalism fellowship. Lucy lives in Colorado with her husband and child. She enjoys writing under the grapevine in her garden.

Daly is the author of Between Here and Home (Unsolicited Press) and the chapbook Red State (Seven Kitchens Press). Matt is the recipient of a Neltje Blanchan Award for writing inspired by the natural world and a Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry from the Wyoming Arts Council. Matt makes text-based art independently and collaborates with visual, performing, and literary artists. His work has been exhibited in Jackson, Pinedale, and New York.

About The Sessions
Session One - Writing to Grow Kindness and Connection - April 24 from noon-1:30 p.m. To register for this session, click here.

In the first session of our virtual creative writing series, Writing to Grow Kindness & Connection, we’ll share scientific research on the benefits of social connections. We’ll also engage in a mindfulness practice focused on positive relationships and how we are givers and recipients of small, kind actions.

After jotting down some notes about our reflection on kindness, we’ll write a creative piece addressed directly to a kind person for whom we are grateful. We’ll end the session with guidance on how each participant can engage in everyday kindness practices that strengthen social ties. 

Session Two - Crafting A Flourishing Life - May 1 from noon-1:30 p.m. To Register, click here.
In this session of the virtual “Write to Wellness” creative writing series, we’ll focus on our senses as modes of communication about our most vibrant experiences. These might include our experiences of play, movement, or eating, for example.

From there, we’ll write stories about vibrant meals and/or active experiences with loved ones. Our creative writing will focus on imagining a story of a rich sensory experience, and the goal will be to make this experience happen with others in the week ahead.

Session Three - Crafting a Flourishing Life - May 8 from noon-1:30 p.m. To register, click here. 
In this session of the virtual “Write to Wellness” creative writing series, we’ll discuss research on the value of having a sense of purpose to our well-being. We will also reflect mindfully and in writing on moments when we have felt a strong sense of purpose in our lives, on what gave that sense of purpose, and on how it affected us. We’ll connect that to our current experience and to how we can continue to live with purpose and meaning.

We’ll also invite people to read our writing and consider how this connection might strengthen our relationships through a shared understanding of our purpose. 

Session Four - Crafting a Flourishing Life - May 15 from noon-1:30 p.m. To register, click here. 
In our final session, we’ll explore the science of gratitude, diving into what we’re grateful for and what it means to share that. After reviewing some gratitude practices and their known benefits, we’ll write our way into a specific gratitude practice using many of the writing techniques practiced and built on throughout the series. Our final shareable writing practice will lead to a short, poetic keepsake writing that we can easily carry with us and share with our community.

How to Join  
Sign in to your AARP.org account or create an account to register for events. AARP membership is not required. You will receive an email with the Zoom link before class. For more information, contact Jennifer Baier at: jbaier@aarp.org.