Write Yourself Whole

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I just watched the recorded first episode of the BBC mystery series, “Grantchester”, based on fiction by James Runcie.
As so many good detective stories do, it wrapped with an “authors voice” statement delivered by the main character, Sidney Chambers :

“We cannot erase our pasts, however hard we try.

Instead we must carry them with us into the future.
We must carry them with us and look forward with hope.

We must look forward, because to look back is to waste precious time.

Someone recently said to me, ‘We should live as we have never lived.’
And we must all of us take heed and live as we have never lived.

For we are all mortal.

We are all fragile.

And we all live under the shadow of death.”

As it was spoken, I felt pulled to listen carefully, as I have my upcoming course, “Write Yourself Whole” in mind all the time, now. (my Facebook Event link)

How Perfect!

We must, indeed, unless stricken with amnesia, carry our pasts with us, though we do try hard to forget aspects that brought pain with them. Writing for healing is Not so much about “erasing the past”, as about becoming free to carry the memory, imprint, and lessons into “the now”… empowered, really, to use our pasts in creative ways and continue to mine the gold in them.

Or not..

I write this for communicating with you; I wonder what I might have written had I used the writing methods we’ll be applying in the course.

As always.. Tualk amongst yourselves.

Published by

Wayne Upchurch

For years, as a “professional ogler” (a newspaper staff photographer), I simultaneously explored photography as craft/process/medium in its own right. The photojournalism work –credentials and mindset– got me into (and out of) places I would certainly never have had access to on my own. I was also practicing the discipline of getting a picture where there didn’t appear to be one and getting it Finished in a timely manner, to professional standards. I also learned to create imminently readable images despite poor reproduction in a small size. Though it took me several years to get this, the value of making photos that illustrated something already laid out in the story was suddenly Not Enough, and I began to make assignment pictures that added dimensions not already in the writing, or better Yet, raised questions so that the reader would go to the story for more answers. Having gained more than dreamt of, when starting out, I left to pursue my own personal photography, mounting exhibits along the way. I also worked with commercial photographer friends doing studio product photography, and making headshots for actors. Later, I also helmed a Public Radio “spacemusic” program, and acted in a Wilmington, NC drama company. I put the cameras away for a few years, to finish shedding the habit of self-limiting my identity as just “Photographer”, and can now pursue personal pleasure and expression through the freedom that digital imaging offers. Sharing photos on Flickr and participating locally in meetups and outings has renewed a passion for making new images and for sharing the process with others. For some time, I’ve found myself writing detailed comments on other people’s photos, as well as thoughts and pet ideas about photography, in general.

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