Sophfronia Scott's Blog: Sophfronia Scott, Author, page 8

Worth Another Look

For this morning���s walk from the grounds of one of Italy’s spectacular villas, if an experience enchanted you���or repelled you to the extreme���it���s worth another look. On the value of going on repeat.

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The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy is an annual event, so if you missed us this time we can give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact��Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-led with my friend Sarah Arthur has also announced dates for 2023. We will still have a virtual option for this retreat so if you���re not traveling, check it out: https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I���ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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The Power of Two

Ciao from Mira, Italy! This morning/afternoon I’m walking with my friend Rachel Fox and thinking about how great endeavors happen when you don’t go it alone. Huge shout out to Janet Simmonds! The Write of Your Life writers’ retreat begins Sunday!

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The Write of Your Life Writers’ Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy is an annual event, so if you missed us this time we can give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds of Educated-Traveller for details! https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

In just a few weeks I’ll be at A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We’ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you’re not traveling, check it out: https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I’ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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You Are in the Details

It’s too easy to take for granted the strange brew of odd details stored in our brains. But that knowledge is also what makes us special. For this morning’s walk, how those odd details can bring authenticity to your writing.

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*Reminders: The Write of Your Life Writers’ Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds of Educated-Traveller for details! https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We’ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you’re not traveling, check it out: https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I’ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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On Taking Much Needed Breaks

How many times do you say, “I will take a break/vacation when I’m done with this work”? But does the work ever end? For this morning’s walk, being intentional about your much-needed break time.

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Reminders: The Write of Your Life Writers’ Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds of Educated-Traveller for details! https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We’ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you’re not traveling, check it out: https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I’ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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In the Vestibule and Coping with Change

Change brings us, either slowly or suddenly, to the threshold of a new place in our lives. For this morning���s walk: If you fear stepping through the door, know that there is a space, a vestibule, in which you can stand if only momentarily and prepare for what is next. Shout out in memory of Frederick Buechner, a profound writer and man of spirit who passed away this week.

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What’s next? I’m talking about hope (again!) and Thomas Merton (yes, that guy!), but this time to the Thomas Merton Society of Great Britain and Ireland. This is the presentation I would have done at their conference earlier this year, but the event was canceled due to Covid. Glad to do this now and share the forum with the talented Chris Pramuk. The event will take place via Zoom on September 1, 2022, at 2:00pm ET. Register by emailing treasurer@thomasmertonsociety.org.uk.��

Reminders: The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We���ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you���re not traveling, check it out:��https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I���ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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On Getting Unstuck

It can be frustrating to yearn for a new phase in your life and yet feel so stuck that you can���t move toward it. For this morning���s walk, how one small move might start the engine and get you there.

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Update: Remember when I told you I wanted to explore fly-fishing? Well, I’m two weeks into this course offered by the Northwest Connecticut chapter of Trout Unlimited. It occurs to me that I haven’t really had a “hobby” in years because so much of what I do is integrated into my life. It’s not like I stop doing “work” to do something that is “play.” It’s all one playful thing to me. So it will be interesting to see how fly-fishing falls into my way of being. I’ll keep you posted!

By the way, if you’re feeling stuck about applying for your MFA, you can ask me about this and any other questions you have about our residencies by attending the August 17 Virtual Open House I mentioned in the video. Here’s the link to register:https://admissions.alma.edu/register/residencyexperienceAnd remember:
The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We���ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you���re not traveling, check it out:��https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Take care and I’ll see you soon.

Be well,

Sophfronia

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From What to Do to How to Be

How do we navigate the various paths of a life journey? For this morning’s walk, moving from thinking about what you want to do, to thinking about how you want to be. Shout out to Parker J. Palmer and his excellent book, “Listen to Your Life.”

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Where am I these days? You can always check the ���Events��� area of this website for my whereabouts, but here are links for what���s next:

The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact��Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We���ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you���re not traveling, check it out:��https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Hope I���ll see you soon at one of these events!

Be well,

Sophfronia

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Is Perfection Really the Goal?

Is craft about achieving perfection? For this morning’s walk, an artist at St. John’s Pottery provides another way to think about how we work.

*

*

Where am I these days? You can always check the ���Events��� area of this website for my whereabouts, but here are links for what���s next:

The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact��Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We���ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you���re not traveling, check it out:��https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Hope I���ll see you soon at one of these events!

Be well,

Sophfronia

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Help Will Be There When You Need It

For this morning���s walk, reflecting on the ant anecdote that Terry Tempest Williams shared at Chautauqua, and what it says about help and hope.

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*

Where am I these days? You can always check the ���Events��� area of this website for my whereabouts, but here are links for what���s next:

The Write of Your Life Writers��� Retreat in the Veneto Region, Italy. All spots are taken, but you can get on the waitlist. We can also give you first chance at a space for the 2023 edition! Contact Janet Simmonds��of Educated-Traveller for details!��https://www.grand-tourist.com/writers-retreat-italy-18-24-september-2022

A Circle of Quiet: The Madeleine L���Engle Writing Retreat co-leading with my friend Sarah Arthur! We’ve added a virtual option for this retreat so if you’re not traveling, check it out: https://lenglewritingretreats.com/?page_id=126

Hope I���ll see you soon at one of these events!

Be well,

Sophfronia

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Sophfronia Scott Delivers Chautauqua Institution Lecture on Merton, God, and Nature

From The Chautauquan Daily, July 8, 2022

The divine speaks through the rhythms and cycles of the natural world, but the message may be lost upon the forest floor. Not all humans are receptive to the messages being portrayed through the whirling winds, the humming birds or bending vines.

Sophfronia Scott, a professor, novelist, essayist and leading contemplative thinker, shared her lecture, “In the Water and the Air: Embracing the Divine Through Nature,” with the Chautauquan audience Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy.

Her most recent book, The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, aligned with Week Two’s theme of “The Wild: Reconnecting with the Natural World.”

Scott first started her career as an award-winning magazine journalist for Time. Some of the books she has written or contributed to include Common Prayer, Love’s Long Line, This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, Unforgivable Love and All I Need to Get By.

Beginning with a reflection of her roots in Lorain, Ohio, Scott shared a description of the front lawn of her childhood home. It may have been small, but in her earliest memories, Scott said it felt like a grand meadow.

“I have six siblings, but somehow I managed to spend a good deal of time alone, often outdoors, seeking solitude and sanctuary from a small and noisy house,” Scott said.

She would often gaze upon the green of the yard and the blue of the sky, but one day, Scott saw rays of sunlight seeping from the sky.

“I viewed (the rays) with wonder. No, not only that, I felt it as a living presence. Like one of those rays could lay upon me like a hand on my shoulder. And I don’t know why, but I had this sense that it would follow me everywhere,” Scott said. “Then the cloud shifted. And I couldn’t find it again. But I kept looking for it. I told my mother about it. And I remember this specificity with which I did so, as though I made a new friend.”

This ray of sun, in Scott’s words, was “the seed from which my faith sprouted.” It helped her understand that the divine was all around her.

The title of Scott’s lecture included the word “divine.” She explained that she used it not only because it is beautiful, but also to keep the door open for those who feel like the word “God” may be an obstacle.

Scott said she often returns to a state of remembering her senses of the divine as a child. Often, she remembers naturally and without pressure, but sometimes, she needs to remember to move forward in the digital era.

Quoting from Thursday’s morning lecturer Terry Tempest Williams’ book Erosion: Essays of Undoing, Scott read, “Our connection to the world is virtual, not real. … We have moved ourselves from the outdoors to the indoors. Nature is no longer a force, but a source of images for our screensavers. We sit, we stare, we text on our iPhones and type on our keyboards and await an immediate response. Patience is an endangered species. Intimacy is a threatened landscape.”

Scott shared the words of Fr. Richard Rohr, a previous interfaith lecturer at Chautauqua, who said that the separation of nature and human consciousness must be healed through a radical overcoming.

Click here to read the rest of the article at The Chautauquan Daily.

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