Article by Fred Ford

- originally printed in the 2007 September/October edition of the WordWeaver

Nothing stresses me out more than relaxation exercises. On-the-spot writing isn’t for me either: I need at least an hour’s worth of agonizing before I can put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I’ve done some novel marathons, but they don’t count because I arrive pre-agonized. You can guess that I don’t often indulge in the tranquility of writing retreats.

Well, not any more. I’d been hearing good things about the Sanctuary Sundays conducted by Sue Reynolds at her Uplands Writing Retreat. I’d also been finding excuses lately to work on everything else in the world but writing, so I decided to go. I needed to get away from the distractions of my normal “comfort zones”. I was even willing to brave some relaxation exercises.

The drive up to Port Perry is therapeutic in itself, especially on the last weekend of April. The horses grazing on new green grass were a vision from the peaceable kingdom. The first wildflowers by the side of the dirt road warmed my winter-weary heart. The Uplands Writing Center is a welcoming green bungalow hidden behind a row of fir trees.

Writer teaches female inmates how to express their fears and frustrations, hopes and hearts

JEANNE PENGELLY – Peterborough Examiner
Saturday, June 23, 2007 the up to 60 women living in the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, there is no such thing as privacy. There is little in the way of compassion, sympathy, fellowship or empathy. The simplest things, often taken for granted on the outside, take on extraordinary significance on the inside.“In prison, you look forward to evening lockdown as it means one more day can be X’d off the calendar,” writes one female inmate. “In prison our pencils are cut in half. We have to eat our food from worn plastic trays and receive it through a slot in the door. There is no such thing as privacy.”But one woman has planted the seeds of hope.

copyright 2007   Lindsay This Week newspaper and  www.mykawartha.com

Date: 2007-01-26
Author: Mary Riley

Some go to the class because they’re bored. Others go out of curiosity.
Many jump at the chance to fill yet another endless hour in jail.
Susan Reynolds says she doesn’t worry about the reasons that bring female inmates in Lindsay’s Central East Correctional Centre to her creative writing program.
She simply wants them to try it.
“At first, they come because it’s something new to do while in jail,” she said. “But, when they actually start to write, it becomes an outlet for them. It’s both creative and therapeutic.”

 

 In the mid 1980s, James Pennebaker, a professor in Texas, made a curious discovery.

In a research experiment, he asked one group of students to write about a traumatic event in their lives. Students in the other group were assigned a superficial topic to write about. Both groups wrote for 20 minutes a day for four days. The work was anonymous and confidential. Pennebaker then tracked the physical health of the students through the next four months.
The group that had written about significant traumas in their lives made 43 per cent fewer visits to the doctor.