Humainologie creative dialogue invitation to a short story writing festival for Christmas

“Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.”

- Charles Dickens

Stories – whether presented as a movie or printed in a book or told around a campfire – have historically helped us learn about what it means to be human, and how to make wise choices in our lives. I am certain that “A Christmas Carol” had a significant influence on me when I experienced it as a youngster. I knew I would rather become more like the main character at the end of that story than behave the way he was behaving at the beginning. Given a chance to see how life would play out if he continued in the direction he was heading, even Scrooge changed his behavior.

You are invited to contribute a story of your own to a Christmas festival of creative writing. I would like to make it a Christmas tradition in Calgary. Building upon our previous creative writing team practice sessions, write a short story – anything from flash fiction up to 7,000 words – and share it with us this Christmas. To be clear, your short story need not include any reference to Christmas. I am already at work on my contribution. I am planning to share it with you before our creative dialogue on December 23. That’s the night before the night before Christmas.

You are also invited to choose a topic for one of our creative dialogue team practice sessions next year and lead the session yourself or invite a visiting coach to do so.

For our team practice this coming Wednesday December 2, I suggest we come up with imaginative ways to lift others’ spirits. We learned from Sloane’s BATHEing the Heart exercises a five-step approach to interacting with someone who is in distress. Even a simple smile might mean the difference between life and death. “If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump.”

Your mission for this coming Wednesday, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with at least three familiar ways of lifting someone’s spirits and at least two highly imaginative ways to do so. And you can use one of your highly imaginative ways as part of the short story you contribute to our Christmas creative writing festival. Imagine that!

Here is the Zoom link provided by Shinobu for next Wednesday

Dec 2, 2020 06:30 PM Dec 9, 2020 06:30 PM Dec 16, 2020 06:30 PM Dec 23, 2020 06:30 PM Dec 30, 2020 06:30 PM Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89466067851?pwd=TzY2T1ZrVWNjdGo5aWhMSFV1cTVBQT09

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Toot sweet,

Arthur