Nature, Nurture and Narrative: Writing the Personal Essay

 

As Joseph Campbell and a host of other mythologists and storytellers have emphasized, storied structures do not stay in books on myth and fairy tale. They come back to life around us, as C.G. Jung observed, as correctives to what is cast out of and exiled from mainstream consciousness. To the extent we hear these stories and retell them we align with the movement of the ecologically embodied collective psyche as it struggles to adapt to planet-wide waves of change.

 

Magic Horse Gardens where people come to grow offers this workshop in the months of September and October.  Our workshops are dedicated to giving the gift of awareness and skill to expand personal power so that individuals naturally become part of a collective archetype that influences the world to be a better place for all living beings.

 

This six week program presents participants with the opportunity to learn to write personal essays in an exquisite natural setting, surrounded by animals and birds and gardens.

 

This workshop is of special interest to:

• People who want to change the way animals & fowl are treated

• People who want to write for anima, bird and/or nature magazines

• Writers wanting to hone their craft in order to get published

• People who want to know themselves better

• People who want to belong to a group of self minding caring participants

 

Participants meet for four hours on a Saturday afternoon. During that time they:

• Learn four proven tools to make their writing powerful and marketable.

• Interact with animals to arouse creativity and compassion

• Share essays and discuss transformations in a supportive dialogue

• Find sources of publication for their work

 

Participants write each week, send their work via e mail, to all participants for discussion in the face to face Saturdays and to workshop leader for specific feedback on how to improve the work and get it published.

 

Course limited to 15 participants.

 

Cost: $600.00 per participant.

 

Workshop leader, Dr Carolyn Mamchur offers a unique combination of passion and expertise. For details see Workshop Leader, Carolyn Mamchur.

 

As a Professor of Education Dr.  Carolyn Mamchur has been creating programs on using narrative as a main thrust of her teaching and research.  A successful and passionate proponent of transformation, her programs include narrative and archetype and are designed for teachers, for graduate students, for international students.  She created FAL, Foundations of Academic Literacy and an EdD program on Transformative Change. As Director of the Centre for Writing, she developed training programs for professors from all departments at the university.  As Teaching Fellow she worked with a group of other Teaching Fellows, selected professors, one selected from each faculty, to advise the Vice President on cultural change at SFU.

 

An award winning author of books on education and children’s books, articles and poetry, and a writer of screenplays and editor for CBC and Telefilm, a writing consultant and mentor for major organizations in health, education, business and the film industry, Carolyn’s teaching, writing and editing skills have been applauded by professionals across Canada and the United States.  For the past twelve years she as developed and led training for Women in the Director’s Chair for directors across Canada produced by Carol Whiteman, award winning founder of Creative Women Workshops.  

 

At the University of Florida and the Centre for Application of Psychological Type in Gainesville, Fla., Carolyn had the privilege to study with such renowned transformative leaders as Isabel Myers, Gordon Lawrence and Mary McCaulley.  She continued her studies with Carol Pearson and became a certified user of OTCI, using archetypes for organizations in Washington, DC. Her post - doctoral work continued at the Jung Institute in Switzerland.  Author of two books, several chapters and dozens of articles on Jungian psychology, Carolyn has used her work in Jung as part of her teacher training program for over 30 years and was a core component on her doctoral programs on transformation.

 

Born in a small northern town in Saskatchewan, Carolyn was raised close to animals and wild forests to the north of her and vast fields of farm land to the south.  Her concern for and love of nature and animals began there and the first public recognition of her dedication to both appeared in a newspaper article in the Prince Albert Herald when Carolyn was eight years old.  Her passion only grew and she has lived her life true to those values, creating a botanical garden in 3 acres in Washington State that became a haven for educators and artists from across Canada and the United States. Carolyn’s deep concern for abused animals led her to rescue horses.  This led to the purchase of a farm in Pitt Meadows and as a certified equine specialist and member of EAGALA, she offers workshops to a wide range of persons, including CEOs of large companies, groups of students teachers, troubled adolescents, and  young children with learning or emotional challenges. Her horses have even been used in the healing of a brain damaged chicken.  All life is considered sacred and valued and treated with the deepest respect.