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Archive for December, 2022
Podcast: Making the Ordinary Sacred with Bonnie Smith Whitehouse
Content Advisory: The speaker is a Christian and this show features her book that teaches families how to celebrate the liturgical calendar.
Bonnie Smith Whitehouse is a Nashville-based professor at Belmont University and writer. She calls herself a pilgrim not only because she loves to walk, wander, and contemplate, but because when she read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek her life was forever changed. She’s a mother of spirited boys, a lover of bird song, a baker of bread, and an amateur painter and hand-letterer.
On today’s Brave Writer podcast, we discuss her latest book, Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections, and Rituals: A 52-Week Devotional.
Show Notes
Why “Seasons of Wonder”?
Wonder is not discussed enough. We lean heavily on certainty, which is like oil to wonder’s water. When we look at nature, we see wonder everywhere. We are a part of the earth, and with each season we invite a new energy to our life. Seasons of Wonder gives a methodical and creative approach to delving into our curiosity and sense of wonder.
What is a devotional calendar?
A devotional calendar is a guided structure for deepening your study and understanding of a religious faith. Typically in daily or weekly increments, they present a passage to read and invite you to explore what it means.
Seasons of Wonder is not your typical devotional. In fact, Bonnie didn’t approach writing it as a devotional until her editor pointed it out to her. But this is her own personal twist on the genre: A book full of devotion, and how love, wonder, and courage all come from being devoted.
In Seasons of Wonder, each section is named for a month, and contains a practice for each week that makes up that month. For example, January starts off with the theme of “Transcending Dualities,” and the four weeks are titled:
- “Gather and Resolve,”
- “Stargaze,”
- “Wrestle,”
- and “Set the Table.”
Along with each devotional guide is paired a “wonder moment” and something to try.
To wonder is to tell some stories together, to explore ideas, and to listen and discuss. After you’ve had some time to wonder, listen, and discuss, you move into trying and taking those ideas into something concrete. When you can physically manifest that idea of wonder, something magical happens.
Resources
- Learn more at bonniesmithwhitehouse.com
- Read: Seasons of Wonder
- December is a great time to register for Brave Write online classes! See out class descriptions here: https://bravewriter.com/online-classes
- Sign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!
- Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-started
- Sign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we’re doing in 2022 and you’ll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitz
Connect with Julie
- Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriter
- Twitter: twitter.com/bravewriter
- Facebook: facebook.com/bravewriter
Capturing Self-Expression
When you read your child’s writing: If you’re bored reading it, your kid was bored writing it.
Often, the first line of defense is to work harder on all the externals. We can put up with less than brilliant prose if the grammar, spelling, and punctuation are accurate, right? BEWARE. Poor writing can’t be bandaged with good mechanics.
Why should any child work tirelessly on a report that no one will enjoy reading? If your young writer actually thought that what they produced were good to read, their whole attitude about the next project would likely be different. They would want to see if they could get that positive reaction again.
Think of it this way.
Writing is like a theatrical performance. Just because someone memorizes the lines, poses as directed, and wears a convincing costume doesn’t mean that the actor has succeeded in good acting. We recognize good acting by how moved we were after watching a great performance.
Likewise, the report about Vermont that your daughter wrote shouldn’t only be a fulfillment of some list of state report topics, accurately spelled and punctuated. It must sing in the end. It ought to have that fresh interpretation that is unique to your child.
Our task is to do all we can to capture the child’s act of self-expression in writing so that what’s on the page matches what your children share with you naturally when they speak. Their:
- robust vocabulary,
- imaginative self-expression,
- and quirky insights.
If that means you jot down each word for them, so be it! This is where the writing life begins.
Help your children experience themselves as WRITERS, not by how well they spell but by how enthusiastically they are read!
Trust me: if you start there, your child will want to write. They love being read, just like they love being listened to. Same thing!
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
Happy Holidays!
We at Brave Writer wish you all the best during this holiday season!
In these upcoming days as this year draws to a close, we hope you are able to slow the pace of your everyday life and savor the beauty of family.
The staff of Brave Writer will also be slowing the pace a bit in these last days of 2022.
Between December 25 and January 3, we will only be available to answer urgent questions via email, such as log in or class payment issues.
Non-urgent emails, however, such as product help and class recommendations, will be addressed after the holidays, the week of January 4.
Please feel free to continue to post and participate in our Brave Learner Home community, if you are a member.
Thank you for all the ways you show us that our work is meaningful in your lives.
Happy New Year! See you in 2023.
Have a wonderful end of the year celebration!
