Dear Readers,

I can’t believe it has been nearly six months since I have written to you. I’d like to offer you an explanation and an update. Remember that part of my subtitle is “transformation.”

I stopped writing Johnny Harper stories. I’m not saying I’ll never write one again. It was useful writing Johnny and Sharyn stories in the aftermath of his death. It kept me connected to his community and helped all of us grieve.

But, as I mentioned once, I am currently the sole caretaker for my elderly mother, who is undergoing cancer treatment. In the last five months she has aged about ten years and my duties have increased considerably in that time.

Ironically, The Kale Chronicles began as a recipe blog and I am now cooking up to three meals a day, but I do not have time to blog about food between shopping for it, making it, serving it and cleaning the kitchen. We eat fairly simply. I still shop at the farmers market and Grocery Outlet. Today I made these lovely lemon ricotta pancakes from the New York Times and served them with fresh raspberries. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022931-lemon-ricotta-pancakes? For lunch we had leftover lasagna and I don’t know yet what is for dinner tonight.

Anyway, one of the things I have managed to keep doing over the last two years is teaching Natalie Goldberg’s writing practice on Zoom. My flagship group, the Monday AM Practice Group, meets Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM Pacific Time. We spend our first ten minutes in silent zen-style meditation and go on to write and read aloud to each other without commenting on each other’s work.

I am a dharma heir of Natalie’s and have studied with her twenty-three years straight: I have a good grounding in writing practice, shelves of filled notebooks and two years teaching experience. I enjoy teaching, and appreciate my students and their dedication to the practice.

If you, too, would like to engage in writing practice, I have openings for two four-week sessions:

July 10, 17, 24 and 31, 2023. Registration deadline; Friday July 7, 6 PM Pacific

August 7, 14, 21, and 28, 2023. Registration deadline: Friday August 4, 6 PM Pacific

Each four-week session costs $100.00 USD. You may sign up for either or both summer sessions.

For your fees you get 1) Membership in an ongoing established writing practice group 2) My considerable experience with aspects of writing practice 3) Weekly summaries of what we did in class 4) Weekly suggested writing topics and other optional writing assignments.

If you have been writing and could use a concentrated weekend of sitting meditation, writing practice and reading aloud, you might want to sign up for a Writing Practice Retreat on July 15-16, fees and hours TBA (Watch for an announcement next Friday, June 23).

Meanwhile, stop chewing your pen. Bring it to your notebook and keep your hand moving. Write whatever comes into your head. No good. No bad. No censorship. No rules about grammar or spelling at this stage. In writing practice, we begin again every time and our goal is to record the first thoughts in our mind, to get on the page our memories, sensations, feelings, stories — whatever is foremost in our mind at the time of writing.

A writing topic (Some people call them “prompts,” but Natalie prefers the weightier and broader term “topic”) is a jumping-off point, a place to start. You might start with “I’m looking at…” or “A day in June” or “My mother’s purse.” Then go wherever your mind goes, trusting and accepting that writing will get you where you need to go.

Do you have questions? Comment away and I will answer them. I will also be glad to send you extensive information about the Monday AM Practice Group. Just email me at sharyndimmick@att.net. And if you are ready to sign up for July or August, send me an email to do that.

Thank you for reading. I’m sure I’ll have more stories someday…

Sharyn