COLLECTIVE BREATH – Week of Sunday, July 26th, 2020

Number of people attending Facebook (personal portion):

Number of people attending Zoom Meet (group portion):

Introduction:

A transcript of this segment and each subsequent session will be posted (for anyone interested) at http://www.sidewayseight.co which is my main outlet for personal poetry and photography: Sideways Eight Projects.

Hello fantastic people! My name is Jesse James Ziegler. I am the current Poet in Residence for the Bruka Theatre of the Sierra in Reno, Nevada. I am an active poet, special event MC, principle photographer, special event series host, and now weekly wellness writing workshop host in collaboration with Spoken Views Collective of which I am also a Board Member.

This Weeks Writing Prompt:

This week’s Prompt is in the form of a question. ‘What is worth fighting for?’

It seems, to borrow a phrase from Hunter S. Thompson that you can “strike sparks anywhere” these days. Look no further than Facebook link comment sections, digital newspaper headlines, up to the minute sound bites, and live protests, and you will see a world descending into conflict, drama, and fighting. So, I posed the question, what is worth fighting for?

In thinking about the words fight or fighting, we conjure verbiage that has a harsher tone. What is behind the harshness though is a deep desire for preservation. When anger occurs, there is fear behind it. Fear of losing something. When harshness occurs, there is nurture behind it, a desire to hold on to and care for something or someone. So, asking ourselves what is worth fighting for, is digging into basic fears, traumatic loss, and our innate desires to nurture, preserve, and protect what we hold sacred.

I want for this podcast style personal portion to contain information about famous writers and their quotes as well as, futuristically speaking, local guests to this program who help everyone involved gain a diversity of perspective and positively impact our individual process.

Quote(s) of the Week:

Our singular quote of the week, due to an increased number of original poetry pieces, comes to us from Mark Twain.

“The use of the pen name of Mark Twain first occurred in Samuel Clemens‘s writing while in the Nevada Territory which he had journeyed to with his brother.[1][2] Clemens/Twain lived in Nevada from 1861 to 1864, and visited the area twice after leaving.” – Wikipedia

Our own state speaks of fighting on its flag. We are Battle Born. Statehood arising from the Civil War. What may arise from the civil war we are in now?

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

― Mark Twain

I’m hoping this sharing and vulnerability I’m demonstrating will encourage others who love creative writing as well to open up, by sharing from their innermost, related to the topic provided. I’m hoping we all gain perspective, compassion, hope, and discipline through such organized sharing.

Piece or Pieces of the Week: (5)

Our Children. (the next generation is worth fighting for)

Media. (our minds are worth fighting for)

To Attempt. (justice and equality are worth fighting for)

I hid in a place (our faith is worth fighting for)

The body carries our story. (the desired world is worth fighting for)

Next Week’s Writing Prompt:

Which will also be posted across Collective Breath and Bruka Theatre’s social media platforms. Wil Gibson has been a touring performance poet and published author. He currently works with the Redwood Poetry Project (see Facebook for details). I had the opportunity to attend his workshop while he was touring through Reno. One of the writing prompts he posed was to write a letter to the monster from your childhood. That is what we’ll tackle across the upcoming week. Write a letter to the monster from your childhood.

Closing Sentiments and an Invitation

That’s it for my personal portion. If this is where you get off this train of thought, because you checked in to listen, thank you for tuning in and absorbing. I appreciate your time and consideration. If you are here for the Weekly Wellness Writing Workshop group portion via Zoom Meeting, please transition to that application now using the link provided in the ‘Collective Breath’ Facebook Event Page.

Keep writing. Keep your heart open and your mind aware. Keep coming back for more. Keep going. Keep doing. Keep loving and creating. Keep each other safe and sound. Keep it real, and keep the faith. I love you. Goodbye for now.