Written by Sylvia Lovely
I have news! I been teaching “Writing the Stories of Your Life” through the Good Foods Co-op and the
Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning for several years and am pleased to be a “story doula” and
your chief encourager to write and share your stories! The class has really caught on and I am ready to
begin offering more sessions than in the past. While all my classes have been conducted via Zoom, that
is about to change – I will be teaching “Writing the Stories of Your Life,” IN-PERSON on Wednesdays,
April 26 and May 10 from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. in the Good Foods Co-op Community Room. There will be
other classes offered on future dates both in-person and on-line focused on the power of your stories to
heal and contribute to a more joyful self.
As an introductory offer to this class, “Writing the Stories of Your Life,” the fee will remain the same as
before, $33 for owners at Good Foods Co-op and $39 for non-owners. You can sign up for the class on Eventbrite here.
Choosing Good Foods Co-op as my partner in this initiative is deliberate and purposeful. The Good Foods
Co-op array of services includes a grocery store, a café, the Community gathering room and a
commitment to serving, promoting and showcasing local community builders. The latter reflects my
class mission as well to promote local writers who capture the stories of our communities.
I like to think of myself as a “story doula”! As you know, doulas accompany those giving birth to
something. In my case, it is to encourage you to give birth to your creativity through stories. As with the
on-line classes, I will facilitate formation of a writing community as we share with one another where we
are on our writing journey. Based on prompts I will provide in advance of each class session, you will
develop writing pieces that you can share with your fellow writers. In the meantime, I hope to inspire
you to take up writing and sharing your stories as a regular and positive habit. Research shows that not
only is it joyful, it contributes to all aspects of your well-being and ability to cope with the rough and
tumble of modern living. We will share our writing and thinking with one another and learn more about
how to write our stories, how to understand our stories and appreciate their value no matter what our
ultimate writing goals may be.
