joyful noise

Candles in the Window Retreat: A prize drawing

When the day is devoted to writing, time moves as slowly as the sun. In an unbroken afternoon, my characters relax and tell the kind of tales you get when there are no buses to catch, no phones that might ring, when they know they’ve got my attention. They stutter less and speak whole sentences at a time.
“Retreat,” in VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT, by Jeannine Atkins

Retreat-Header 2-2

Winter’s upon us, but good news: Our 2014 Writing and Yoga Retreat (with chocolate!) is just a few short months away. And what better place to experience “an unbroken afternoon” than Land of Medicine Buddha, in sunny California? Tucked among the redwood trees of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the retreat center is two hours south of San Francisco, and just a few short miles from the beach.

CANDLES IN THE WINDOW: A Writing and Yoga Retreat (with Chocolate!) spans the weekend of June 6 – 8, but the memories we’ll create will last a lot longer, guaranteed. So will the stories we’ll write with VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT author, Jeannine Atkins. Also on the agenda: gentle yoga classes, a contemplative photography walk, meditation hikes and how-to sessions, and a chocolate-infused writing activity on Saturday night. Want to know more? If you haven’t yet visited our Retreat website and Facebook page, please do!

Our Early Bird Registration discount ends on Valentine’s Day, but to sweeten the pot even further, we’re offering an additional $25.00 price reduction to one lucky winner.

Entering is easy. 1. Leave a comment on this blog entry. Be sure it includes your name and a way for us to reach you.  
2. Click “Maybe” or “Going” on our CANDLES IN THE WINDOW Facebook page. 3. Share this blog link with your Twitter followers and Facebook friends.  Do one or all three—each option gives you another shot at the prize.

All entries must be completed by 5 p.m. Pacific Time on January 13th. The lucky winner will be selected in a random drawing on January 14th and will be informed via this blog and Facebook.

P.S. Becky Levine’s offering a signed copy of Jeannine Atkins’s lovely book to one lucky winner. We’ll explore VIEWS FROM A WINDOW SEAT at our Writing and Yoga retreat, so once you’ve entered our drawing, so be sure you drop your name into the hat on Becky’s blog, too!

Friday Five

1. Some of my favorite childhood memories come of front-porch conversations and church potlucks, where quiet conversations turned to songfests. Not the auto-tuned, polished and synthesized music you hear today. No, I'm talkin' about that old-time, raise-the-roof, glory-hallelujah gospel singing!  Like this, minus any whiff of commercialism:


It's memories like this inspired me to rename this blog Joyful Noise. It's also why I'm taking voice lessons. Slowly but surely, I'm learning to make my own kind of music (thank you, Mama Cass); to sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops, ala Walt Whitman; to embrace the polished and imperfect, equally. Joyfully. And blessed be, all this noise-making is finding its way into WITNESS.

2. Writing (life itself) is all about singing from your heart, isn't it? It's about choosing fresh over stagnant, about translating the tried-and-true into something original. That's the premise of the movie, JOYFUL NOISE, which I saw last weekend with a friend. Even if you're not of a mind to watch the whole movie, I highly recommend this clip (Higher Ground, via YouTube). It's an uplifting medley of contemporary songs*, remastered with gospel stylin's.  * "Higher" (Sly & The Family Stone), "Yeah" (Usher), "Forever" (Chris Brown), and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (Stevie Wonder).

3. Thich Nhat Han once said, "If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today." I suspect this is why our ears perk and our hearts beat faster, whenever we hear the opening strains to certain songs. For me, it's gospel choruses and spirituals. They reach the very depths of my soul. Old becomes new, and personally meaningful. (Oh my gracious, when Queen Latifah sang Fix Me Jesus, I was wringing tears from my shirt sleeve!) 

4 and 5. I want to tell you about SAY AMEN, SOMEBODY, which we also saw last weekend. But I need to declutter the house for a special weekend guest, so I think I'll save that story for next time. I'll leave you instead with these harbingers of spring, joyful noises in their own right.