Free-Style Writers Workshop
An on-going workshop that guides students who are working on specific projects or just want to improve their writing. The workshop covers all aspects related to the craft of writing, including structure, the elements of compelling stories and characters, and scene writing, so you’re able to accomplish a major writing project such as a novel or memoir. Free-writing exercises help stimulate creativity, as each week you’ll write new scenes and watch your manuscript grow. To get your creative energies flowing, you are welcome to read scenes aloud and get feedback on your writing.
Six Wednesdays, 7-9pm, starts February 15th, 2011
To register, click on the Pay Now button below.
Topics: Events, Mythic Structure, Revising, Writing | No Comments »
All Outcomes are Equal
Why Everything Has Beauty In It
In A Separate Reality, don Juan says, “A warrior knows that her life will be over altogether too soon; she knows that she, as well as everybody else, is not going anywhere; she knows, because she sees, that nothing is more important than anything else. Nothing being more important than anything else, she chooses any act, and acts it out as if it matters to her. Her controlled folly makes her say that what she does matters and makes her act as if it did, and yet she knows that it doesn’t; so when she fulfills her acts she retreats in peace, and whether her acts were good or bad, or worked or didn’t, is in no way part of her concern.
“But then if nothing really matters, as you ask me, how can I go on living?”
To understand what don Juan is saying here, it’s important to remember that he always says a warrior has unbending intent. So the paradox is that we commit to an act with unbending intent, and yet at the same time are completely unattached to the outcome.
How can that be?
It is so, because when you know that you are mortal, you don’t have time to waste on self-pity, self-doubt, or regret. A warrior cannot waste time on those things. As long as you commit to your acts with unbending intent, that’s all that matters. There is no such thing as a bad outcome or a failure.
A warrior is fully present in each moment and sees the beauty in that moment, whether you are picking up scrap metal or making fudge, it’s the act of being fully present that makes it successful, not the financial outcome. A warrior makes the decision to do what he’s doing and he lets go of any doubts that he should be doing something different; he lets go of regrets about what he is not doing. Life is too short for doubt or regret.
A warrior works as hard as she can for what she wants and if she doesn’t get it, she looks instead upon the beauty in what she has: her freedom, a friend, the chance to make a new start with no personal history, setting upon a journey of discovery, creating the distance necessary to feel desire, a return to innocence.
When all outcomes are equal, the warrior is lusty for life. There’s so much at the banquet. A warrior never goes hungry.
Topics: Empowerment, Reality, Sorcery, Warrior training | Comments Off
Boundaries: Needs versus Neediness
It often astounds me that we spend so many years in school and yet never learn some of the most important and basic things we need in life to be healthy, functional adults. One of the things we need to learn is how to establish healthy boundaries. Instead, most people grow up being raised by dysfunctional adults who never learned to establish healthy boundaries of their own.
As Marshall Rosenberg, author of Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life, says, “We are raised in a domination culture with a domination language.” People grow up learning roles of domination and submission, rather than empowerment.
When people are empowered, there are no masters or slaves; there is no room for manipulation of any kind.
Healthy boundaries are a necessary part of empowering oneself and others. When we choose healthy boundaries, we are able to state our feelings and needs, and make requests with absolute clarity and decisiveness. There is no emotional manipulation, no wishy-washiness, no passive-aggressive behavior, no game-playing, no leaking of one’s personal power; there are no mixed messages, no excuse-making avoidance tactics, no demands. It is a simple statement: this is who I am; this is what I need; these are my boundaries.
Sometimes we also need to add: If you want to be in any kind of meaningful relationship with me, you will respect my boundaries.
But it’s up to each of us to tell other people what our boundaries are. To assume that they can read our minds is self-defeating, and ultimately self-destructive.
Everyone has needs. Healthy boundaries, and communicating them to others, helps us to get our needs met.
Needs and Neediness are polar opposites. A person who is needy has no boundaries. That’s why they are needy. Because they have no boundaries, their needs never get met, hence they are constantly needy. Like the obese person who suffers from malnutrition, the needy person craves nourishment that is never satiated because they don’t really know who they are, what they need, what they want, or how to communicate those things to other people.
A person with healthy boundaries is able to live a life of total honesty and integrity. This kind of person doesn’t have to beg, manipulate, or convince others to meet his or her needs. All they have to do is state very clearly: this is who I am; this is what I need; this is what I want; these are my boundaries.
Don Juan said, “Personal power is everything.” Know your boundaries. State them clearly. Empower yourself.
Topics: Communication Skills, Empowerment, Manifestation, Warrior training | Comments Off
Using Astrology to Manifest Your Goals (3 Weeks)
After using manifestation techniques for the past nine years and teaching them to others for the past five years, I have discover that Tarot and Astrology are two of the most powerful tools to help you manifest your goals. Without even realizing it, you may be defeating yourself because you aren’t tapping into the cosmic energy flow in order to make things happen. By understanding astrology and how it impacts your own unique natal chart, you will be able to catch the cosmic wave and ride it to success. In this workshop, we will explore my entire toolbox of manifestation techniques, using Tarot and Astrology to communicate with your super-conscious mind and find the best path toward manifesting your goals.
Three Thursdays, 7-9pm, starts December 15th, 2011 (skips December 29th)
$99 until midnight December 10th, $120 after December 10th. To register, click on the Pay Now button below.
Topics: Events, Manifestation, Tarot-Astrology | Comments Off
Creating Compelling Characters
What makes us care about how a character struggles? What makes us fall in love with the character on the page? When people read stories, they want to feel what the characters feel. They want to be moved, touched, and inspired by character-driven stories. Writers do this through the way they create their characters. In this workshop, we will explore the elements needed to make your characters ones that readers will love. Once they pick up your book or short story, they won’t be able to put it down. Evon Davis is the author of several books, including two novels, Pandora’s Box and The Bohemian Life.| Price: | $39 Member $20 optional materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 2095G | One Sun., 9 a.m.-noon 12/11 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Using Astrology to Manifest Your Goals
Discover how powerfully astrology can help you manifest your goals. Without even realizing it, you may be defeating yourself because you aren’t tapping into the cosmic energy flow in order to make things happen. By understanding astrology and how it impacts your own unique natal chart, you will be able to catch the cosmic wave and ride it to success. In this workshop, we will explore using astrology as a way to communicate with your super-conscious mind and find the best path toward manifesting your goals. Evon Davis, author of The Power of Manifestation: Creating a Life You Love and The Manifestation Workbook, is a professional astrologer and has been actively working with these principles for years.
| Price: | $39 Member $10 materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 5344F | One Sat., 1-4 p.m. 12/10 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Topics: Events, Manifestation, Tarot-Astrology | Comments Off
The Key to Writing that Sells
Hemingway said that there is no such thing as writing, only rewriting. What he meant is that we cannot expect any first draft to be good writing. Those occasions when it does come out fabulous right off the bat are rare and magical. Even professional writers like Stephen King have to rewrite and revise several times before their manuscripts are ready for publication. If you’d like your writing to be publishable, come to this workshop and learn the tricks that the professionals know in order to polish your writing until it shines. Through discussion, reviewing sample pieces, and in-class writing exercises, novelist and writing teacher Evon Davis will raise your writing up to the next level.| Price: | $39 Member $20 optional materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 2096H | One Sun., 1-4 p.m. 12/11 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Topics: Events, Favorite authors, Publication, Revising, Writing | Comments Off
The Law of Attraction: Creating a Life You Love
Have you heard about The Secret and the Law of Attraction? There is a way to harness powerful forces in order to live from your heart and create the life you desire. More and more people are applying the principles of conscious creation to redirect their efforts and bring genuine joy and fulfillment into their lives. Come join this fun, spirited class that will give you actual tools to begin to transform your life. Drawing on the concepts in The Secret and books by Michael Losier, Laura Day, and Esther Hicks, Evon Davis demonstrates that we all have the capacity to be conscious creators of the lives we desire instead of living by default. Evon is the author of The Power of Manifestation: Creating a Life You Love and The Manifestation Workbook and has been actively working with these principles for years.| Price: | $35 Member $20 optional materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 3234AO | One Sun., 1-4 p.m. 12/4 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Topics: Events, Manifestation, Reality, Sorcery | Comments Off
Your Life in Print
Memoir, Personal Essays, and Autobiographical Fiction
You have a story to tell and probably at least one book in you. Memoir writing is a valuable tool for understanding the meaning of your life, processing your experiences, and learning all that can be learned from them. It’s a way of turning profound moments into art and giving others the chance to learn and be moved by your life story. Learn what a memoir is and how to focus the themes and time-frames of your life in order to write a memoir. Learn the difference between writing a summary and describing a scene and how you can mix the two. Through discussion, reviewing sample memoir pieces, and in-class writing exercises, novelist and writing teacher Evon Davis will get you telling the story of your life.
| Price: | $39 Member $20 optional materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 2048AT | One Sat., 1-4 p.m. 12/3 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Plotting a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay
The Structure That Holds It All Together
Mythic structure can be found in almost every myth worldwide from ancient times to modern-day blockbusters, like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Avatar. This structure creates compelling stories and provides organization, giving you an essential tool to complete a novel, memoir, or screenplay. Students will learn about the 12 stages of the hero’s journey and use those 12 stages to plot the main character’s journey. During class students will work with their own story ideas and turn them into functional outlines. Evon Davis has successfully published a number of books, including Pandora’s Box, a modern-day version of the myth. Optional materials fee is for book by Evon.
| Price: | $39 Member $20 optional materials fee payable in class | |
| Class # | Class Dates | Area of town |
| 3235AJ | One Sun., 9 a.m.-noon 12/4 | CFU LOWRY: Near 1st & Quebec |
To register, click on the Class Number link.
Topics: Events, Mythic Structure, Revising, Writing | Comments Off
