woman, tell us
y o u r s t o r y
a 6-week Gateless Writing salon
on personal narrative
Mondays 6pm - 8pm ET
April 17th - May 22nd, 2023
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“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open.”
~ Muriel Rukeyser
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Tell us, woman, tell us your story.
Tell us of the places your feet have walked, the raptures your body has sung, the hundred different ways you have died.
Tell us, oh glorious woman, which nameless chasms did you fall into, sudden and dreadful, in that soft, violent spring of childhood? Tell us, how did you split open? how did you bleed? how did you grow, full-bodied and wild, in that agonizing and erotic eruption of womanhood?
Tell us, woman, where did your tears fall?
what blooms did your weeping grow? what temples within yourself did your anger raise? Where did your heart break in a thousand pieces only to grow back inviolable again, or to still be recollecting?
Tell us, woman, what joys are lapping against the shores of your hips? What hands are pulling you forward towards the sweet song of yourself? how are you getting reborn?
In the seedbed of your biography lives a hundred women waiting to be known, fed by the nourishment of witness: of being known in the paths you have walked, the skins you have shed, the lovers and children you have buried, the woman you have become and are becoming.
Come, woman, come sit by the fire of your soul and tell us your tale, that we may all be blessed by the gift of you as we listen in reverence for the world-splitting that is the truth of one woman’s life.
Gateless writing is a writing method inspired by ancient wisdom lineages and creative science to support you to drop beneath the conditioned critical mind into that ‘sunless sea’, 'under sleep, where all the waters meet' — the interior womb where all creativity springs (Coleridge; Eliot).
We cannot force creativity, however we can recreate the most fertile conditions that creativity naturally flows from. This involves, like the oracles and prophet-healers of Ancient Greece, leaving our ‘above world’ ordinary state of consciousness (the linear rational mind) and entering a non-ordinary, subterranean state. In Gateless we do this with the help of guided meditation, authentic movement, music, and incubation, as well as through creating an extremely safe, critique-free atmosphere. In Gateless methodology we only give and receive supportive feedback about what we genuinely loved and appreciated about each other’s writing so that your creative-genius-inner-child can frolic in the fields of experimental play, free of the fear of judgement.
We will gather for ~2 hours each week online to write in this salon’s theme. Each call will include a Gateless meditation to drop you into yourself, a writing prompt, writing-time, and nourishing Gateless (only appreciative) feedback. These salons are for any woman (writers and non-writers alike) who want to use writing as a tool for your healing and becoming.
Mondays, 6 - 8pm EDT
April 17th - May 22nd, 2023
Online via Zoom**
Limited to 10 participants.
Due to the gynocentricity of some of the prompts, this salon is for females, however, non-binary identifying folks are warmly welcome.
$275
*Bring a friend who has never heard of Gateless before and receive $75 off - email me for this rebate.
In the case you are not automatically redirected to the payment page you can click here or send via Venmo (@BrielleMartinez)
**Please note: due to the vulnerability of the space, the calls will NOT be recorded. Please ensure you can attend all or most of the calls beforehand to verify if this is right for you. If you cannot attend a session please write to me to receive the prompt via email.