Are you feeling....
Â
like you want to do something for yourself in 2024.?
Â
the weight of many difficult years?
Â
ready to start or reinvigorate a writing practice?
We invite you to join us in a 30-day joy-hunting workshop. This all-levels writing workshop will help you develop a daily practice of finding three good things in each day. Yes, the boring days. Yes, the horrible days. Yes, the great days.Â
We start January 10th →
30 days is not too short to change your life!
Each day, you will document three good things from that day.
You will have a safe space to share your good things and discuss what is hard and what you are learning in the course of doing this practice.
Research shows that when we take time to recognize and feel emotions like gratitude, awe, love, hope, and joy, many aspects of our lives can benefit, including our writing lives. Writing down these experiences can provide us with a sense of purpose and meaning, recharge our ability to reflect and describe, and improve our relationships.
Human brains are hard-wired to focus more on negative experiences than positive ones. This natural inclination is called our "negativity bias." Throughout human history, this bias served us well and helped us survive the life-and-death threats of early human life. In modern life. In today's world, this bias isn't always quite as helpful. When we focus primarily on what is painful and difficult in our lives, we can feel burnout, too much anxiety, and a loss of purpose.
This good things practice is not about dismissing negative emotions such as anger, sadness, grief, or worry. We are not fans of "toxic positivity." This practice is about recognizing the idea that highlighting the good things can help us process all of our feelings and experiences.Â
These 30 days are for you if you want to...
- understand yourself and your story better
- establish or re-establish a writing practiceÂ
- find writing ideas from the everyday details of your life
- explore and express your voice with confidence
- bring more joy, presence, and gratitude into your lifeÂ
- join a group of midlife women to support you and your writing journey
"The negative screams at you, but the positive only whispers...”Â
- Professor Barbara Frederickson
"For me, the best thing about this class was that, despite the distance and online platform, I felt deeply connected to this incredible group of women from varied backgrounds and interests, all of us joined together for the same reason--a shared desire to write through a tumultuous and uncertain time in our lives...
The prompts were like magic for me, too. I had been feeling stuck in my daily writing for quite awhile. I didn't want this time to go unnoticed in my personal accounts, yet, I felt lost in a way when trying to write on my own. The prompts, feedback from my writing companions and Jessica and Stephanie helped tremendously, and I felt completely free in this online space."
-- writing group participant
"It gave me the gentle push I was looking for.
“The HerStories workshop got me to write after a long period of procrastination, but more importantly, it impelled me to re-engage the whole practice of writing. I was inspired to sit down and think about my writing, what I want to write, what I need to write, and how I should go about it. It gave me the gentle push I was looking for. Stephanie and Jessica honour every woman’s personal pathway to discovering what works for her. ”.
--Â workshop participant
We welcome women from all writing backgrounds and experience levels.
Join a community of midlife women on this 30-day journey with you.
Â
Our workshop will include guided discussions on the practice, information about why it is beneficial to our mental health to look for good things in our days, and resources to learn more about these concepts.Â
This experience will be about connecting with other women also going through the challenges and joys of midlife. You'll cheer each other on, give feedback on writing, and help each other make sense of this messy middle period of our lives.
supported during these 30 days.
POST YOUR WRITING EACH DAY
We'll provide a private community forum for you to share your things, connect with other writers, and get support and feedback.
ZOOM CALLS
Attend Zoom calls on Monday and Fridays at noon ET. Join one or both meetings each week, or watch the recordings later. Share what you're learning and how you're feeling, and ask questions. Again, all meetings will be recorded, if you are not able to attend the live sessions.
Daily prompts, lessons, and resources
Inside the platform, access resources for learning about the practice. Receive daily writing prompts, lessons, and inspiration in your inbox.
Here's what you'll do each day... It's this simple.
THINK OF 3 GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED THAT DAY OR USE OUR PROMPT
WRITE THEM DOWN and reflect on why they happenedÂ
SHARE your 3 things and reflections in the group
+ each week's topics +
Each week we'll guide you through topics to help you get the most out of the practice, using lessons, resources, videos, and readings. The lessons are optional but you may find them useful for these 30 days.
WEEK 1: THE HABIT
- Why do this?
- Making time
- Capturing the good things (photos, sticky notes)
- Keeping it simple
WEEK 2: DIGGING DEEP
- Being vulnerable while maintaining boundaries
- The nature of awe
- Cultivating the art of noticing
WEEK 3: FINE-TUNING
- What to do when your mind goes blank
- Zooming way in
- Giving yourself "assignments"
WEEK 4: WHAT WE LEARNED
- Finding beauty in the every day
- Identifying themes
- Sharing how you've changed
HERE ARE YOUR GUIDES FOR THESE 30 DAYS:
Karen, Jessica, and Stephanie.
Jessica Smock and Stephanie Sprenger are the co-founders of the HerStories Project.
We are the co-founders and co-editors of the HerStories Project, a publishing and writing community for midlife women. We've been leading writing groups, teaching writing classes, as well as publishing anthologies and personal essays, for the past decade.
Learn more about us here.
Karen began writing a list of best things each day in 2017 when a friend recommended the practice.
Once started, now she finds she can’t stop. This daily habit is very simple and has been life-altering for her. In this workshop, Karen hopes to share the lessons she’s learned from years of thinking about life through the lens of, “will this make my list today?” One thing she has learned is that she has to actively seek joy and delight. She has also discovered that by cultivating this practice, sometimes delights land in her lap in unexpected ways.Â
Karen writes from her home in the Midwest, where she’s often delighted by the sights out her window, her cats, her college-aged kids, her spouse, and the mundane details of a life, observed. Turns out there is beauty in the everyday just waiting to be discovered.
 .
Go on a 30-day writing journey with us, starting January 10.
Please use the code "100OFF" if the cost of the workshop will be a financial burden to you.
- Daily check-ins in our private forum
- Daily writing prompts
- Zoom meetings and lessons twice weekly
- Recordings of all meetings if you can't attend live
- Personalized feedback on your writingÂ
- Lessons and resources explaining the practice
- A supportive community cheering you on
