From Judith McDaniel
In a Blog from January on Lifelong Learning, I asked this question:
So why shouldn’t we all have access to a similar forum for discovery? What might that look like? I think it would have a common reading or source of knowledge, the chance to exchange ideas and opinions with others who are exploring the same text or issue, and guidance by a facilitator who has expertise in this area.
And here is one answer–and a plug for a personal enterprise! A friend and I are offering a chance to raft down the San Juan River in northern Arizona—with conversation, time for reflection, space and encouragement to write.
Reflection time in Anasazi Ruins
Raft the San Juan River 
Writing Down the River
May 13 – 19, 2009
Going down a river is a perfect atmosphere for allowing the mind and heart space to saunter and wander. Often images and stories appear in the periphery of our thoughts, images that our conscious mind might censor and silence. On this voyage, we will begin to welcome what has been kept out, finding ways to access those images and stories and give them expressive form.
We will ask: How can we train ourselves to pay attention, to look closely, to see what is right in front of us in its specificity of detail? And, then, how can we allow ourselves to follow the threads of our own mind, the connections and associations and memories and questions. The poet William Stafford writes that, if followed gently and without judgment, our threads of thought will lead us to the holy land. On this trip, we can practice being mindful and paying attention, to writing as a process of exploring both outer and inner worlds, to writing as a way of journeying to the holy land.
It is a risky business, all this exploring. As I wrote in my book Taking Risks, “Every time we choose a risk, we are traveling outside of the limitations – real or perceived – of our lives. When we choose a risk, we are choosing to face down a fear, or at least to walk with it past the boundaries of our previous experience.”
Judith McDaniel lives in Tucson and teaches courses at the University of Arizona and Vermont College. She has led women’s writing workshops in communities around the country. Her books include Sanctuary: A Journey, Metamorphosis (poems), several novels, and her most recent book of poems, Taking Risks.
Further information: http://www.prescott.edu/cesll/SanJuanRiverTrip.html
Tags: lifelong learning; writing; river rafting; San Juan River; writer's trip
