Writing Our Way to Wellness

In this powerful final Part 2 of a two-part series, spoken word poet, photographer, activist, and Girls Write Now mentee Sharjah M. Bodji sits down with artivist, community organizer, spoken word poet, and author of Hues of Magic, Katherine Vargas, for a compelling conversation on the intersection of art, activism, and identity. Together, they explore the transformative power of spoken word poetry in advocating for BIPOC experiences, the importance of intersectionality in creative expression, and the role of art in challenging social injustices. Tune in as they dive into their shared experiences navigating multiple identities while using their craft to amplify marginalized voices and create meaningful change in their communities.Writing Prompt: Your ancestors' wildest dreams have always been the freedom of happiness. How will you choose to honor that today? Tomorrow? Always?

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Order Katherine’s Book: Hues of Magic

Thank you for your listening ear this season. It has been such an honor to foster spaces that allow our beautiful Girls Write Now community to feel brave and empowered when talking about their writing and healing journey. Thank you for receiving us with open heart.

In this powerful Part 1 of a two-part series, spoken word poet, photographer, activist, and Girls Write Now mentee Sharjah M. Bodji sits down with artivist, community organizer, spoken word poet, and author of Hues of Magic, Katherine Vargas, for a compelling conversation on the intersection of art, activism, and identity. Together, they explore the transformative power of spoken word poetry in advocating for BIPOC experiences, the importance of intersectionality in creative expression, and the role of art in challenging social injustices. Tune in as they dive into their shared experiences navigating multiple identities while using their craft to amplify marginalized voices and create meaningful change in their communities.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where the discussion continues with even deeper insights into the healing power of art and activism.Writing Prompt: Your ancestors' wildest dreams have always been the freedom of happiness. How will you choose to honor that today? Tomorrow? Always?

Support Our Work: https://girlswritenow.org/give/

Order Katherine’s Book: Hues of Magic

When we're anxious, our bodies and minds go into overdrive. Sometimes, we can even experience physical pain. This week, Meredith Arthur, Chief of Staff for Pinterest’s Product Incubation Studio and author of Get Out Of My Head: Inspiration for Overthinkers in an Anxious World, tells the story of her own journey with anxiety and shares strategies from her Substack, Beautiful Voyager, and her Stress Relief Cheat Sheets. Listen to a healing conversation between Meredith and Girls Write Now staff member Vahni Kurra as they go deep on anxious minds, overthinking, finding solace in memes, and how you can create a sense of internal safety to help you be more resilient in times of stress.

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We’ve been spending a lot of time here at GWN reflecting on our past conversations with our wonderful guests both on our Writing Our Way to Wellness and Speaking in First Draft podcasts. This week, we’re revisiting my (Kathryn Destin) conversation with Chrissy King in our Season 1 Bonus episode of Speaking in First Draft. As you’re listening, think about ways you can practice wellness with your body beyond exercise and diet but also through calming healing practices and extending your body grace when it needs it the most.

Join us as we revisit powerful clips from past conversations with inspiring guests: Arnell Calderon, mentee alumn, Nehanda Thom, our former Wellness Advisor; and author Sahaj Kaur Kohli. Together, they share personal stories and wisdom about how our roots shape our identities and well-being.

In this special episode, we get to listen to two Girls Write Now mentees that have gotten the opportunity to publish their work within and outside of the Girls Write Now community. Maya Collins and Summer Boxer walk us through their experiences as young published authors, we get to hear how Girls Write Now supports their journey as poets and writers, and we learn how they write their way to wellness.

In this episode, community coordinator Sally Familia spends time with practicing therapist, founder of Brown Girl Therapy, and author of But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures, Sahaj Kaur Kohli. Listen in as they talk about what healing alongside community looks like, the intricacies of storytelling, and the layered experience of becoming a well person as immigrants, children of immigrants, and people of other cultures. 

Want to go deeper on wellness and writing? Join the Girls Write Now Collaboratory as a mentor, mentee, or member: https://girlswritenow.org/join-the-collaboratory/

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Get Your Own Copy: But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures

Featured Prompt by Sahaj Kohli: Understanding how our experiences impact our confidence in our identities:

Reflect on an experience you’ve had that made you very aware of your cultural, racial, gender, or sexual identity. 

How does this experience inform your sense of pride and shame regarding who you are and how you identify? How did this experience impact your relationship with others — either positively and/or negatively? What or who contributes to your confidence in your identity?

When you don't have health insurance for therapy, there's always comedy... right?

Welcome back to Writing Our Way to Wellness! In this first episode of Season 2, we are honored to have author, comedian, director, and host of the podcast Glamorous Trash, Chelsea Devantez, and our very own Director of Engagement and Partnerships, Erica Silberman.

Enjoy this humorous conversation about stand-up, journaling, therapy, and the unique, transformative process that Chelsea used to write her debut memoir, I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This (But I'm Going to Anyway), out now from Hanover Imprint at HarperCollins.

Want to go deeper on wellness and writing? Join Girls Write Now: https://girlswritenow.org/join-the-collaboratory/

Support Our Work: https://girlswritenow.org/give/

Order Chelsea’s Book: https://www.harpercollins.com/pages/chelseadevantez

And with that, our first season of Writing Our Way to Wellness comes to a close. While we’re sad to say goodbye for now, we are so thankful for everyone who joined us in this compassionate, soulful space.

In your career, you are not, and never will be, powerless.

-Jeanine Marie Russaw

In the season 1 finale, we're talking about the source of a lot of the stress in our lives: work. As writers, it can be hard to find workplaces that value our creativity and also give us the time and space to recharge our energy. But it's not impossible. Jeanine Marie Russaw, a Community Coordinator at Girls Write Now, chats with Community Manager Emily Rigby about finding joy and maintaining an authentic connection to your purpose in the workplace. Listen to how these writers and employees reclaim their stories, and in doing so reclaim their power.

Writing Prompt:

Find your “why.” Think of the work that you do and ask yourself why it is important to you. Challenge yourself to ask why your initial reaction is significant, why the second reaction is significant, and so on until you get to the core of why. Do this for your career and your writing practice.

Thank you to Sally Familia, Vahni Kurra, and Kathryn Destin who produced this season. And thank you, our listeners, for embarking on this wellness journey together.

Can’t get enough Girls Write Now content? Listen to Speaking in First Draft, our inaugural podcast, and subscribe for Season 2, which drops March 6.

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Special Projects Coordinator Kathryn Destin moderates a conversation between Girls Write Now Mentor Ashley Sowers and friend Dr. Ijeoma Unachukwu about the taboo of practicing mental wellness in the Black community and the inequities the healthcare system enforces in its practices. They also explore the presence of misogynoir in professional spaces that view Black women as disposable and undeserving of wellness.

Resources:

* Therapy for Black Girls

* Find your local chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI)

* Follow: Dr. Akua Boateng on Instagram

* Checkout the Nap Ministry on Instagram

* Read:

* Medical Apartheid by Harriet A Washington

* Wellspring of Words by Dr. Denise A Williams

* The Body Keeps Score by Bessel van der Kolk

* Emotionally Healthy Spirituality  by Peter Scazzero

* Them and Me — The Care and Treatment of Black Boys in America | NEJM 

* Daughters’ Keeper — The Care and Treatment of Black Girls in America | NEJM.

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