Welcome back to Exploring the Mystery. I’m grateful you are here and thankful for those of you who wrote to support my sabbatical. Sitting down to write this post, I felt both vulnerable and revitalized. Vulnerable because there was so much to share and I didn’t know where to begin, revitalized because of the time I had to read, think, play and plan. I decided that it would make sense to reintroduce myself:
I am Nicola Mendenhall. Over the last two months, I’ve become more comfortable than ever claiming Nicola as my given name. I also gained new appreciation for the nickname my mother gave me. Suddenly, having two names no longer feels like a problem. This may be related to seeing Nicola on book jackets which worked to reenforce the sage advice from Mary Nilsen, esteemed editor of my debut memoir. Mary explained that no matter how truthful I was about myself, the person described in my memoir would not be me. Just this minute I had an epiphany that what this means to me is that the woman described in the memoir is the me I used to be!
I am a writer. For me, writing is learning how to think clearly and choose worddescribe what I want to express. More specifically, I am pushing myself to trust what my unconscious offers me to work with. I am using techniques I learned in the Wild Writing Teacher Training Class I completed in June 2022. I have also begun work on my next memoir on aging and am getting more comfortable with the uncertainty that is part of beginning a new project.
Wild Writing has become an important part of my life and has given me a supportive community. I try to write with Laurie Wagner (creator of Wild Writing) three times a week and I always write with four alumni members of Wagner’s class for an hour and a half once a week. We take turns leading classes, which gives me practice for the groups I lead. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading five different Wild Writing groups.
I now love exercise and am learning how essential it is to my wellbeing. I participate in live Zoom Tai Chi Chih classes four days a week, meet with my personal trainer once a month to report on my progress. I always hope to tell her that I have accomplished my goals of short workouts on the TRX, Barr workout, and weightlifting. In addition, I walk outdoors with Wendell using Exerstrider poles. Just as I push myself to listen to my unconscious when writing, I push myself to exercise.
I am a contemplative person in training, with a desire is to slow down the internal rushing that removes me from the precious present moment. Present precious moments that are now even more so after witnessing my husband Wendell’s life-threatening heart attack three months ago. I treasure every moment I have with my sweet Valentine.
I plan to continue to write sub-500-word weekly posts that you can read in one fell swoop. I’m so glad you’re here with me so we can explore the mystery together. Your comments and kudos mean so much to me! See you next week!
