Readers share their responses to the recently released spiritual memoir, THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE.
During what is unfolding as the first full winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.R. Bodengraven and co-facilitator Charlene Marie Laure Vincent are conducting a workshop via Zoom that correlates or overlays the six different elements of a sacred pilgrimage with the pilgrimage of a life limited by pandemic. Using such themes as preparation, departure, the journey and sacred encounter, both facilitators guide participants into a new and more expanded way of framing individual spiritual growth. The University of Southern Maine OLLI program for retired persons is the sponsoring organization for this three-day workshop.
Using the traditional sequences of a sacred pilgrimage to foreign lands, B.R. Bodengraven offered a three-part workshop via Zoom and hosted by Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, MA. The workshop drew from themes presented in the film "The Way" -- a story starring Martin Sheen whose character unexpectedly travels the Way of Saint James in Northern Spain and returns a new man. The workshop also employed Bodengraven's specially produced writing prompts designed to take attendees living in a pandemic lock-down on an interior pilgrimage of self-discovery and liberation.
At a specially produced one-day workshop on the brink of the COVID-19 pandemic, B.R. Bodengraven guided participants in the practice of spiritual transformation. Time together was spent learning how to exist in a new context and become more expanded iterations of themselves inside daily lives limited by quarantine and illness. Special writing prompts were offered that encourage resilience and reorientation for a new reality. This event was sponsored and hosted by Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, MA.
Attendees at B.R. Bodengraven's "Writing Your Sacred Story" workshop hosted at Trinity Episcopal Church in Topsfield, MA, received a copy of her recently released booklet of writing prompts. The booklet -- A Companion Writing Guide for THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE -- orients readers of Bodengraven's spiritual memoir into their own sacred story. The writing prompts are designed to help readers and worshop attendees develop a deeper appreciation for the sacredness of all being and a heightened awareness of themselves as conduits of compassion and connection. Attendees also viewed colorful pages of drawings and writings from the journals that serve as the basis for Bodengraven's spiritual memoir.
Author B.R. Bodengraven served as the Service Leader at the Jan. 6, 2019, North Shore Unitarian Universalist Church service in Danvers, Mass.. She spoke on the theme of writing as a form of resistance to 21st-century negative messaging, online manipulation, and monetizing of our lives.
The idea, she said, is to become more spiritually resilient by making time for what she called "practices of resistance," such as daily meditation, writing, and personal reflection. Where best to conduct these types of activities? Inside the mantle of nature, of course -- preferably within one's own sacred shed or other place of natural solitude.
As part of the service, Bodengraven read excerpts from her spiritual memoir, THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE, and invited the congregation to write in response to writing prompts she devised from those excerpts.
Members of The Crossing, a unique Christian community comprised mainly of young adults from the Episcopal tradition, gathered to explore the art of writing as a spiritual practice with retreat leader and memoirist B.R. Bodengraven.
The event was structured with alternating readings and writing prompts from Bodengraven's THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE. Both readings and prompts were chosen with an eye toward encouraging participants to mine their own lives for evidence of the Sacred. Following the writing exercises, the group gathered for community readings and reflection.The event was held at the Lindsey Chapel of Boston's Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street. The Crossing community is associated with Boston's St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.
Spiritual memoir author B.R.Bodengraven conducted a "Writing as a Spiritual Practice" interactive workshop to a sold-out crowd at Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center in North Andover, Mass.
"Mining your life for interactions with the Sacred is in stark contrast to having your life mined by others for your online spending patterns, shopping habits, web search history, and GPS location -- all so you can be 'monetized' and marketed to," said Bodengraven in her workshop introduction. " Living intentionally and unearthing the Divine buried deep inside yourself is a counter-cultural activity."
Bodengraven asserts that reflecting on and writing about one's interior life is a holy task; unearthing and bringing this rich spiritual life forward through the written word transforms everyday experience and encourages resilience.
Across the span of eight weeks, participants enrolled in "Writing Your Sacred Story" facilitated by B.R. Bodengraven learned to cultivate a greater sense of spiritual resilience by listening to and writing about their own "ordinary" lives. Workshop themes included epiphany and transformation, evolution and ecstatic union, mapping your sacred journey across your lifespan, and underlying patterns of renewal and resurrection in daily life.The workshop was held at Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center in North Andover, Mass.
Bodengraven's spiritual memoir rooted in the nature of Boston's North Shore took center stage at Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Evening Lecture Series in Newburyport, Mass. During her Valentine's Day presentation, the author shared with the audience that her book, THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE, is, in fact, her "love letter to the universe."
Following her presentation and book reading, Bodengraven invited all present to take themselves away into the beauty of nature and write their own love letters to the universe. "It's not necessary to build your own shed in a remote location," she said. "Simply call up Mass Audubon's Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield to reserve their Inner Most House for the weekend."
B.R. Bodengraven was invited to be the feature speaker at the Audubon Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary's annual staff luncheon as well as at its annual Volunteer Open House. The Sanctuary, located in Topsfield, Mass., serves as one of Bodengraven's portals into the natural world and features prominently in her recently released spiritual memoir THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE.
Bodengraven's presentations emphasized the importance of developing a reverential relationship for and with Creation, understanding that the cosmos was not just created for human use, that all aspects of Creation have intrinsic value. Her book speaks to this overriding concern through journal-like vignettes and personal reflections resulting from daily interactions with nature and the process of building her shed.
Surrounded by the lush and historic Wakulla Springs State Park on the Florida Panhandle, author B.R. Bodengraven and fellow memoirist Charlene Marie Laure Vincent conducted a two-day "Writing Your Sacred Story" retreat in late January. The authors draw heavily from their books ( THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE and CHANCES ARE...) in conducting their combination retreat/workshop. Through a series of readings, writing prompts, and group discussions, participants learn to write about their personal epiphanies and ensuing growth and transformations -- all of which serve as the basis for their sacred life stories.
Epworth-by-the-Sea Retreat and Conference Center, St. Simons Island, Georgia, hosted the author of THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE as well as fellow spiritual memoirist Charlene Marie Laure Vincent to facilitate a weekend retreat called "Writing Your Sacred Story."
THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE took center stage at a beautiful 200-year-old barn/public venue in Topsfield, Mass. Musicians and artisans were on hand to entertain book launch attendees!
In early October, B.R. Bodengraven traveled to Kansas to conduct a spiritual writing workshop at the Sastun Center for Integrative Healthcare in Overland Park and deliver two book presentations and readings -- one for the Women's Conference at DeSoto United Methodist Church in DeSoto, Kansas, and another for masters and doctoral students of psychology at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
A companion writing guide designed to complement THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE has been developed for anyone desiring to do assigned readings from the spiritual memoir and complete related writing prompt suggestions.
Copies of "Writing Your Sacred Story: A Companion Guide for The Sacred Shed on the Edge of the Ravine" are available for $5.00 each. Email author B.R. Bodengraven at thesacredshed@gmail.com to purchase your copy today!
B.R. Bodengraven addressed the Interfaith Ministers of New England at the organization's annual spring retreat held at Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center in North Andover, Mass. Bodengraven's presentation focused on her recently released spiritual memoir, THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE, as reflective of Celtic Christianity and eco-spirituality. Following her address, the author facilitated an expressive writing session based on readings from her book.
B.R. Bodengraven presented a book display and featured illustrations from THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE to attendees at the Topsfield, Mass., annual celebration of spring.
B.R. Bodengraven read from THE SACRED SHED ON THE EDGE OF THE RAVINE and discussed spiritual memoir as an ancient literary genre.