Many people think about writing stories, poetry, articles, songs,
books, or maybe just a letter to the editor--someday. They'd do it
if they could get a little help and find the time. But it’s not only procrastination that holds people back. Fear, self-criticism, and doubt make palms
sweat and knees shake at the thought of filling naked pages with lively,
worthwhile, or memorable words. Like public speaking, writing is perceived
by many of us as being risky business.
Today, dozens of Winnipeggers find their pens gliding across the page
more easily than they'd have thought possible, thanks to help from Heartspace,
a local writing school started in 1998 by prolific writer and corporate
trainer, Joanne Klassen. Among the success stories of a new brand of
writers is Woodhaven resident Roseanne Keyes. It isn't as if retirement
left Roseanne, a former St. James high school Vice-Principal, with time
on her hands. sI hardly had a spare hour. Some days even my dogs complained
that their stroll through the neighborhood with me was getting cut short,
Roseanne reflects. Where did the time go?I knew I was ready for a new
challenge and more focus, I just didn't know what form it might take,"
said Keyes. Then, one day she read about the new Heartspace Writing
School. My first response was, 'Count me in!' The funny thing is that
I've never been a writer, and wasn't totally sure I wanted to write.
I only knew I enjoyed telling stories. Something told me not to pass
this by.
Three years, and hundreds of stories later, Roseanne's first book is
being prepared for publication later this year by publisher, Janice
Funk, of Inner Journey Publishing. Janice and her daughter, Dawn Wilson,
started their publishing company last year. Keyes and Funk, a registered
nurse and poet, met and became close friends in Heartspace's first writing
class in September 1998.
Heather Emberley, life-long Winnipegger, was an established writer as
far back as the days of The Winnipeg Tribune. In recent years, with
two sons in university, and a busy volunteer schedule, Heather found
little opportunity to write when she got home from her job as a career
counsellor. Still, ideas for writing projects never stopped coming.
My husband, Dave, and I had just returned from a vacation in the Yukon
and I was catching up on the newspapers I'd missed. came across a Metro
story about Heartspace and knew it was exactly what I'd been waiting
for…the boost I needed to get started writing again I called, found
there was just one space left, and claimed. it.
Today Emberley contributes regularly to Winnipeg Women Magazine, The
Winnipeg Free Press, and several career-related publications. She also
has a book underway. Heather says, Taking the Transformative Writing™
program at Heartspace was one of my best decisions. It's made all the
difference in my confidence, and in my commitment to writing as a priority
in my life. Carrie Walker-Jones was new to Winnipeg when she heard about
Heartspace during a visit to Prairie Sky Bookstore, near her home. I'd
been living in Fiji for six years where my husband, Arthur, and I were
working with the Pacific Theological College, Carrie says. I enjoyed
co-leading a women's drama group and contributing to several publications
while we were overseas, and I wanted to find a supportive creative-community
in Winnipeg. I was also looking for a way to work from home so I could
spend as much time as possible with our children, Katie, then 3, and
David, 6. Heartspace provided me with the keys to open both doors. I
made many new friends, people like me, and I received the feedback and
guidance I needed to believe I could sell my writing. Carrie Walker-Jones'
career today is home-based. It includes freelance editing and writing
Sunday school curriculum for international markets as far away as Australia
and Scotland. She contributes regularly to a local health centre newsletter
and has written a children's book she plans to have published in the
coming year. After graduating from Heartspace's 32-week Transformative
Writing™ Program, Walker-Jones, Emberley, and Keyes went on to
take an intensive year of facilitator training. All have since joined
the Heartspace faculty and provide part-time leadership in Heartspace
day and evening writing classes.
Christine Smith took early retirement from her Financial Planning business
shortly after completing her Heartspace program. Heather Emberley was
a great inspiration to me. In her classes I discovered a poet inside
of me I hadn't met yet. I liked what this new part of myself had to
say and I wanted to get to know her better. It was time for a change
in lifestyle. Christine accepted the position of Heartspace Writing
School registrar this fall.
Smith’s poetry has appeared in several publications. I'm delighted when
people enjoy my poems. The words just spring forth. I don't know where
they come from. She says, My writing spans both personal and universal
themes. It has been very healing for me.
Luc Vermette never imagined that his years working on the railroad and
in Canada's correctional and social service systems would someday provide
him with compelling plots and characters for the serious fiction he
has come to enjoy writing.
The distinctively Metis voice that has emerged in Luc's writing is not
surprising. It's a reflection of his heritage--Luc's father's Grandmere
was Louis Riel's youngest sister. Vermette describes the role that the
Heartspace writing program has played in his life: I'd always wanted
to write more. This program unleashed and helped harness the stories
inside of me. I am very grateful to have had this experience. It's put
me on a road I believe will keep me writing for life.
Dorothy Gauthier signed up for her first Heartspace writing program
shortly before the death of her husband, Marcel, in September 1999.
It was one of the hardest years of my life. New Heartspace friends became
my angels--a lifeline during that difficult time. Writing helps me express
and come to terms with a whirlwind of emotions, in a very constructive
way, says Dorothy.
Dorothy, a colour consultant, is a third-year Heartspace student and
Coordinator of monthly activities for the growing Heartspace Writer's
Alumni Association. She is an avid daily writer whose pieces have appeared
in So Write, a quarterly writer's magazine. She is also featured on
Hearthfires, the first CD of Heartspace writer's stories, produced by
Pierre Guerin, fellow Heartspace graduate.
Former Mont realer, Pierre Guerin is no stranger to creative communities.
He began his musical career traveling with the popular Celtic group,
Bard, before joining CBC's Winnipeg French Language radio station. As
Director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Pierre worked with thousands
of musicians and volunteers to deliver a taste of the creative life
to festivalgoers for a dozen years.
Last fall, Guerin started his own production company and gave himself
the gift of the Heartspace writing program. It became an incredibly
important part of my life. We became like a family, with a depth of
encouragement, discovery, and sharing few of us had ever known. It was
magical.
Pierre's fiction has taken on a life of its own. The characters literally
call to me to tell their stories. This year he co-produced a new CD
for the Wyrd Sisters, and joined Festival du Voyageur as Programming
Director.
Heartspace founder, Joanne Klassen, says the writing school is a dream
that came true. My work as a corporate consultant and workshop leader
has been deeply satisfying. I've loved my career for most of the past
25 years, but I needed to add something more, just for me.
According to Klassen, writing and personal development have always been
her prime passions. In the writing school, she uses her group dynamics
skills to design what she sees as the perfect learning experience.
In class, you'll find her writing, sharing stories, and receiving feedback
along with everyone else. Joanne is one of the group, and at the same
time, a supportive facilitator, and role model," says Carrie Walker-
Jones. This is as good as it gets, Klassen says.
Joanne describes starting the writing school, an extension of her business,
Heartspace Associates, as what I imagine it would be like to win the
649 jackpot. Her idea was right for the times. It struck a cord with
more than 100 graduates who've taken the writing plunge. Many report
discovering close bonds with other writers as well as unlimited story
fodder and helpful writing techniques.
Klassen describes the heartspace as the place where body, mind and spirit
meet, and invite us to joy-fully participate in the creative process.
She says, Heartspace Writing School has brought many wonderful people
and unexpected gifts into my life. I feel enormous gratitude. An example
of an unexpected gift or everyday miracle as she puts it, was a contract
Klassen signed recently to provide Transformative Writing™ training
to U.S. federal government managers in Washington, D.C.. My daughter,
Tiffany, works in Washington, and this will give us three extra visits
this year.
Men and women ages 18 to 80 from all walks of life have completed Heartspace’s
Transformative Writing™ course. Each week in a 2 ˝ hour class,
writers build the skills that Klassen and Heartspace faculty hope will
result in a lifetime of writing enjoyment ... skills and writing that
they envision being passed on to future generations.
Inter-generational sharing has already begun for Peggy Kasuba-Sain's
family. Last Valentine’s Day Peggy arranged for four generations of
women in her family to attend a Mother-Daughter Heartspace writing retreat.
Their stories had a visible impact on other mothers and daughters, who
joined in their laughter and were sometimes seen wiping tears.
Peggy's says that her gift of writing, offered with love, is one her
family says they'll never forget. Peggy, the Executive Director of a
Winnipeg non-profit association, now coordinates Heartspace retreats,
in addition to operating a rural retreat centre.
Joanne Klassen's youngest daughter, Anna Haynes, Manager of the St.
Vital Vita Health store, decided to enroll in the writing program last
September, inspired, in part, by the Kasuba family's stories and her
introduction to Transformative Writing™ at the Mother-Daughter
retreat. If I had known writing was this easy and this rewarding, I'd
have started long ago, says Anna, a songwriter and storyteller.
The Heartspace Writing School mission is Life-enriching personal development,
and authentic, creative self-expression, using Transformative Writing™
Carrie Walker-Jones adds, With Transformative Writing™, our focus
is establishing an inner sanctuary for the creative part of ourselves,
as well as a community where both writers and writing thrive.
Heather Emberley says, Writing is the most vulnerable thing a person
can do because it makes you visible to the world you are exposing yourself.
She adds, It is also one of the most rewarding. The Heartspace experience
is so powerful. It makes vulnerability positive. It is the ultimate
in personal growth.
Joanne Klassen describes the atmosphere in classes as both safe and
playful. We visit important issues and work hard, but fun is always
on the agenda. The writing tools and triggers used during class help
writing to flow naturally. Red pens are banned. Feedback is limited
to the impact of the writer's words on readers--the main reason we want
to share our writing in the first place.
Ted Rebenchuk is a published writer. He’s also a beekeeper, an ace mechanic,
a student, and the father of three daughters. Ted was the first man
to graduate from the Transformative Writing™ course from Heartspace
in May 1999.
Classmate, Nancy Peterson, creativity specialist and owner of Think
Unlimited, recalls, I looked forward each week to Ted's stories about
his beloved bees, camping with his daughters, and working beside his
Ukrainian father on their farm near Clear Lake--a different world than
mine, but with so much I could relate to.
I've always been a bit of a free spirit, admits Rebenchuk, who works
for the Manitoba Department of Highways in Brandon. School wasn't my
best subject, he says, smiling. But when I read about Heartspace Writing
School and saw Joanne Klassen's picture in the paper, something just
clicked. It was the right education at the right time. So many thoughts
and feelings were bouncing around inside me that had no place to go.
At Heartspace, I learned that who I am, what I think, feel and have
experienced has value. It is a priceless gift.
Roseanne Keyes believes that one secret of Heartspace's success is the
100% positive environment, and the on-going celebration of the courage
behind each writer's unique voice: I am still in awe of this process
that fans the creative flame, leads us home, and makes us kin.
Heather Emberley emphasizes, Transformative Writing™ is more about
finding joy in every day that we live and staying interested in life,
than about writing for publication, recognition, or a cheque. Many unexpected
bonuses are putting smiles on the faces of a fresh bumper crop of gutsy
Winnipeg writers. They’ve found that writing from the heart, an investment
that people often consider risky, can eventually reap richly rewarding
dividends.
The Heartspace website is www.write-away.net. For additional information,
call Registrar, Christine Smith, and (204) 475-4078.
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