Though our foray into creating our own blog/literary un-conference - WoolfCamp - was two weeks ago, all of us who participated continue to glow with "camp memories".
One particularly lovely camp memory was spending time with the extraordinary Sarah Dopp, of Sarah Says. After sharing the weekend with Sarah, I caught up with her blog and discovered that her bio, as compared with her real life self, was a mere and modest glimpse of this energetic, multi-faceted, and vastly intelligent young woman:
Sarah Dopp is a writer, web developer, Chinese language enthusiast, and avid do-it-yourselfer ...Sarah is also a student in the Technical & Professional Writing program at San Francisco State University.
What Sarah does not mention is that she is a supreme tech geek, an articulate presenter and teacher and socially agile. She is also a self-described "recovering slam poet", and wrote about sharing this talent at WoolfCamp:
I performed two memorized slam pieces last night, in a candlelit impromptu poetry reading. The classic manifesto piece about what we put into our bodies, and the intense drumming piece about the woman dancing. The reception was wonderful -- and it launched me into another hour of lamenting my unconscious decision to stop writing. It's been years since I took poetry seriously. And yet, I still have these pieces memorized. It's a constant internal battle, so it must mean something to me.
Indeed, Sarah's performance meant something to all of us, and we hope she will treat us to the occasional slam poetry performance. (Maybe at BlogHer? How about it, Sarah?)
But there's other great stuff going on in Sarah's world. For example, in a recent post, Sarah offers this extraordinary idea, The Collaboration Adventure:
The Concept
A road trip around the United States (and perhaps parts of Mexico and Canada) with a group of driven, creative people who want to discover more options for their lives.Our Goal
To shake ourselves free of the daily-life rat-race bubble and by detaching, develop a clearer perspective of where we want to fall into the system. To see how everyone else is living these days. To talk to people. Lots of people. To write down those peoples' stories. To have brainstorming sessions on mountain tops, in corn fields, and on city streets. To document the adventure and share it with others (there will be much blogging!). To collect more like-minded folk. To volunteer. To give ourselves to the communities around us. To scheme and dream and inspire each other and write it all down. To eventually re-emerge into society as a more focused, aware, and empowered group of people who know what they want out of life.
Who wants to join Sarah? I do! I do! Alas, I wish, I wish.
But, this is a serious proposition, and Sarah is seeking like minded folks to join her. Interested? Be adventurous, leave a comment!
Be assured, Sarah's bright and inspired presence comes highly recommended, indeed, by all of us who had the privilege and honor to meet her at WoolfCamp.
Comments
Car seats and road trips are not for the weak
I read Sarah's original post about her road trip and I longed for the time when I was footloose and fancy free. Alas, I will stay home with my two young ones BUT I will read about the grand adventure on Sarah's blog.
Go, Sarah!
Mary
Mom Writes
Ah but for the time to do such things
I may not have car seats, but I do have other teathers that tie me down and keep me from going on this most excellent trip.
I must say that dear Sarah has Omidyar Network a-buzz with the possibilities!
Thanks Grace!
That was such an amazing, generous post!
I feel like I'm on TV or something...
Travel does open the mind
Sounds fantastic. Unfortunately distance and other things would prevent me from joining. Whenever I've travelled, I've written a paper journal (before blogging days) and I've started documenting this on my blog retrospectively so the journals are a great way to remember some small details.
My travels, I'm sure, helped me get where I am today. When I got back from two years away I started a Professional Writing degree which helped me get the job I've got now. I had no idea what to do before I left home.
The collaboration idea will hopefully work a treat. I hope to hear more about it as it unfolds.
Sometime in the next few
Sometime in the next few months I'm going to have to drive from TX to CA... to pick up a car! And maybe we could trip for a while...
In travelling I like
- sponteneity, willingness to follow sudden impulse to stop and look at something...
- enthusiasm! love of everything we see!
- babbling, rambling, meditations, speculations
- writing
- astronaut-like respect for each other's quirks
and oh i love the desert... just seeing an ocotillo sends me into ecstasies.
-----------------
Liz Henry
lizzard@bookmaniac.net
http://liz-henry.blogspot.com