In Laura’s Words
I write to shine a light on a dim or otherwise pitch black corner…to provide relief for myself and others. It’s the light that I am looking for. And the wonder it illuminates.
May my words land in your heart.
yours, Laura
Write to Live. Write in Community. Write Because You Can’t Not.
Previously published by Adam Wahlburg from Think Piece Press. I have written my way through crisis many times in my life. One of those times resulted in a best-selling book that was published in nine countries. Most of the other stuff is in my journals. I believe that writing is a deeply healing tool. I recently had a conversation with a book...
Montana Ode to Spring– A Walk In The Woods
...in honor of all mothers of every kind everywhere... “If it's wild to your own heart, protect it. Preserve it. Love it. And fight for it, and dedicate yourself to it, whether it's a mountain range, your wife, your husband, or even (god forbid) your job. It doesn't matter if it's wild to anyone else: if it's what makes your heart sing, if it's...
We Must Hunger for Our Voice!
How do we commit to our creativity regularly? Powerfully? With a hunger that we sate…over and over again? How do we find our unique voice and give ourselves permission to let it roar out of us? Helping you find the answer to these questions is my central mission these days. If you’re wondering what a Haven Retreat is all about, hear it...
If you have said, “I am not Creative,” Read This!
Haven Writing Retreat schedule 2015 (you do not need to be a writer to come-- just a seeker...) June 3-7 (only a few spots left!!!) June 17-21 (full) Now Booking: September 9-13 September 23-27 October 7-11 October 21-25 "Everyone is an artist, and our materials are all about us. To use them, you must see them, and to see them, you must accept...
The Inner Critter: Awareness First. The Writing Will Follow.
As featured in Huffington Post I recently had a woman come on my Haven Writing Retreat and say, “I learned more in five days of Haven than in my entire MFA program…and I’m still paying it off six years later!” I hear this sort of overture all too often, and it concerns me. I also hear, “I’m still chiseling my way out of my college Creative...
Re-defining Family at Holiday Time
My friend and fellow seeker/Huffington Post Blogger Marina Illich and I like to untangle the hard stuff. We call it Five Minute Manna. This is what has our hearts and minds activated this holiday season: Re-defining Family Find Your People by Marina Illich Holiday time is family time. But what exactly do we mean by family? So many people live...
Haven Gravy Giveaway!
Thank you to all who participated in my Haven Gravy Giveaway! We had some very interesting submissions, all in response to the challenge: why do you want my fabulous turkey gravy recipe? The prize? (aside from the recipe, of course) is a discount to a 2015 Haven Retreat in Montana. I'm pleased to announce the winter: Laura Probert from Bethesda,...
What I Learned on Career Day…
as featured in Huffington Post 50 Recently, I was asked to be on a panel of professionals for Career Day at a local therapeutic prep school in the Montana woods. I had no idea what to expect. I went to a prep school, but not a "therapeutic" one. I went to one that was all about having big answers to the "what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you- grow-up"...
Retreat Season: A Time to be Mindful
As featured on the front page of Huffington Post 50 Mindfulness is on the map. Time Magazine ran it on its cover last January: “The Mindful Revolution.” The Chicago Tribune headlined it: Use mindfulness to pull yourself out of a funk. An article in The New York Times urges us to use mindfulness and meditation as a powerful resource in...
My Garden Grows
I learned to garden not as a lady of leisure, but as a writer who needed a source of income and who knew that it had to be in the realm of creative self-expression lest it suck the muse dry. So I worked at a flower shop in Harvard Sq., and later at a nursery in Seattle, and after that, at a landscaping operation. I learned a lot along the way,...
Commencement: A Mother’s Guide to the Extra Stuff
as seen on mamalode.com I can never remember if the word “commencement” means beginning or ending. My knee jerk reaction is to think that it means ending, though my writer’s mind quickly corrects it. That’s probably because graduation ceremonies are called Commencement, and I think of graduation day as an ending-- leaving the known behind: a good...
My Happily Ever After: what I’ve learned from writing something that a lot of people read.
You never really know where life will lead you, but if you live with pure intention and feed what you love with all your might, consistently and honestly…you might find yourself in places you’d never dreamed you’d go. That happened to me in 2009 when I published the essay version of a memoir I’d written in the New York Times Modern Love column. ...
Blog Hop– Writers Writing
[slideshow_deploy id='7208'] Over and over, I say that writing is my practice, my prayer, my meditation, my way of life, and sometimes my way to life. I’ve always written. For the most part it’s because it helps me to process this beautiful and heartbreaking thing called life. I also write for a lot less elegant of a reason: I’m obsessed. I can’t...
College Decision Day
Haven Retreat was named one of the top five Writing Retreats in the US by Open Road Media and Tumblr! The last 2014 slots are filling fast so if you want to come, email me asap: Laura@lauramunsonauthor.com! June 18-22 (full) September 10-14 September 24-28 October 8-12 October 22-26 This is for all the parents out there whose child is going to...
Haven– Los Cabos– one “E” away from Heaven
We hear the phrase "if you build it, they will come." I take that to heart. I've built a lot of things in my life from scratch. Sometimes the soufflé doesn't rise and the cookies burn. But sometimes my raw efforts meld into a delicious concoction, and last week in Los Cabos, Mexico, I swallowed it whole at the Hotel El Ganzo. This hotel is...
