What motherhood story are you ready to rewrite?

Whether we are mothers yet or not, we all tell stories around motherhood. Stories of our own mothers, stories of ourself as mothers, stories that society tells about motherhood and what a good mother does. Sometimes we are quite aware of those stories, while other times they lie below the surface of our subconscious, coiled like a snake. The stories we tell about motherhood can limit and constrict us, narrowing our vision about what is possible for ourselves - or, they can set us free. In this challenge, we will explore the limiting stories we have told about motherhood and rewrite them into ones that are more spacious, more liberated, more capable of holding our gorgeous wild expansive multidimensional selves. You will walk away with new techniques for rewriting your own limiting narratives and at least three short essay drafts. You do not need to be a mother to join this container, only to have come from a mother.

What You'll Get:

• A live 2 hour writing circle, where I'll frame the work we'll do together over the next few weeks, offer a simple method to help us access and alchemize deeper layers of the stories we tell ourselves, and lead us in a brief exercise. Then, we'll spend some time writing and briefly sharing our writing.

• Three weeks of deep literary writing prompts that include reflective essays, close reading, and modeling.

• My supportive & friendly comments, reflections, and feedback on your writing.

• A community of other people writing about motherhood.

Who This is For:

• Moms who want to prioritize their creative time but struggle to ask their partner for two hours to themselves.

• Parents who fly off the handle when their kid still won't put on their shoes after the fifth time they've asked, and want to shift the way they relate.

• People who are considering parenthood and want to interrogate the narratives they hold around motherhood.

• Writers who love a thoughtful, structured literary writing prompt from someone who has spent 15+ years studying creative writing.

Weekly Invitations to Expect:

• Week 1—Birth: The way we experience birth sets the tone for motherhood, especially early motherhood, whether birthing our children or our own birth. This week invites us to rewrite our painful stories around birth.

• Week 2—Inner Child: Our relationship to our inner child dictates what parts of motherhood (or being around kids) we might find most challenging. This week invites us to rewrite our painful stories around what it means to be a baby or kid.

• Week 3—Inheritance: How we inherit stories, pain, and trauma from our mothers and our mothers' mothers--and what cycles we might be ready to end. This week invites us to rewrite the painful stories around what it means to be in our family.

About Me:

Hi, I’m Elizabeth Marian Charles—you can call me Beth! I am a writer, teacher, and mother with an MFA in Creative Writing who has spent the last 15+ years studying writing. I am currently a PhD student in English Writing & Rhetoric, and my research focuses on how people use writing to heal from reproductive loss. My work bridges the study of writing craft with writing-to-heal. In other words, I love breaking down a well-written paragraph to understand the writer’s techniques, but I believe writing can transform us and I am passionate about helping other writers access that transformation.