Give Care, Take Care: Writing About Caregiving
As Rosalynn Carter famously said: "There are only four kinds of people in the world—those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers".
Many of us have provided care (or are currently providing care) for loved ones: our children, our aging parents, our spouses, or children with additional needs. This work is of course usually unpaid, often thankless, and sometimes (if we can open up to this) rewarding in unexpected ways. What is it always? Challenging. Emotional.
Writing can provide solace to caregivers for events in the past and for occurrences that are more recent. Putting words to our experiences on the page can help us understand dynamics and dynamic shifts on a deeper level. Writing – in the form of journal entries, personal essays, or memoir – can also propel us toward more compassion…for others, and, also, for ourselves.
Facilitator Jocelyn Jane Cox will highlight common issues with caregiving and examine how writing can help us unlock meaning. Through guided writing exercises, participants will have the opportunity to put words to their feelings and images to their thoughts. There is no requirement to share writing, but class members will be invited to do so, if they would like. We look forward to connecting through shared experience. People at all stages of their writing practice are welcome.
Week 1: Pain, But Also Joy?
Week 2: Who Are We in the Caregiving Equation?
Week 3: The Discoveries: About ourselves, our loved ones, and the act of caregiving
Registration: $240 per person
Questions about the class? Reach out to jocelynjanecox@gmail.com
About Jocelyn Jane Cox
Jocelyn Jane Cox is the author of the award-winning book, Motion Dazzle: A Memoir of Motherhood, Loss, and Skating on Thin Ice, about losing her mother to dementia and other ailments on her son’s first birthday and being "sandwiched" between two generations as she cared for them both simultaneously. Jocelyn’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Slate, Newsweek, AARP, Literary Mama, Mutha, and The Good Men Project, in addition to numerous literary and humor publications. She lives in the Hudson Valley of New York with her son and her husband.