Steve’s Blog
Writing is a powerful tool to greater self-understanding, but it’s a lot more than that: It’s a way of life. In founding the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods in 2013, Steve and Sarah were drawn to the challenge of taking the inspiring calm and natural beauty of their little swath of land at the end of Amigo Road and sharing that with visitors to help them energize their lives. The hope was that others could leave feeling a little closer to nature – and to themselves – and carry that feeling forward. In his regular blog, Steve explores the mysteries of writing, and of inspiring other writers, and he also delves into the delicate balance required to think less and feel more, to be excited by life but not let stress or time sickness poison our sense of the moment. Steve’s Blog is an effort to start a dialogue, one we hope you’ll take part in regularly.
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A Poem: Remembering Kurt
Remembering Kurt By David Bania Today is the day that Kurt left. I honestly feel quite empty now that I know he is gone. Last week we all got together and went to the magical Panther Beach after visiting the beloved Beer THIRTY and before having delicious dinner. So that is still ringing to be as if it just happened. The day started out beautiful and sunny at around 4:30 p.m. when I showed…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: Do “Great Writer” and “Nice” Have to Be at Odds?
Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ― Mark Twain Years ago as a young reporter in Southern California, I ran into various absurd delays on my way to a campus visit by the great Toni Morrison, some of which were not even my fault, and found myself in the odd predicament of beseeching this woman to please talk to me briefly in the rain before she…Read More
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Writers We’ve Hosted
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Joan Anderman was our first WCR Monthlong Writing Fellow, spending August 2014 with us in the Library House, and setting the bar high: Joan's a smart writer and a great listener who had long conversations with us and our residents and also pursued her writing with commitment…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: A Perpetual-Motion Machine for Writers
Procrastinate now, don't put it off. ― Ellen DeGeneres The art of writing is also the art of procrastination, as anyone knows who has put off making progress at the keyboard to dust, reorder the sock drawer or catch up on long-deferred phone calls. The illicit thrill of dawdling pulls us back again and again, and the smart writer takes that illicit thrill and puts it to work:…Read More
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Steve’s Weekly Blog: A New Yorker Writer Taught Me This Long Ago
Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong. ― Neil Gaiman His name was Bernard Taper, he taught in the Berkeley J School after making his name writing about the great choreographer George Balanchine in the New Yorker, and he…Read More