"Sweet Dreams, Precious Friend": A Meditation & Freewriting Circle to Honor the Guild

"Sweet Dreams, Precious Friend": A Meditation & Freewriting Circle to Honor the Guild

"Sweet Dreams, Precious Friend": A Meditation & Freewriting Circle to Honor the Guild

On December 30, the IWWG Board sent a beautiful and heartbreaking email to announce the end of the Guild’s programming in January, 2026. As the Board stated, the IWWG is a living organism, and this meditation and freewriting circle, “Sweet Dreams, Precious Friend,” is a way to process the news and honor the Guild and its gifts that we carry forward.

What should you have on hand for the workshop?
Recommended:
a cushion for your chair so your hips can be slightly above your knees when you meditate OR your meditation cushion
your journal and something to write with
a cup or tea or a glass of wine or other beverage to toast the Guild at the end of the circle

Optional:
photographs, handouts, your journals, “IWWG swag,” or other mementos from Guild events and conferences

Our time together will flow like this:
welcome
Lisa guides a 3-minute meditation
freewrite off prompts chosen to guide us into reflecting on how the Guild has fed us
share in small groups in breakout rooms
gather again as the whole group and hear a few highlights from the breakout rooms
Lisa guides a 3-minute meditation
freewrite off prompts chosen to guide us into dreaming our individual and collective futures as women writers in the world at this time
share in small groups in breakout rooms
gather again in the main room and take a few breaths together

To conclude, everyone in the circle has a chance to share one line about their past and/or ongoing relationship with the Guild, and we will all toast with our cup of tea or glass of wine.

If anyone is interested, we can take 30 minutes or so at the end of the formal circle for more casual socializing, reminiscing, and dreaming

Lisa Freedman, author, activist, and professor, has been an active member of and instructor for the IWWG since 1988. Her online community, Breathe/Read/Write, blends meditation and freewriting to cultivate heartfelt expression. She’s certified by Dharma Moon/Tibet House as a meditation instructor. See her work in Satya, the NY Times, and elsewhere.