63 Comments
Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Oh my, I am totally floored by your writing. Reading it, I feel like a small animal visiting your tree of sliced dried oranges. I am licking the peanut butter from pinecones, and tasting the whole forbidden forest of your characters lives through my fingertips. I am the old woman, and the tiny wee babe packaged inside a mother. I am the hand that slaps, and the red flower blooming across tender skin. Thank you for this gift.

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Thank you for singling out all of these visceral moments! That means so much to me--having the craft seen is so uplifting. ❤️

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Jeannine, what a wonderful piece. Reading your work reminds me of how much I still need to learn and how much I still need to implement. The visceral feel of this, the forest, the pinecones, the cheese sticks, the salty milk...gosh, so inviting...then blooming like a hibiscus...I love this so much. I did a rough draft of an essay last night and now I'm excited to give it a visceral revision. Thank you, Jeannine.

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Wonderful! Everyone is going to be so primed for The Visceral Self. We will have already begun the slow accrual of a shared awareness, a shared vocabulary around this element of craft. I am excited. Thank you for sharing your reaction, Steve!

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Jeannine, you unlock secrets within my heart that I don't even know are there until I read your words.

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Thank you for this, Kaitlyn -- I feel honored by this feedback.

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Stunning essay. Reading your words awakens the scared 8-year-old girl inside me and encourages her to see more...to look around and notice the small, possibly beautiful things, rather than only focusing on the big, uglies. Thank you.

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Thank you so much, Vanessa!

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Reading this caused me to think many thoughts at once. Your descriptions are stunning. I thought about how my six-year-old self still resides within me, and sometimes I allow her to come out and play. I thought about how, in my family, we didn't discuss much of anything, and I've always wished I would have asked my parents and grandmothers questions about their childhoods. I try to imagine that time, but can't quite get the details. I also thought about things I long to do still...such as make peanut butter coated pinecones for the birds in winter. Just a lovely, lovely essay.

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Thank you so much, Linda. This means a lot.

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Reading this kind of writing makes my writing better. Thank you.

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That's a deeply meaningful thing to say. Thank you, Julie!

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Echoing the same.... amazing writing, Jeannine.

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Thank you so much, Maia!

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Your writing makes me feel nostalgic and wistful, tender and joyful. Thank you Jeannine. If I had a daughter or son I would encourage them to ask me all the things. I look forward to the next intensive! ✌️🏻

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Wonderful, Maureen. I am so excited to write with you.

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

I am having what feels like 2 separate responses to your essay. First, pleasure when i read the words, the clear images they brought to mind and the desire to keep reading to see what happened next. Truly a pleasure. And then, there is a deep visceral tenderness that brings tears to my eye — this is surprising and a little confusing to me. I think your story touched something in me that is beyond language. A truly novel experience for me - i dont believe this has ever happened before, at least not since i have been conscious lol. Thank you Jeannine.

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That you would take the time to so carefully and precisely describe this reaction to me is deeply meaningful and I'll be savoring this feedback for a very long time. I hope this can be in part attributed to visceral, embodied techniques, which is what I teach and look forward to teaching more specifically in April. Thank you so much, Cindy.

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Mesmerizing Jeannine! Truly incredible writing! So honored to be part of your subscriber tribe and look forward to continuing my own writing journey with you and the tribe during the Visceral Self intensive❤️

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Thank you! And yay, I am so pleased you'll be following along in The Visceral Self. I am so looking forward to exploring and practicing embodied writing with all of you.

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You slather the bread with butter and raw honey all the way to the crust. ♥️

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❤️

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Wow. So alive and simply stunning.

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Thank you, friend. xo

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Feb 6Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Incredibly beautiful and visceral, Jeannine. Oh, how I felt this in my own body as I read. Thank you for your writing and showing us what is possible by feeling and seeing it all.

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Feb 5Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

I don't know quite how you bring forth moments of your life in a way that moves me into a space of deep self reflection. You are a master at creating connection. I'm looking forward to the next writing challenge with you.

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Thank you so much, Diana. I am looking forward, too.

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Feb 4Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

I want to write like you, Jeannine

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Berlin 🥰

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Jeannine, I am having a physical reaction/response to this piece. I suppose it's a visceral response. I'm a friendly neighbor from just over the mountains in Montana. I can smell the sage and almost catch that tumbleweed. Lost items were handled the same way by my mother both big and small. Again, I leave this space with more assured hope that at some point, my story will be told, and told with care, safety and not in isolation as I'd previously thought. I can not wait for this "The Visceral Self" to begin but then again, I know it will happen exactly when it's supposed to. Deeply grateful for all you are offering here. Thank you so so much.

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I feel so honored by this comment and by your willingness to share this synergy with me, Niki, my friendly neighbor from just over the mountains. Incredible that we live in a time when our paths can cross this way. I am excited to write with you. ❤️

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It is indeed! Grateful ✨

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Feb 3Liked by Jeannine Ouellette

Dang this text is ALIVE.

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Thank you, Maria ❤️

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