You Are Your Own Sanctuary

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Jaki Shelton Green, noted award winning poet, writer, lecturer, professor and inductee into North Carolina’s Literary Hall of Fame, has been telling me about her sistaWrite retreats since we met a couple of years ago. I was honored to experience why she loves and enjoys facilitating sistaWRITE Retreats. One of Jaki’s favorite locations to hold her writer’s retreat is on the sleepy island of Ocracoke, North Carolina.

Although I had once traveled to the Outer Banks, I was not familiar with the island of Ocracoke. The odd name is intriguing and the island itself has significant history. It’s a four-hour drive from Raleigh and then a two and a half hour ferry sail to this quaint island. As soon as we pulled up to the dock to take our place in line to board the ferry, I couldn’t help but think of Martha’s Vineyard. This little island and what it takes to get here, is certainly part of the process of preparing writers and artists to summon and unearth their muse at sistaWRITE.I likened Ocracoke Martha’s Vineyard south end, quiet Acquinna where the Gay Head Cliffs are located.  It's not as Martha's ineyard in terms of size or number of visitors, Ocracoke had long been a well-kept secret. There’s a population of 1000 people here, 200 of them are Mexican and there’s only one known African American resident on the island, an elderly Black woman. Laid back, friendly and easy-going, Ocracoke is a truly democratic community. The Mexican people are like family here interfacing with those who have been here for generations as well as those new to the island. There is no segregation and there is great appreciation and mutual respect for all residents and visitors. This is an island, so stories of hurricanes and super storms are something to consider.  That aside, as an element of steeped in nature and beauty, Ocracoke infused itself into our consciousness and sense of wellbeing.This is a perfect setting to have your hearts and minds opened. sistaWRITE provides a cozy colonial house that Jaki fills with plenty of fresh fruits, interesting snacks, delicious meals she cooks daily and many natural libations for the spirit. It’s obvious that Jaki is a person of great spirit and generosity. She loves feeding her retreater’s bodies, minds, and spirits with rich and fortified nourishment. Yeah, there’s something different about being in the south and being hosted by someone steeped in what’s great in the traditions of grace and hospitality.There were mind-tickling assignments that seem to be created to generate inspiration and joy. However, most of the time we were able to wander, wonder, and write. It was like seeing a garden blossom as each writer set down her literal and figurative luggage and unpacked her dreams, allowed blockages to be dissolved, stagnation to become vapors, inspiration to blossom, and the visualization of possibilities and aspirations to be made real within.It was not my plan to be here for this retreat. As fate would have it, the Universe opened the way just hours beforehand. My astrologer told me this would be a year of travel for me and she never lied. It all just serendipitously fell into place when Jaki announced there was an open space. I don’t consider myself a writer. When people ask what do I do, I never think to say that I am a writer even though I do fancy myself as a story-teller. In ancient times people gathered around a fire with eager inner ears and inner eyes listening to respected Griots sharing old stories that fed the mind and soul.   I love both hearing stories and telling stories. I think the description of storyteller fits me better than that of writer. But I did learn about the spirit of writing at sistaWRITE. Jaki likened each of us as our own museum with rooms, artifacts(stories) buried and stored deep within that need to be excavated from the archives. Some rooms in the basement of our own museums need clearing out, others need reorganizing and then there those rooms with relics and artifacts that should be moved to the main gallery to be shared with others. Pictured above are some of the poetry books made available by Jaki for a writing exercise.Thank you, Jaki for providing a safe space for writers, storytellers and artists of all sorts. Jaki shared that one doesn’t have to be a writer to participate in sistaWRITE. She offered that many kinds of artists have come to sistaWRITE to find their muse. Sculptors, painters, and jewelers come here seeking to find the narrative in their work. In this intimate setting, there were seven of us. We all agreed that what is heard in Ocracoke stays in Ocracoke. We then had the liberty to feel safe and free to share our work (in part) and the fears, blockages and aspirations for our work. I see why this process is called sistaWRITE, because there was definitely sisterhood among us strangers who ended up encouraging and cheering for one another.  I dare say the were some incredible breakthroughs and the writing was literally gushing forth for many of the writers.  Thank you Mel, Leslie, Tobi, Tomiko and Fatima for your sisterhood at sistaWRITE.There was one other element with us at sisterWRITE and I would be remiss not to call her name, even though she no longer has a body, she showed up anyway. Jaki lost her daughter Imani to a rare cancer in 2009. But Imani seems to travel with Jaki wherever she goes. There’s not a day that goes by without at least one funny or insightful story about Imani rising to the surface. It’s clear that this mother and daughter duo were/are tight. In Jaki’s epic poem about Imani, “I Want To Undie You” Jaki makes it clear that though Imani’s body may be in the ground, she is ever near. Jaki shared with me after we finally elevated our relationship from Facebook to in-person, that it had long been Imani’s dream to have her hair done at Khamit Kinks. That was a mind blower! I know Imani is delighted to know that her mother and I have become fast friends. And though Imani never made it to Khamit Kinks, her dream to have her mother visit there has been fulfilled. So in the end there were eight at sistaWRITE.   Thank you, Jaki, for this amazing experience. If you’re interested in Jaki’s sistaWRITE Retreat, sign up for her newsletter or contact Jaki at wildwoman46@hotmail.com.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]