Our First Brave Brunch
Today was Brave Space’s first Brave Brunch. I changed our Brave Salon, usually in the evening during a weeknight, to a Brave Brunch at midday (Eastern time) on the weekend, so that we could be more inclusive. I am proud to report that we had writers and participants from as far away as Oregon, outside Talent, and Italy outside Venice! That is a far distance, and I am so happy I could bring us all together via Zoom.
We heard work from Kendra Augustin, Sacha Rosel, Domnica Radulescu, Gwen Sonnenberg and Jessica Carmona. Actors included Zann Hall, Crystal Marie Stewart, Sheree V. Campbell, Maria Wolf, Tzena Nicole, Jessica Carmona, Helene Galek, Kim Gambino and Jeanne Lauren Smith.
The thing about being able to come together like this and hear each other’s work, work that was created in Brave Space together, is to be able to have a chance to hear what we’re writing, since we don’t get to share it in Brave Space. More than that, it is a time and place to step up and share our own voices and to be heard.
When writers ask, but what should I share? I ask them to share what needs to be heard. What they need to hear. This isn’t always (or usually) the most polished or finished. A writer needs to hear their work aloud so that they can know it better, realize its power, see what it does or what it needs for themselves.
Our job as listeners and responders is to literally feed the writer back. Feedback must nurture the writer and help the writer understand what we understand, what we heard, what we are taking in. If we can offer that honest response about what landed in us, then the writer can know the truth about how her words exist in the world. Our judgments, our ideas, our assessments are irrelevant. It is for each writer to be her own judge, and surely we are. But others cannot judge what a writer is in the middle of, only a writer knows that or is hoping to learn that.
If we relate to something we don’t need to share why we relate to it, only that we relate, and where specifically in the text we related is also very helpful. The more we can respond specifically to the text itself, the more helpful it is for the writer. This line made me understand this and feel this. It’s rare to get this kind of feedback.
I want us to develop our own aesthetics and ideas for our own works for our own voices. I want us to be able to bring in a part of a new piece knowing all or only some of the other parts and not have to worry about explaining the whole thing. I want us to find out by sharing what rings true or what is upsetting or what we could see clearly in our mind’s eye, and what we are getting excited about or what we love.
And we did that. Brava to us all!