WRITE YOURSELF BACK TO LIFE
We don’t just read poems. We become them.
We are a community of (mostly) women in Chicago and all over the world who know what it feels like to lose themselves — slowly, quietly — inside relationships, responsibilities, expectations, and the endless pull of being needed.
Women who have spent years anchoring their lives around others… and are now ready to find their way back to their own center of gravity.
Because life isn’t meant to be merely gotten through — it’s meant to be lived.
Fully. Wildly. Honestly.
Feeling it all — the joy, the grief, the rage, the tenderness — and everything in between.
We are committed to living full out. Straight, no chaser.
We are hell-bent on finding heaven in the mundane:
In the dirty dishes after a long day of holding everything together.
In the void space where the noise stops — and we suddenly realize we don’t know who we are without something or someone to anchor us.
In the tender, terrifying questions that surface when the world grows quiet: If I stop being who everyone needs me to be… who am I?
We are women who want more — and who are no longer willing to apologize for that longing.
We look straight into the eyes of the ghosts who haunt us until we recognize them as our most potent teachers.
We romanticize it all by feeling it all. Alchemizing it all.
And if something inside you is stirring as you read this…
It may be time to come home to yourself.
it's time to return to your own center of gravity ~
it's time to return to your own center of gravity ~
We gather several times a month — in person and online — not just to write, but to return.
To slow down enough to hear our own voices again.
To reconnect with the parts of ourselves that have been buried beneath responsibilities, expectations, and the endless pull of being needed.
Here, you don’t have to perform, hold everything together, or be who others expect you to be.
You get to soften, explore, feel, remember.
This is a new kind of membership. One that will bring you back to yourself and connect you deeply to local community.
In a world that leaves so many feeling disconnected and alone, this is a space for real presence, real conversation, and true intimacy.
You are most welcome here.
A Chicago based sanctuary for women reclaiming themselves.
... poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.
It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. The farthest horizons of our hopes and fears are cobbled by our poems, carved from the rock experiences of our daily lives.
- Audre Lorde
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.” (Dead Poet's Society)
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.” (Dead Poet's Society)
Kind Words
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After a short meditation, Dana led us deeper and deeper into the wellsprings of our hearts to discover the words that our souls wanted to express.
-Aimee L
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Dana is amazing! She created a safe place. She encouraged us to be open and honest. The workshop was very inspirational and motivational. It gave me the confidence to continue writing and explore my creativity!
— Workshop Attendee
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This workshop was a first for me. So honestly, I would love more sessions like this to help everyone be creative and open to the endless possibilities of writing. Thank you!
— Workshop Attendee
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Left feeling: Inspired, more connected to my creativity, uplifted.
— Martha G
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The workshop was so expansive. It felt like such a safe space to reignite my creativity. I was so blown away by the meditations and left feeling very inspired. I highly, highly recommend Dana, she was absolutely fantastic I’ll definitely be joining another class in the future.
— Stephanie Z
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I was nervous to be in such an intimate space but Dana was so wonderful. She guided us through a meditation first which helped me feel so comfortable! I loved meeting everyone and hearing the poems and songs they created. I will definitely be joining again!
— Jen Z
