The Method in Madness Institute

Submissive to everything, open, listening

Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming from under, crazier the better

Be in love with your life

JACK KEROUAC

The second event in the MiMi Summer 2024 The Roots of Writing Practice writing season will take a closer look at Jack Kerouac's "Spontaneous Prose" writing technique.

After the publication of his novel On the Road, Kerouac became instantaneously dubbed the "chief incarnation in human form" of the Beat movement.  One of the last drafts of the book was famously written non-stop during a three-week marathon burst. Later, he explained his writing method as "spontaneous prose." In a letter to Neil Cassady, he summarized it as follows:

Write only what kicks you and keeps you overtime awake from sheer mad joy.

The word "beat," he explained, referred simultaneously to a state of "exalted exhaustion" and a Christian "beatific vision," a direct knowledge of the divine.

In the footsteps of Rimbaud and his call for art as a "derangement of all senses," Kerouac, as a fellow eternal wanderer, was on a spiritual quest, a search for the "pearl" that would break him loose, once and for all, from the suffocating materialism and conformism of post-WWII American bourgeoisie and intellectual life, and put him in touch with "the other side."

Paradoxically, his frantic traveling and typewriting were also a turning inward in the hope of finding the unlimited freedom promised by both the American Dream and Buddhism.

During Sunday August 18 Half-Day Writing Retreat, we'll study Kerouac's rules of writing and compare them with Natalie Goldberg's "keep your hand moving" writing practice rule.

Both writing techniques are designed to study the mind, without censoring anything.

To what extent does Kerouac's spontaneous prose method allow us to have a deeper understanding of the benefits - and potential limits? - of writing as a spiritual practice... while keeping the hand moving?

That's what we'll see together during the August The Roots of Writing Practice Retreat! 

PRACTICAL INFO

The event begins at

9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET, 5 pm UK, 6 pm Paris-Amsterdam

and ends 3.5 hours later.

FEE: 49 USD

A recording of the retreat will be available within about a week after the event.

The MiMi Scholarship Fund has a limited number of places for those who need financial assistance to be able to benefit from our community's activities too (see below).

This is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors, so if you can afford it, please add a donation to your order during checkout. Every little bit helps!

FOR WHOM?

MiMi retreats are open to anyone interested in writing, literature, and mindfulness. No meditation or Natalie Goldberg writing practice background is necessary. Whether you're a seasoned writer or simply curious about the intersection of mindfulness and writing, this event is open to any level of experience. All that's required is an open heart and a willingness to explore.

FACILITATOR

Anja Van Rompaey is a published author, philosopher, and certified Trauma-Sensitive meditation teacher (trained in teaching Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR, Mark Williams' Mindfulness, and Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Awareness meditation programs). She led the writing practice community EU Writing Down the Bones for more than four years and founded The Method in Madness Institute (MiMi), a MindX SRL division dedicated to helping participants learn how to meditate, read the classics in world literature, philosophize, and use writing practice as an authentic Zen "study of the mind" - or to take their practice to the next level.

At present, Anja teaches the Compassionate Writing Year program and a weekly seminar on Suzuki Roshi's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Passionate about writing, reading, mindfulness, and sharing her knowledge and expertise wherever possible, she has organized over fifty half-day and full-day online Sit Walk Write Retreats. She's currently a student of Mingyur Rinpoche.

To apply for a scholarship click HERE. 

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We guarantee a full refund until 24 hours before the day of the event.