"Jennifer's mentoring has taught me how to tap into layers of my creative self that I'd not known... to plow old fields and plant new seeds. By guiding me back to the earth, she has helped me discover my center... led me to the fertile ground wherefrom my best effort is nourished... helped me lift and carry the rocks in my path. When I first engaged TEALarbor stories' services, my intent was to nudge the flow of and improve my writing. I have learned to write the flow of and improve my life experience as well."

JH, Writing Mentoree and Story & Nature Guiding © Client, 2012

Events

Advance registration is necessary for all workshops.
Does your group want to host a workshop on a particular topic? Workshops tailored to your specific needs are offered upon request.

Book Events (& News!)

We’re so proud to announce the publication and release of our first co-authored book, Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature. This book by Jennifer J. Wilhoit and Stephen B. Jones is a collection of nature stories seeking to inspire deeper relationship with and care for this beautiful Earth. Order your copy from your favorite local independent bookstore, or find it on IndieBound.

We are now scheduling book events in various locales. Please check back here for continuous updates:

10/5 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall (Silverdale, WA)

10/8 Book reading Black Swan Books (Staunton, VA)

10/19 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall (Silverdale, WA)

10/26 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall (Silverdale, WA)

11/9 Book reading Barnes & Noble (Silverdale, WA) 12 PM

11/10 Book reading Eagle Harbor Books (Bainbridge Is, WA) 3 PM

1/12/20 Book reading Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA) 3 PM

Read the praise for Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits by clicking here.

Upcoming Workshops, Retreats, Courses, & Presentations

Click here to contact Jennifer for details about specific offerings

Growing Words of Compassion: Nature and Writing Practices to Love By (Online Course)
On-demand - available now (register and take the course whenever you want): This course is a hands-on, multidisciplinary curriculum that will help students engage with their innate capacity for tender compassion. The course is designed to meet each student where s/he currently is in the understanding and practice of compassion; deepening one’s expression of compassion is the primary focus. Click here for more information.

NEW! Instructors' Guide to Writing on the Landscape (Online Course)
On-demand - available now (register and take the course whenever you want): This course is designed as an instructional aid for professors/facilitators who are using the book, Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew as part of their curriculum/group work. Click here for more information.

NEW! Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced (Online Course)
On-demand - available now (register and take the course whenever you want): This online course will guide students through the book, Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew.
Click here for more information.

September 14 - 15, 2019 Books Meet Writing in the Natural World BARN bookmaking course (Jennifer J. Wilhoit with MJ Linford) $200. ($155. for BARN members) POSTPONED...
In this two-session class you will learn the techniques and gain the skills necessary for making your own nature journal/sketchbook with a Coptic binding. Learn from a writer/spiritual ecologist and a master bookmaker. You will be guided through step-by-step instructions for compiling, completing, and decorating your handmade book. Coptic-bound journals allow for pages to be opened flat, making them ideal for outdoor use. You will also be guided through simple outdoor, creative, nature-based, and writing activities aimed to inspire content for your journal/sketchbook. Please bring a willingness to go outside (with weather-appropriate clothing, rain or shine) for brief periods of time to engage in some of these inspiring activities. Students will leave class with their Coptic-bound book and a start on filling the pages with nature-inspired writings and images. We're sorry to announce that this class has been cancelled for the Sept 2019 dates due to construction in the BARN studio. We hope to be able to offer it again in early Spring 2020, so please check back here for updates.

September 17 - 21, 2019 Co-Panelist for session on Conflict Intervention Service at the Association for Conflict Resolution Annual Conference in Tucson, AZ.

September 22, 2019 Fall Equinox workshop
We will explore how the seasons shape and move us. Our time together will include sitting, writing, and walking solo on the land in order to experience more deeply our inner seasons.

October 5, 2019 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall

October 8, 2019 Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading Black Swan Books in Staunton, VA
This is a co-reading with Bruce Rinker, Ph.D., author of A Pearl in the Brain

October 19, 2019 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall

October 26, 2019 All-Day Authors' Event Kitsap Mall

SAVE THE DATE! November 2 - 3, 2019 Life, Loves, & Explosions BARN bookmaking course (Jennifer J. Wilhoit with MJ Linford)
This is a "save the date" only. We are hoping studio construction will be completed and that this class will be approved to run...Please check back here for status updates. This weekend class combines bookmaking techniques and writing activities in a fun-filled two days. In this class you will work with a master bookmaker and a published author to explore four themes: inspiration, power, shape, and passion. You will first create the basic structure of an explosion box, a specially created form whose sides drop outward as the lid is removed. You will then have the opportunity to engage the themes through guided writing activities, and to make several unusual structures that relate to them. As we work through the weekend, you will fill your box with images and writings that capture your relationship, your “take,” on these themes in your life.

November 9, 2019 Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading Barnes & Noble Silverdale 12 PM

November 10, 2019 Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading Eagle Harbor Books Bainbridge 3 PM

December 9, 2019 Winter Solstice workshop
We will explore how the seasons shape and move us. Our time together will include sitting, writing, and walking solo on the land in order to experience more deeply our inner seasons.

January 12, 2020 Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading Elliott Bay Book Company Seattle 3 PM

Popular Workshops

Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape - Introduction
Explore what it means to write from the perspective of the inner and outer landscapes. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with three evocative types of written expression: writing for insight, writing as rite and writing for outcome. Whether a novice or experienced writer, you are invited to see what emerges when writing meets inspiration and nature.

Writing the Inner/Outer Landscape - Five Part Series, Includes:
Branching Out: Brainstorming
Stacking the Rocks: Getting Organized
Diving into the Stream: Actually Writing
The Brambled Trail: Roadblocks in Writing
Climbing the Mountain: Finding Stamina

Grief and Writing
Writing is a powerful way to work through the difficult emotions associated with loss or transition. Whether your life changes and sorrows are past or current, this workshop offers a path toward wholeness. You will have the opportunity to explore your individual expression of grief in a safe, confidential community. I will introduce a variety of simple nature-based, spiritual, and creative practices that can help you cultivate and sustain peaceful wellbeing even during hard times.

Writing for the Equinox/Solstice
We will explore how the seasons shape and move us. Our time together will include sitting, writing, and walking solo on the land in order to experience more deeply our inner seasons.

Titles of Past Workshops & Trainings

Altar-Making Workshop
Alternatives to Voice: Writing as a Means to Understanding
An Antidote to Writers’ Block
Compassionate Practices in Trying Circumstances
Crafting Your Writing Life
Developing a Body of Work: Beginners
Developing a Body of Work: Phase II
Exploring our Spiritual Roots: The Inner/Outer Landscape
Grief & Writing for the Holidays
Journeying Through Personal Responsibility Toward a Culture of Peace
Journeys into Landscapes: Travel Journaling
Meditation and Writing
Nature Journaling
Reaching Writing Goals
Season’s Greetings: Writing for the Holidays
Stories of Conflict: Calming Practices Rooted in Ecological Writing
Stories of Conflict: Writing for Insight as a Tool for Mediating
Sustainable Earth, Sustainable Lives: Writing that Sustains
Taking a Deeper Dive: Writing Stories that Transform
The Journey Through Grief
Transforming Conflict, Transforming Lives: Re-writing & Re-rooting Stories
Treephilia: Global Earth Exchange, in connection with Radical Joy for Hard Times
Volunteers Who Thrive: Writing & Nature Practices in Hospice Service
Writing as Life; Life as Writing
Writing as Rite
Writing for Non-Writers
Writing for Serenity
Writing for the Autumnal Equinox
Writing for the Holidays
Writing for the Spring Equinox
Writing for the Summer Solstice
Writing for the Winter Solstice
Writing, Meditation, and Creativity
Writing No Matter What: Getting Words on the Page
Written Story Workshop