"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

2020 Pacific Northwest Retreat

Events Calendar

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

Upcoming Book Readings, Workshops, Courses, Retreats, Presentations

Click here to contact Jennifer for details about specific offerings

Feb. 3 - Mar. 8, 2020 Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced online course
This online course will guide students through the book, Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew. Upon registration, we will decide as a class which two dates we want to meet in real-time (via Zoom videoconference). The rest of the coursework can be done per a student's individual schedule and will be supported (during the course dates listed above) via email and the online course platform. Learn more and register here.

Feb. 29, 2020 (Sat.) Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading Edmonds Bookshop Free
12:00 PM

Mar. 21, 2020 (Sat.) Spring half-day retreat, Fort Ward, Bainbridge $45.
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join me on Bainbridge Island to contemplate the spring through your choice of walking, sitting, writing, making art, etc. Bring whatever you need to create and be comfortable. Register here.

Apr. 2, 2020 (Thurs.) Spiritual Ecology: What, How, Why presentation Bainbridge Island North Kitsap Interfaith Council
Venue TBD Free
7:00 PM
I have been invited by our region's interfaith council to speak about spiritual ecology.

May 2020 East Coast book tour
Details coming...

May 2020 Retreat in Staunton, Virginia
Details coming...

Jun. 6 - 7, 2020 (Sat. & Sun.) Books Meet Writing in the Natural World bookmaking/writing class $TBD. ($TBD. for BARN members)
Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network Jennifer J. Wilhoit with MJ Linford
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
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. Please email Jennifer with your intention to register: tealarborstories@gmail.com (registration link coming soon)

Jun. 10, 2020 (Wed.) Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits book reading through Charter for Compassion's Environment Sector
Online Webinar Free
7:00 AM Please email Jennifer with your intention to register: tealarborstories@gmail.com (registration link coming soon)

Jun. 20, 2020 (Sat.) Summer half-day retreat, Fort Ward, Bainbridge $45.
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join me on Bainbridge Island to contemplate the summer through your choice of walking, sitting, writing, making art, etc. Bring whatever you need to create and be comfortable. Register here.

Aug. 3 - 7, 2020 TEALarbor stories Annual Retreat
Bainbridge Island, WA Early Bird Discount applies until 3/16/20
Join us if you have been craving restorative retreat time. In natural settings with nurturing guidance, practical suggestions, and the intimacy of a group with shared interests, move forward with your creative ideas. Whether you’re a writer, artist, dreamer, or beauty-lover, this retreat will hold you as you ease into your fertile edges. (No project is too small or too large for this retreat.) Alternatively, if you just want to be nourished by the retreat activities (rather than pursuing a specific project), you are very welcome to join us. Learn more by clicking here.

Sep. 14 - Oct. 18, 2020 Writing on the Landscape: The Book Experienced online course
This online course will guide students through the book, Writing on the Landscape: Essays and Practices to Write, Roam, Renew. Upon registration, we will decide as a class which two dates we want to meet in real-time (via Zoom videoconference). The rest of the coursework can be done per a student's individual schedule and will be supported (during the course dates listed above) via email and the online course platform. Learn more and register here.

Sep. 26, 2020 (Sat.) Fall half-day retreat, Fort Ward, Bainbridge $45.
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Join me on Bainbridge Island to contemplate the autumn through your choice of walking, sitting, writing, making art, etc. Bring whatever you need to create and be comfortable. Register here.

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.

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.

Sampling 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