Classes for 2023

Classes are being offered online through Zoom at UNM Continuing Education.
To register, call 505-277-0077 or go to ce.unm.edu.  For information about a class, call Carol at 505-235-9753

Connect to Your Creative Self Through Writing

Jan 25 through Feb. 15 Tuesday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

It’s never too late to awaken your creative potential, connect to your source of inspiration and create something new. Writing is a powerful tool for exploration, self-expression, and personal and professional development. You don’t need to put your work into the public eye to benefit from following the quiet “nudges” from your Creative Self.

Whether you’re interested in transitioning to writing fiction, memoir, or nonfiction, or simply want to explore your creativity, learning to trust the creative impulse and develop habits that nurture it are critical. Your Creative Self has something to say. You can live your best life by listening to that inner wisdom.

Opening Up: Writing for Healing

Feb 23 through March 16, Thursday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Personal journal writing helps us navigate uncertainty, stress, and dislocation. When our lives are turned upside down, it’s normal to experience unease and frustration. Writing about what’s going on helps us move through the experience and develop new strategies for the future. In a safe, supportive environment, we will explore simple yet powerful writing techniques that enhance well-being and help develop resilience. The benefits of this type of journaling are similar to those derived from yoga and meditation.
No writing experience is necessary.

Writing the Story of Your Life

Feb 21 through Mar 16, Tuesday, 4:00-6:00 PM

Our stories tell us where we’re been, what we’ve learned, and who we are. As we write, we remember, evaluate, and deepen our perspective. If you want to explore your life story, whether for legacy, published memoir, inspiration for fiction, or personal development, this course will give you the tools you need. Classes include writing exercises, prompts, resources, and discussion.  No previous writing experience is necessary.

The Elements of Story

April 5 through May 10, Wednesday, 5:30–7:30 PM

Are you ready to tell your stories? Fiction or creative nonfiction, all stories have common elements. Learn about effective beginnings and endings. Develop memorable characters doing fascinating things in settings that jump off the page. We’ll cover internal and external plots, description, scene and narrative, and how to choose the best point of view. No writing experience required, only a strong desire to get those stories out of your head and onto the page. Safe, supportive environment for beginners and experienced writers

The Writer’s Mindset: How to Keep Writing Until You Finish That Book!

May 2 through May 10, Tuesday, 5:30–7:30 PM

Are you writing or thinking about writing a book, short story, or essay? Do you find that keeping on track with your goals is a challenge? You may be experiencing doubt, lack of confidence or simply feeling overwhelmed. You’re not alone. Many writers have great ideas, but aren’t sure how to get started and maintain a  writing practice. Being a writer means making choices, finding good resources, and setting goals that are reasonable, given your life situation. 

The Writer’s Mindset will help you stop thinking about writing and get to work! Practical strategies, helpful resources, and practice lead to a productive writing practice. You will learn how to short-circuit the messages of the inner critic so you can write with joy and abandon. 

Magical Words, Magical You!

Do you have a story to tell? An idea rumbling around in your mind? A character you see so clearly s/he seems real? An imaginary place you long to create for your character to roam? Maybe your story is true. An experience from your earlier life. A lesson learned....

Yes! You are Creative.

“But I’m just not creative.” Sad words, filled with regret, uttered as an apology, sometimes in a whisper. I hear them from people in my classes, from people in bookstores and art galleries who are mentally comparing themselves to the featured writers and artists....

Do You See the Door?

It’s right there. Behind that tree. In the shadow of the curtain in the room where you sleep. In your dreams, glowing with golden light. Since I learned to meditate, new information presents itself as a door to be opened. Or ignored. In the world of spirit, there is...

Listen! Something is Stirring!

It wants your attention. It wants to be free. Have you heard it whisper? You know what it is. It dances through your dreams. It causes you to be late because you’re mesmerized by a cloud formation that looks exactly like the city in a story you want to write. In a...

Loving and Giving

Writing about the upcoming arts and crafts festival at UNM Continuing Education got me thinking. As much as a sense of unease rises in my chest at the sight of artificial Christmas trees for sale in October, I tell myself to stop being a curmudgeon. It’s the holidays!...

Winners and More Winners

My new book, When Spirit Whispers: a journey of awakening, is a winner in the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards! I am excited and gratified to be honored by this excellent organization. The book was a labor of love, my small offering of aid and inspiration to those...

Your Creative Self is Waiting for You!

My next nonfiction book has a working title of Your Creative Self is Waiting for You. I am writing it for readers who want to access their creativity in any form. I believe we are all creative. Even those who protest, “Oh, not me, I have no talent.” We can’t all be...

How Healthy is Your Brain?

About 50 million people worldwide are suffering from dementia in 2021, but the total number of people with dementia is projected to reach 82 million in 2030 and a staggering 152 million in 2050.  For Kate Kunkel, the tragedy of this disease struck three times. Both...

A Different Kind of Memoir

New Mexico author Jean Stouffer has written a moving memoir of healing from the effects of growing up with an alcoholic mother. But Sometimes I Cry is not just another recounting of a child caring for an absent parent and the self-esteem and abandonment issues that...

Making Space for Happiness

By now, we thought our lives would have settled into whatever the “new normal” turned out to be. That doesn’t ring quite true. Not with a new virus strain, economic and political challenges, and warm weather that is both pleasant and a harbinger of an uncertain...