The Thrill of Making a Difference: From an Interview With Julie Prentice

Welcome to The Women Behind The Poetry, where we interview women from the 'Journey of The Heart: Women's Spiritual Poetry Project'! 

Today we introduce you to the lovely Julie Prentice, a wife of 42 years and mother to three sons who assists persons with mental health challenges to find their own paths to wellness and recovery.

I had a high school English teacher, Mr. Morse, who began to encourage writing what you were feeling rather than what you thought people would want to hear. I was part of a literary magazine, which published poetry and prose for the high school and families to read. Recently I discovered a few copies and found some lost poetry written during my late teens. Some I remembered and they formed a bridge between my younger self and the one I am today. Others are like another’s writing, no memory of creation still exists, but they were my words then and remain today

Writing about things that cause heartache, but result in the spirit growing and evolving are the easiest for me to write about. Spiritual, mystical and connections to those things attract me. Of course, people I know and things I have experienced cause poems to bubble up from the depths of who knows what?

Soul, spirit, self or the all and unknowable inspire me. Naturally, nature is a great inspiration and I feel a deep connection with plants, animals and the wonderful expressions of life that make up our world.

It is hard to write things that reflect negatively on people I love, though sometimes there is a necessary catharsis that results when old hurts or injustices are explored. Having dealt with demons from the past, they do become less powerful, less damaging and more understandable.

I draw inspiration from words and phrases I hear from others or from inside my own mind (though that might be an illusion). These phrases urge me to put things on paper, and work through me to convey what I think they mean to me, and might mean to others too.

I read poetry, and am inspired by the power of other writer’s words, which often spark a piece.

Everything by Emily Dickinson, Thoreau, Rumi and from Khalil Gibran and from Mary Oliver. My first book of poetry/prose that I can remember being in love with was called  ‘The Blue Fairy Book” and had a playful choice of words in children’s poetry. A.A. Milne wrote about characters that became my imaginary friends. First poem I memorized was “Jabberwocky”, an assignment for 4^th grade that my teacher rejected as not a real poem, causing me much pain. Fortunately that didn’t stop me from reading more ‘unacceptable’ works. Shel Silverstein, e.e. cummings and Sylvia Plath are others whose words influenced me greatly, with humorous, playful and sorrowful candor. I also worked with a group using ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron, a book I would highly recommend.

Other’s words often sink in deeply, replay in my mind. They can bring comfort or a shock of recognition that other people have experienced what I have.

When deciding to share one of my own poems, the main fear that would prevent me fro doing so is the fear that someone will hate it, or be hurt by it, or not accept the spirit in which the poem was written, as fiction not fact. The poems are always my interpretation of the way things happened. Self-doubt is an issue that wars with creative expression inside me constantly. Yet, I gulp down fear and write and share anyway.

To imagine that my message could make a difference for someone else thrills me…sometimes driving the urge to put pen to paper. I have also discovered myself inside the words, a self-awakening that I don’t think would happen without writing. Self-knowledge is powerful, without it we often repeat old patterns without understanding why.

Poetry is a lens through which I examine myself to learn more about the me I was, and the me I am, and the me I might become!

Writing a poem, for me, is very akin to a birth process to bring a poem to paper…and I believe birth is spiritually initiated. No creation exists without creator, and whatever that creator is lives inside me and causes words to spill out.

Writing is a release of what is often pent up inside, crying to get out, but that has no other outlet. 

I love words, playing with words and get great satisfaction when words flow out or sputter onto page, unedited and raw, or are painstakingly crafted, worked and reworked. Poetry has been a loyal friend, to which I can pour out the poison, the glory and struggle of life, and rejoice in the beauty of it. The blank page always listened, often when I couldn’t speak to anyone else.

I took a writing course ‘Writing the Womb’ by Isabel Faith Abbot that led me to the Women’s Spiritual Poetry website and eventually to this project. This group of generous, creative, loving women has rocked me in its cradle of warmth and respect. I have made new friends, ‘virtual’ though they may be, and feel connected to others in a new way. To know that others write because it is a need, not just a want, has been refreshing and validating.

I’ve learned and grown so much in the Journey of the Heart community, and have so much gratitude for my fellow poets.

Also, my deep respect and hats off to Catherine Ghosh and for her tremendous vision to have this group co-create something I feel is extremely valuable and timely: Women, writing about Women, for Women and for the World.

How would I describe myself? Well, I am wife of my life partner (together 42 years) and the mother of three fantastic sons. I have had successful careers in teaching/tutoring children and interpretation in sign language. My current vocation is assisting persons with mental health challenges to find their own paths to wellness and recovery, by working with them and sharing my own recovery journey. 

I enjoy writing, singing, crafting and engaging in a spiritual quest for connection with the universe. I love spending quality time with family and friends and making new ones as I travel through life. You can read my works here or on my blog here. 






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Julia W. Prentice: A deeply feeling Cancer, Julia has been writing since her teenage years. She is the mother of three sons, has successful careers in teaching children, interpretation in sign language and assisting persons with mental health challenges to find their own paths to recovery. Living with her love and partner of over forty years has brought contentment and much fulfillment. She writes like she breathes: incessantly, some in ragged gasps, some in whispering sighs, some in mighty shouts. Always she is driven to write. Recently after taking a women’s online writing course she has heard the universe telling her to share her writings. You may find them on her blog "A Shooting Star" here. 
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~If you are one of the poetesses from 'Journey of the Heart', and would like to appear in this blog, just click here to request an interview. We are excited to learn more about you!~

~If you write poetry and would like to share it on 'Journey of The Heart', click here for submission -guidelines. And thank you for your interest!~