Sand & Story: Capturing Desert Symbolism in Your Writing

Infuse the power of desert symbols into your writing! This generative writing workshop covers how landscape symbolism provides meaning in storytelling with a focus on tapping into your creative potential through the active imagination technique.

• This class is held at the Live Oak picnic area in Joshua Tree National Park.
• This beginner-friendly activity is suitable for ages 12 and older.
• Anyone may attend! No writing experience is required.
• Entry to Joshua Tree National Park is included in the cost of enrollment.
• Participants must bring their own supplies, including paper and writing utensils.
• No meals or equipment are provided.

This class is leisurely. It requires less than 2 miles of walking with shade, seating, consistent terrain, and little to no elevation gain.

Instructor Cindi Anderson: Cindi Anderson, Ph.D., is a writer, producer and brand strategist, using her unique cross-discipline expertise to help storytellers create strong stories. Her doctorate in Mythology and Archetypal Psychology gives her a unique lens into how we are shaped by our personal and collective stories and how powerful storytelling can move people into action on important causes. Anderson has filled various executive and production roles in leading entertainment and advertising companies and has taught college courses in Story, Creative Writing, American Cinema and Entrepreneurship. Her particular focus is the West’s changing relationship with Nature and where civilization and wilderness intersect. She returned to Joshua Tree to advance her studies, because there is no better place to experience the magic of our landscape, which holds hidden meaning for us all.

Photo credit: NPS/Brad Sutton