In the Merriam-Webster dictionary the second meanings for
bushwhack are:
“to travel by foot through uncleared terrain; to clear a path
or advance through thick woods especially by chopping down bushes and low branches”
There is an intriguing 2023 book by Jennifer McGaha titled Bushwhacking:
How to Get Lost in the Woods and Write Your Way Out. There is a preview of the
first 41 pages at Google Books.
Her chapter titles and their starting page numbers are:
Why We Write: Searching for Beauty [1]
The Thrill of Discovery: Writing Your Way into Knowing [12]
In the Weeds: Discovering Courage on the Page [27]
Coming in Hot: Zipping out of Your Comfort Zone [40]
Back in the Saddle: Cultivating Resilience [50]
Echoes in the Mountains: Honoring the Voices Within [67]
Rallying Your People (or Your Canines): Creating a Writing
Community [76]
A Lighter Load: Unpacking the Writing Life [92]
Lost in the Woods: Writing Your Way Home [101]
Bushwhacking: Digging for Deeper Truths [118]
Finding Your Stride: Toning Your Writing Muscles [127]
Running Uphill: Surviving the Tough Climbs [136]
You Can Do Anything for a Mile: Channeling Your Inner
Stallion [154]
The Beauty of the Question: Embracing the Wilderness Within
[168]
Questions for Further Exploration [187]
Bibliography [190]
Acknowledgements [191]
At the end she has a list of nine long, deep questions, each
of which could make a speech topic:
Questions for Further Exploration
1] Discuss your relationship with fear. When do your fears
serve you well, and when do they get in your way? What is your greatest fear?
Where does it come from? What strategies do you have for keeping it at bay?
What does it feel like in your body? When/where/how does it overwhelm you? Now,
imagine for a moment that you weren’t afraid. How might your life be different?
How might you be different?
2] Discuss the nature of truth as you see it. Are there
different degrees of honesty, and, if so, what are the gray areas? What makes a
story true or untrue? Can a memoir contain both lies and deeper truths? In what
ways?
3] What is the most daring thing you have ever done as an
adult? Why did you do it? What did you learn about yourself? In what ways have
you carried that knowledge with you since?
4] Discuss your relationship with physical strength/stamina.
When in your life have you felt strongest? When have you felt most vulnerable?
Why and how were you shaped by these experiences?
5] Discuss the role of imagination in your life. What did you
dream (literally or metaphorically) when you were a young child? What is the
most imaginative thing you have done in your waking life as an adult? What
other things do you dream about doing? What, if anything, is holding you back?
6] Describe a moment in your life when you were lost (again,
literally or metaphorically). Where were you? Who was with you? How did you
come to be lost? How did you come to be found? And what did you learn along the
way?
7] Make a list of questions you have about any topic. These can
be ridiculous or serious. They can focus on one area, or they can be
wide-ranging. The only requirement is that you cannot currently know the
answers Try to get ten or twenty questions. When you are finished, trade
questions with someone you know. Now, take their list of questions and see what
new questions arise for you from those. In other words, what questions do you
have about their questions? You can do this on and on, in an endless game of
round-robin with questions.
8] Do you agree with Brian Doyle’s assertion that, no matter
how hard we try to communicate effectively, we invariably fail in our attempts
to express the depth and breadth of our emotions and experiences? Why or why
not? How might acknowledging the inherent shortcomings of language change both
our relationships with others and what we bring to the page.
9] Drawing inspiration from Ross Gay, vow to spend every day
for the next week noticing things that delight you. Each day, make a note of
one simple thing – a box turtle in your flower bed, a blackberry patch you came
upon while hiking, a new song you discovered, a phone call with an old friend,
a batch of freezer jam you made that turned out especially well. Freewrite
about this for no more than one page. The point here is to capture the mood and
the tone, the essence of delight. Do not attempt to make a cohesive story. Do
not use a thesaurus or run a grammar check. Do not go back and edit old
entries. This is not a stepping stone to anything else. Think of each entry,
each delight, as whole and complete, as worthy in and of itself. The goal here
is not a polished final product. The value is in the practice, the practice of
noticing, of cultivating and expressing gratitude for all those quietly
astounding moments that fill your life with meaning. At the end of the week,
share your responses with at least one other person. Notice how your delights
multiply when you share them.”
On October 18, 2025 I blogged about 15 excellent Table
Topics questions from the end of a 2024 book by Jennifer McGaha titled The Joy
Document.
An image where you might need to take your machete was
adapted from Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg){kind=link}