Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: writing as healing, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 2 of 2
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: writing as healing in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Fellow writer Lian Goodall shared this video link of notebooks and compassion in a Japanese school. I watched it, tears pouring down my face. I think writing helps get out the things we need to get out, to give voice to–and actually being encouraged to share it and receive compassion in a school setting is incredible. It seems so healing and healthy to me, this teaching of compassion, of expression, of talking about what we need to, and responding to others.
I’ve often wished that we taught such things in our own schools here. The lessons I took often meant little to me, as a kid and teen being so horribly abused. But lessons like the ones in that video would have opened my wounds and helped healing happen sooner. Bravo for the school, for the wonderful things they’re doing.
…What do you think?
Seven young adults between the ages of 12 to 17 shuffle inside the Children Shelter’s classroom. The boys loom large. The girls shift from motherly to sexy and back, like blinking red lights.
I break down some stories to them with a focus on the Beginning 1/4 of the story and ending at The End of the Beginning. I ask them to write the beginning of a story real or imagined that leads to a moment of no return, a moment when life shifts, when good turns bad or bad to worse. I suggest that the character want something that now becomes seemingly impossible to attain.
For a girl with clear brown eyes, her main character wants more time with her dad. The End of the Beginning is when her dad dies. Another girl shows a mom in heaven remembering her beautiful little girls. The End of the Beginning is when the girls go live with an uncle with a belt.
For the Middle of their stories, I asked them to describe the new world the main character is now living. I ask for three bumps that shake the character, stop the character, interfere with his/her dreams and leads to a Crisis. The Crisis is is the dark night of the soul.
Before I release them to their writing, we play charades. The two biggest boys and a girl with incredilbly long eyelashes act out emotion cards. The other kids and volunteers and counselors guess at the emotions. I stress for descriptions of what they see that leads them to know the emotion. I wanted them to "show" the character in the emotion, not "tell" the character.
To demonstrate anger, the biggest boy grabs a chair, swings it over his head and slams it to the floor. The girls reel backwards and scream. Counselors leap to their feet. I ask him to do it again but without the violence. Then we dissect his facial expressions to find the more subtle signs of anger and rage.
After a lunch of pizza and juice, we trudge back inside for the End. The room is stuffy and close, but feels safe and womb-like.
I give examples of characters overcoming tremendous odds at the Climax and being deeply transformed by the experience. We talk about what stories mean overall: a tough time leads to a lifelong belief that people are no damn good? (my father throughout his life) Good triumphs over bad (the girl with the belt). Bad triumphs over good (the boy with the rage).
My hope is that giving the kids an opportunity to get the bad stuff out of their bodies and moving is good. Rather than let it sit and fester, to bring the fear and disappointment out to the light of day is a good thing.
What have you left buried deep inside????
.jpg?picon=980)
Wow. That was powerful. I think many teachers feel they are not skilled enough to handle that kind of situation or are too afraid of parent’s reactions to deal with it. Yet these issues are and so many others are there in the classroom being dealt with anyway by the children, just beneath the surface. It is painful to compare the scene to shools here.
Thanks for sharing the link. I’ve already passed it on.
I found it powerful, too, Joe. Thanks for passing it on! And I agree–the issues are there anyway, the kids are dealing with them on their own. How much more healing would it be if they were encouraged to talk about their experiences, and were given compassion?
I understand individual teachers being worried they don’t have the training; I heard that many times as a teen when I was dealing with the abuse. I thought then, and I still think now, that a compassionate response is what makes all the difference. Just caring makes a difference. And that doesn’t need training.
Hi,
lian
It is cool, and even cooler is that the original posting was made by an Albertan, my cousin Esme Comfort, who works tirelessly to improve schools in Canada.
“I think writing helps get out the things we need to get out, to give voice to–and actually being encouraged to share it and receive compassion in a school setting is incredible.”
I agree. And what a powerful clip. I’m with you on the tears!
Lian, that IS really cool. So glad to hear about Esme working to make schools better.
Adelene, glad you’re with me on the tears, and on writing as a powerful tool!