The Writer’s forum is absolutely sensational.
Danny Bell is our guest blogger this week...hurray for that...
The Writer’s forum is absolutely sensational.
One of the things Yew Tree does superbly is capitalize on the fact that people delight in one another. If you’re an employee of St. Anne’s it’s likely you’ve heard a point made by Sarah along the lines of ‘…we like to see how other people live their lives…’ This is so true. As a species we are curious of one another; and when a similarity is discovered we feel secure, instantly validated and comforted by the fact that someone else feels the same things we do. Alternatively you could argue that some of the worst things that we as people have done to each other has stemmed from the human response to difference. We feel isolated, scared…it’s something we don’t have a knowledge of, it’s not in our spectrum of thought and our behaviours from that point can be ruthlessly out of character.
However imagine if you could take away the fear response, the isolation…what if you’re already part of a whole? Diversity then becomes the most fascinating, stretching, intriguing and rewarding thing we have to share. Diversity of thought, diversity of understanding, diversity of interpretation…
This is my deeply unscientific theory as to why a group of people sitting, writing random words on a page and creating their own definitions is such an incredibly stimulating event. We see bits of ourselves in other peoples reasoning. We discover an overarching consensus of understanding that manages to connect us all, somehow leaving our individuality intact…and the glitches are just as fulfilling as our charming parallel idiosyncrasies.
Suddenly the task of writing a word, and creating your own definition and sharing it with other people, and finding out theirs, is an utterly revealing, butterfly inducing, magical, binding moment.
Now…the way we all pander to our basic requirements as humans is universally and simultaneously accepted and understood. – This is a main point for me in how we manage to interact using empathy. For example we all understand hunger. Now in certain contexts it can be funny, an annoyance, we can feel sympathy for a person, heartache for a child, but it is a concept we all understand, and accept in others. It’s the same with fear, and love and confusion and contentment.
What happens at the writers forum…and in all other Yew Tree sessions is a most gratifying occurrence; when people are brave enough to share their needs, insights and ambitions and have them understood and accepted.
A real life example after this rather floaty blog lol would be Gemma reassuring Jonny to share his definition for the word ‘prickle’….the ripple of ‘with you’ (rather than ‘at you’) laughter was that occurrence I’m talking about; where someone’s thoughts, feelings and rationale are accepted.
And that’s what happens countless times across 10 different groups every week…
Upon reading this back I’m pretty sure I’ve not managed to make the same point consistently lol….buuuut it’s just a sample of the thoughts triggered for the writers forum…and look I’m writing hahah sorry for the disclaimer
The Writer’s forum is absolutely sensational.
One of the things Yew Tree does superbly is capitalize on the fact that people delight in one another. If you’re an employee of St. Anne’s it’s likely you’ve heard a point made by Sarah along the lines of ‘…we like to see how other people live their lives…’ This is so true. As a species we are curious of one another; and when a similarity is discovered we feel secure, instantly validated and comforted by the fact that someone else feels the same things we do. Alternatively you could argue that some of the worst things that we as people have done to each other has stemmed from the human response to difference. We feel isolated, scared…it’s something we don’t have a knowledge of, it’s not in our spectrum of thought and our behaviours from that point can be ruthlessly out of character.
However imagine if you could take away the fear response, the isolation…what if you’re already part of a whole? Diversity then becomes the most fascinating, stretching, intriguing and rewarding thing we have to share. Diversity of thought, diversity of understanding, diversity of interpretation…
This is my deeply unscientific theory as to why a group of people sitting, writing random words on a page and creating their own definitions is such an incredibly stimulating event. We see bits of ourselves in other peoples reasoning. We discover an overarching consensus of understanding that manages to connect us all, somehow leaving our individuality intact…and the glitches are just as fulfilling as our charming parallel idiosyncrasies.
Suddenly the task of writing a word, and creating your own definition and sharing it with other people, and finding out theirs, is an utterly revealing, butterfly inducing, magical, binding moment.
Now…the way we all pander to our basic requirements as humans is universally and simultaneously accepted and understood. – This is a main point for me in how we manage to interact using empathy. For example we all understand hunger. Now in certain contexts it can be funny, an annoyance, we can feel sympathy for a person, heartache for a child, but it is a concept we all understand, and accept in others. It’s the same with fear, and love and confusion and contentment.
What happens at the writers forum…and in all other Yew Tree sessions is a most gratifying occurrence; when people are brave enough to share their needs, insights and ambitions and have them understood and accepted.
A real life example after this rather floaty blog lol would be Gemma reassuring Jonny to share his definition for the word ‘prickle’….the ripple of ‘with you’ (rather than ‘at you’) laughter was that occurrence I’m talking about; where someone’s thoughts, feelings and rationale are accepted.
And that’s what happens countless times across 10 different groups every week…
Upon reading this back I’m pretty sure I’ve not managed to make the same point consistently lol….buuuut it’s just a sample of the thoughts triggered for the writers forum…and look I’m writing hahah sorry for the disclaimer
Comments
Post a Comment