CONSCIOUSNESS
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 08:53
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
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MYSELF OF SELVES
A Visit to the Northumberland Voice Hearers' Gathering 2012
by
Marian @ Krysan
THE ANGEL OF THE NORTH
One does not become fully human painlessly
LETTER 1
20 June 2012
Dear Friends
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
Yesterday, I went along to Northumberland's Voice Hearers' Gathering. The Gathering was held on a sunny June day at the Holiday Inn in Seaton Burn in the County of Northumberland.
Angel of the North.
This was an entirely new experience for me and I was there as an invited guest with a job to do - more of that in my next letter. Supported as always by the Angel of the North (above), these letters are a tribute to the people I met.
Dr. Rufus May.
Gatherings such as this bring renewed hope to many people - care givers and cared for. Yesterday they were out in force, all listening intently as Dr. Rufus May opened up a dialogue into the science of the mind. This took us far beyond the traditional medical model and changed forever the way we think about hearing voices.
Myself of selves.
Rufus is certainly not alone in his firmly held beliefs and - and thanks to people like him - we move steadily towards a paradigm shift in our understanding and treatment of psychosis. This was surely a day for the raising of consciousness - an inner journey into 'myself of selves'. I am reminded of another psychologist who once said, "One does not become fully human painlessly". Wise words.
Positive psychology.
I speak from the heart when I ask that we continue to accommodate - with an optimistic outlook - new insights into mental distress and recovery; and that we seek to retain our sense of wonder at the self-healing power that lies within each one of us. Below are details of a new book on how we can indeed help ourselves using proven strategies from the world of positive psychology.
An Aide-Mémoire :
Sincerely yours
Marian
LETTER 2
22 June 2012
Dear Friends
MYSELF OF SELVES
In case you're wondering, my Storytelling Workshop was yet another opportunity to step outside the box of the ordinary and everyday at the Northumberland Gathering.
A Button Collection.
First ... imagine six or seven people sitting around a table and in the middle of the table is an old-fashioned jar of buttons. Sourced from charity shops in Newcastle upon Tyne, each button is very different in size, shape and colour and each carries the trace of a memory ...
Buttons R Us.
One of the best ice-breakers I have come across involves (1) tipping your Button Collection onto the table, (2) asking your audience to choose the button that 'best' describes their first impressions of the person on the left, and then (3) asking each in turn to explain the reason for the choice of button to the others in the group.
Listening Buttons.
With buttons still on the table, (1) ask people to think of an emotion, (2) choose a button that 'best' represents their chosen emotion, (3) take turns to tell the group as much (or as little) as they wish about what the button is saying, (4) hang on to this button as it is needed for the next exercise.
Talking Buttons.
Choose a second very different button, (1) thinking of the emotion it 'best' represents, (2) imagine that the two buttons are talking to each other, their conversation being around the garment to which they were once stitched, and how its wearer might have felt wearing this garment, (3) take turns to tell the group as much (or as little) as you wish about the conversation between the two buttons.
Learnèd Buttons.
Aided and abetted by 'The Button Collection' and trace memories, a free and open dialogue ensued around:
- how far and why first impressions count,
- our reticence to talk about our emotions and the consequences,
- the importance of paying heed to the inner child, and
- becoming a conduit for passing family stories down through the generations - written and/or oral.
Myself of selves.
Sincere thanks are winged to all those whose gifts made this gathering possible and also to those who took a chance, ventured outside the box of their professional training, and embraced something extraordinary. Myself of selves ...
An Aide-Mémoire :
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Writing exercises that work (2011):
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A handbook - using writing for health with groups and for personal development:
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Pen & Tonic CIC
Sincerely Yours
Marian
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY VALUES
Based on the words of
Pastor Martin Niemoeller,
victim of the NazisFirst they came for the dispossessed
But we didn’t speak up -
Because we thought that we weren’t dispossessed.
Then they came for the marginalized
But we didn’t speak up –
Because we thought we weren’t marginalized.
Then they came for the dissidents
But we didn’t speak up -
Because we thought that we weren’t dissidents.
Next they came for the asylum seekers
But we didn’t speak up –
Because we thought that we would never be asylum seekers.
Then they came for the mentally ill
And there was no one left to speak for anyone.
WEBSITES THAT MATTER
*1. Rufus May
http://rufusmay.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=33*2. Miriam Akhtar
http://www.positivepsychologytraining.co.uk/*3. Pen & Tonic
*4. Krysan for Wellbeing (on Twitter)
http://twitter.com/krysan1
We all hold views that we may be forced to evaluate in the light of new evidence.- Marian Moore____________________________Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi.
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Click on the link for:"God Will Make A Way" - Don Moen.
ENDS
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