TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK

Details: Created on Tuesday, 11 April 2017 21:14; Written by Marian Moore

Marian @ Krysan

THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY

Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham

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And always remember ... this being human is a guest house ... be grateful for whoever comes ... because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK

Writing for Wellbeing

Saturday, 6 May 2017

Dear Friends,

For over a year now, I've been promising myself to stop prevaricating and just do it. I ask myself time and time again: what's so hard about writing for wellbeing? I've been keen enough in the past to say to others 'fingers on keys and just start tapping'. So here I am ... tick-tock, tick-tock, tap, tap, tap, tap.

The person who has inspired me today writes under the intriguing pseudonym The Strongest Smile. In her latest blog she refers to a 'Writing for Wellbeing' course she attended recently, a course which she LOVED! Obviously a girl after my own heart.

She describes the course in glowing terms and to my delight she introduced the prompts used on the course: the first being 'pomegranate', the second being 'in the garden', the third 'blackbird, the fourth 'I feel happy when ... '

But the prompt she found most difficult was this: 'Imagine you are an object in a room and write as that object about an emotion you are experiencing. Write from the view point of an inanimate object of you choice.'

This is what she wrote:

"I can't say I picked this because it was more like my pen picked as the thoughts flowed through the ink of biro and I found myself writing from the point of view of a clock hanging on my living room wall.

"I am ticking, Tick tock tick tock tick tock. She keeps looking over. I think she thinks am getting louder. I think I am all she can hear. She has zoned out, she looks like she stopped listening as the nurse describes how poorly she had been when she first assessed her.

"Tick tock tick tock tick tock. I can see her almost processing her memories, trying desperately to put them in some sort of order. I have watched her for years hung on the wall but never seen her as distant or vacant as she has been i recent weeks. She usually runs the household looking at me, but now she doesn't even shower.

"Tick tock tick tock tick tock. She can't look at me and shouting 'come on we are later, becasuse she not longer goes anywhere. The nurses visit and they glance over at me too. They see her desperation and try, try so hard to give her hope but they hear my call also, tick tock tick tock. She understands though, she is a nurse too.

"As the weeks go by the nurses get to know here. She is more able to tick freely and without the delay which cursed her for weeks. One day she laughs and it drowned out my voice tick tock tick tock. I wish I could tell her not to count the minutes but to count the moments.

"Moments are priceless and it is moment which give happiness which is what she craves. It is that we all crave."

Tick tock tick tock ...

Beautiful.

Now, I return to a prompt mentioned earlier, 'I feel happy when ..." This is what this young mother wrote in the five minutes allowed:

I feel happy when I hear my daughter laugh. Not just a quiet smile but a raucous giggle.
I feel happy when my husband and I get time just to be.
We don't have a lot of money at the moment but I feel happy when this makes me realise money doesn't buy happiness. It does pay the mortgage however and knowing that is paid makes me happy too!
I feel happy when I am reminded how loved I am and when I am held in strong arms.
I feel happy when I am well. Not every day because life is linear - it has ups and downs but when I stop to appreciate what I have, I am happy,
but happiness can be elusive.

Finally, the last 3 minute write that I wish to share with you is this:

"The next task was to imagine we were a detective walking into our own homes and making a judgement about the person who lives there. I was to write from the perspective of this detective.

This person has so much to remember, no wonder they have a white board on the back of the front door. Nurse appointments, Doctor appointments, Occupational Health appointments and reminder about non-uniform days and money needing to be paid for the school trip. Guides trip and Sunday School trip. I move through he living room to see photos of a happy family, the mother looks so different to the tired looking woman who let me in.

I see a Bible and a Christian book beside the fire. A tired woman but a woman with faith and therefore hope lives here. I see a basket of paste eggs on the side board, all brightly coloured. Maybe the mum did these with the daughter? Maybe she is feeling a little better? I see a pile of paperwork next to a laptop; I am well and it look overwhelming to me so how must this mother feel look at this?

Cards on the fireplace suggest she is loved by many and that her colleagues hope she will be back at work soon, coupled with the letter half written on the open laptop which would suggest she want to return, too.

I thought the woman had gone out but wandering through this hope I hear her breathing heavily and realise she is asleep.

This is how The Strongest Smile concluded, this being in my opinion a lovely way to complete this weblog. "I have never done anything like this before so these short writing tasks were a totally new experience for me. Whether it is any good or not I shall leave to the readers but I did enjoy it and I shall absolutely book on another workshop of writing for well being. It really got my brain ticking over in a way it hasn't for so many months whilst I've been ill. Anyway I have typed this as it was hand written quickly in 3 minute bursts so feel free to task if any thing doesn't make sense."

Please note this entry was posted in bipolar, depression, happy, health, mental health, mental illness, nurse. Nurturing. parenting. Pregnancy. Strongest Smile.

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