Convenor:Joelle Lyons Everett
Participants:Audrey, Helena, Tova, Michael, Jan
Summary of the meeting: We discussed briefly the power of poems and personal stories to facilitate change. Then we shared our own poems and stories, and enjoyed their power and beauty.
Observations:
Poems and personal stories, spoken from the heart, open the heart, stir our own feelings, help to open us to change.
The form is not so important, though an appropriate form can be a good container and make the poem even more powerful.
Poems and stories can help us to feel, express, and move through our grief.
Your authentic voice is more important than perfection.
Follow up:
Online Comments:
By opening our own hearts we put ourselves "out there." We are vulnerable. We reveal the tender places within us, inviting others to join us in that space. When others see that it is a safe place to be vulnerable, I notice that they often, almost subconsciously, open their own heart (outwardly and/or inwardly). Sharing from such an open, inclusive space seems to inevitably move towards growth and change of some sort. AshleyCooper