want more emotional space this weekend?
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It's Friday, Reader! The weekend may not mean total rest and relaxation but let's try to give you a little more emotional space for the weekend, shall we? Yesterday I had the privilege of introducing a group of ex-convicts and addicts to the power of therapeutic writing. They really got into it, even the guy who told me he doesn't like writing, nor doing what people tell him to do. But by the end of the hour, he was super engaged and looking forward to our next class in a couple weeks. I make it easy. Because therapeutic writing isn't about writing beautiful prose, or crafting something you want to share with others. It's just for you. Write down the hard stuff. Let it go. With the guys, we talked a lot about feelings and letting ourselves feel our feelings - the page being one place we can give those feelings space without risking too much vulnerability. It's can be a safe way to process our inner world. So I want to suggest to you something the guys and I talked a lot about yesterday: naming your feelings. Name all the different emotions/feelings you felt this week. If you feel drawn to writing a few sentences about one of those feelings, go for it. BUT, if you do that with a difficult emotion, don't hang out there too long. Express yourself, and let it go. Maybe do a positive feeling after the more difficult one if you feel like you're a little stuck in the yuck. That's it. Name your feelings. It's amazing how powerful it can be to just be honest with yourself. 'til next time, Parrish |
Parrish Wilson Creative
Hi Reader, Today is World Mental Health Day and I started my day at Ottawa City Hall for the Courageous Conversation with Politicians - part of the Dare To Be Vulnerable Project that is working to break down mental health stigma through the sharing of real people's stories. We heard about the anxiety, trauma, depression and insomnia that accompanies politicians through their lives and careers, exacerbated by their public facing role and social media. It was an inspiring, and vulnerable...
Reader, sometimes a month is a MOOD and I felt that this morning... Every second Friday I tend to the animals at my son's Forest School - 3 goats and a bunch of chickens - and on this crisp October morning the chickens weren't too keen to head out and needed encouragement. The goats though happily trotted to their paddock, playfully as always. Chickens, goats and kids running. The trees bursting with colour. Today is so October (well, until this afternoon when it's supposed to be like 28...
It's Friday Reader, ...and it's been another week out there in our crazy world… it can feel like there’s no way to make a difference, but there always is. We dug into some of that last week with our prompt exploring what we can do at home amidst the dumpster fire out there. Very aware of all the loudness "out there", I took a quiet week this week. A bit of a moody one, to be honest. That time of the month. So I was pretty internally focused - took some naps, did some writing, stared at the...