Is WRITE ON! a Safe Space?
Written at WRITE ON!
Written at WRITE ON! is a series of articles written by participants during a WRITE ON! workshop, and shared with the community.
This first piece was written by Hy Carrel during Kind Fools’ third WRITE ON! workshop.
Is WRITE ON! A safe space?
I see WRITE ON! as a safe space.
WRITE ON! is neither a dialogue nor a conversation.
The check-in is an opportunity to express what is true for you at this moment, or what feels urgent or important for you to express. It is a chance for you to say what you need to say, without response or advice from others.
The community agreements help us to co-create a trusting container.
The guided meditation allows us to sink into a place together, where our awareness is rooted within our own bodies.
The poem provides a spark of inspiration, shared by the community of participants.
The free write is an opportunity to express what is true for each of us in this present moment.
Absolutely anything that we create in the free write is inherently beautiful because it is our truth.
The second check-in, second free write and third check-in are each a way for us to connect with our own body and truth more closely, and perhaps to find some inspiration from each other.
The break is a palate cleanser in celebration of what we have just created, individually and collectively.
The sharing round is perhaps the most important part. We share some part of what we wrote with the group. Then we surrender, mostly without further context or response, to others’ comments, and we trust that their comments will be purely positive, encouraging and authentic. If someone’s honest feedback and response includes advice, criticism or a lengthy personal story, they are encouraged to wait, to hold their tongue.
Perhaps you will request their critique outside of WRITE ON! but here we are witness to each others’ truth and we have agreed to be purely positive.
This is why I consider WRITE ON! to be a safe space.
There are times, however, when hearing someone’s truth may be difficult for us, or when we may be fearful to share our truth with paper or ears. In those cases, we create a brave space.
Whatever space we have, we can always seek to include ridiculousness, which itself can heal our psyche.
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Do you want to get involved? Do you have questions? Please reach out via our contact form or by emailing our lead facilitator Hy Carrel at hy@kindfools.org