by Nathan Ohren
Remember kindergarten? Remember sitting on the floor in a circle with all the other boys and girls for “Show & Tell” time? Susie showed off her new sneakers. Bobby gave us a demonstration of his new action figure toy. Ronald, the class clown, could bend himself into a pretzel. What did you share?
I find a lot truth in that phrase made popular by Robert Fulghum: “All I Ever Needed To Know, I Learned in Kindergarten” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_I_Really_Need_to_Know_I_Learned_in_Kindergarten) Those moments -- when our teacher took a break from being the source of our learning, and turned our attention instead to one other -- perhaps held more wisdom than we knew. We took turns sharing our treasures, kneeling on the classroom floor, learning to talk about what mattered most to us, listening to each other, and learning from one another -- what a powerful life-lesson!
In my JournalTalk podcast interviews, I’m noticing a theme developing among journaling coaches far and wide: We still enjoy sharing our most personal treasures with each other!
- Lynda Monk (http://www.write4life.us/2013/07/jt011-group-journaling/) shared examples of similar workshops, and emphasized that she always gives people a chance to share because people “connect with one another through their stories”. In fact, Lynda has co-authored a book called, Writing Alone Together. Part memoir, and part how-to, the book follows the experience of three women who discover profound levels of creativity, compassion and community through writing together, and also imparts techniques for others to create the same.
- In a recent episode of JournalTalk, I interview Joan Leof (www.joanleof.com), another journaling/writing coach, and facilitator of journaling groups for over 30 years. Joan would say that the practice of writing together is certainly not new, but in our conversation, she was glad to share example exercises and tips for new journaling groups that want to start meeting.
I’d like to start a group meeting for journal-writers in Santa Barbara to give this a try. And I wonder what would we call ourselves?
Perhaps the answer is as simple as our kindergarten teacher would call it. “Write & Tell”? Please reply to Write4LifeCoach [at] gmail [dot] com if you have suggestions or interest!
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Nathan Ohren is the host of JournalTalk, a bi-weekly podcast featuring expert advice and inspiration on journal-writing. He has been keeping a personal journal for over 28 years, and enjoys coaching others and facilitating groups for creativity, self-empowerment and effective life management. Nathan is the founder of Write4Life, a resource for “living with passion, clarity, and purpose through journaling.”
Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2850669383/