Living in Four Dimensions
I know I said I would not be creating a post for December as I was working on my NaNoWriMo project. I have been beavering away, and I reached the 50000-word target yesterday. Throughout the month, I found I was ‘missing’ you. There is something particular about writing with people in mind that shifts it from a purely interior exploration (which NaNoWriMo is for me) to a shared experience with the potential for dialogue and deepening relationship.
So, no new fiction from me this month, although much has been written. Val, Graham, Grace, and Joe worked their way into the writing so it will form the basis of future posts in this blog. However, I thought I would share with you some of the writing that has inspired me to keep going this month. The news from the world still leaves me in pain. The focus of the self-search I was undertaking in fiction was around maleness and masculinities – a challenging area for me. So, finding Nurture in others’ words has been valuable.
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.
All things break. And all things can be mended.
Not with time, as they say, but with intention.
So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.
The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.
Writing to explore our practice is a collaborative exercise, although that collaboration is often invisible and may remain unknown to those who offer the inspiration and collaboration. This quote is from Knost, and my friend and Theraplay® colleague Annie Kiermaier brought it to my attention via her Facebook page.
I write regularly with the London Writers’ Salon Writers’ Hour. Sharing the Zoom space, and the daily words of wisdom, is both an inspiration and a discipline (or Engagement and Structure as we may call it in Theraplay!). These were the words of wisdom for the day I finished my NaNoWriMo exploration. It seemed to capture the fragmented, circular, painful process of self-discovery that, as therapists, we do within ourselves so that we can be fully present with the people we work with as they negotiate their falling downs and getting ups.
Yes, you fell down.
I feel for you, for I have
fallen many times.
Now, you must get up.
I know it isn’t easy.
I know it will take time.
Remember, the seed
can’t imagine breaking
ground. And the fledgling
can’t imagine flying.
And so, your broken heart
can’t imagine finding its way.
But life is this repeating journey
from sleep to wakefulness,
from blindness to sight,
from fear to love.
No matter how many times
we fall, we are just beginning.
And finally, in using other people’s words to carry me through my daily practice as a person, therapist, educator, researcher and writer, I am indebted to Petra Yates, Curate at the Bromham Benefice. Petra shared her inspiration from the words of Canon Dr Tim Bull in a sermon. It is one huge whack of a Challenge!
What would you do if you had faith and weren’t afraid?
Petra Yates
Here’s to the ongoing exploration of what we might do with our therapeutic practice, facing our fears and faithfully using our professional wisdoms in the service of others.
Warmest wishes for the end of this year and the start of the new. I hope it is a time when there can be some rest and renewal for each of you. I look forward to our ongoing relationship in 2024.
Stock take
This recent series of blog posts have been using the Theraplay core concepts to structure my exploration. It seemed helpful to take this moment to think about which ones I’ve hopefully inspired you to think about, and what it still to come.
Interactive and relationship-based – August 2023
Guided by the adult – September 2023
Multisensory – October 2023
Culturally sensitive – November 2023
Playful – To come in January 2024!
And then, to follow in an order that seems to work for the emerging story of Val, Joe, Grace, and Graham, we will be looking at:
Co-regulated
Responsive, attuned, empathetic, reflective
Direct, here and now experience
Pre-verbal, social, right-brained
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