#2: What is the heart of it?

Over the past week or two my mind has been almost constantly working, trying to think my way forward with my project, in the spirit that a problem shared is a problem halved I resolved to have a chat here to try and offload some of my thoughts.

In taking my project forward I need to begin to get specific about what is at the core of my idea. I know I would like to create a service or experience that makes people feel more connected, that guides them towards finding meaning, and that helps them to feel at home in the world. I also know that my aim is to try and reach people who are suffering with their mental health and who are at risk of spiralling towards suicidal thoughts.

Follow the joy

My meeting with my tutor encouraged me to hold my idea lightly, to follow the joy, make humour and lightness integral to it, otherwise the subject could get quite heavy. When dealing with matters of mental health I think it’s important to try and come at it sideways so to speak, there is nothing some people find more depressing than talking about depression. my aim is to try and change that, so to attract people it needs to be fun and hopeful.

Inspirations

Ive come across a project called street wisdom, that shares some elements of my idea…

They provide Walkshops that guide participants through an experience of a flaneur through a city, encouraging them to find meaning and connection. In his book ‘Wanderful’, David Pearl, the founder of Street Wisdom identifies these elements as crucial factors in finding meaning on a Walkshop.

Curiosity – Noticing what attracts you, what doesn’t attract you

Breath – “The bridge that connects life to consciousness” Thich Nhat Hanh

Imagining – Create an imaginative relationship with your surroundings 

Interpreting – Read meaning into your surroundings

Noticing – Be alert to signs and signals 

Playing – Be playful with the world

Synchronising – Connect with the people and place around you

Recognising – Everything is connected 

Intending – Use your thoughts to affect your surroundings

These are all useful guiding points that I could include in my own idea.

I am also inspired by William Sieghart who set up The Poetry Pharmacy, a service that provides people with a specific poem, diagnosed by Sieghart after he has spent a while chatting with them and hearing their problem. He writes this in the introduction to his Poetry Pharmacy collection;

“A great many of us turn to poetry in times of need. Above all, when we’re grieving, when we’re broken hearted, and when we’re struggling to understand the things we’re feeling, we long for the connection poetry can provide. To find the right poem at that crucial moment, one capable of expressing our situation with considerably more elegance than we can ourselves , is to discover a powerful sense of complicity, and that precious realisation: I’m not the only one who feels like this.“

I take a lot of inspiration from this direct approach of using art to help people, perhaps I would like to make my project similar along the lines of a service to provide for people in need, that could run parallel to traditional forms of healing such as therapy.

There is certainly a lot of elements of meditation I would like to carry forward in my idea, I’m aware that in some way I am trying to replicate the clarity and joy I have experienced while on a ten day Vipassana meditation retreat. But I would like to incorporate elements of that experience into something that lasts a few hours.

Paths to follow

Perhaps it is some kind of practical meditation, perhaps it involves storytelling, if we are the stories that we tell ourselves then maybe it is about encouraging people to find better stories for themselves.

More research is needed. I need to look into methods of connection and healing, I also need to figure out what methods I use myself.

I also need to start off by having small conversations with people around how they connect and heal, what sense of spirit drives them and gives them hope. My tutor suggests using an object to stimulate these discussions, I shall keep my eye out for one.