Earlier this month I had a beautiful opportunity to lead a poetry workshop at my local library and I was delighted to see that the local paper shared a piece about the workshop. Leading these workshops is one of my favorite things to do, and despite the inevitable nerves that come with facilitating a group, it fills me with such joy.
When I lead workshops, one of the most valuable parts of the experience is witnessing participants uncover their own creativity, uncover the poetry and the art within themselves.
Many people who attend have their own creative pursuits, but may not have explored poetry or creative writing in this way. Most participants have not ever read their work out loud - and this is one of the things that I do in each workshop. I encourage participants to share their work with the group!
I believe that speaking your own words really breathes life into your work, lending your own breath to your own words is a really special part of the creative experience.
We often keep our creative pursuits to ourselves, and while there's nothing wrong with being a silent poet, reading aloud your own writing adds a depth and power to your words that some people have not experienced before.
It's a further embodiment of our creative essence, which I believe is a fundamental human trait - humans create. We make flower arrangements, we plant gardens, we bake bread, we paint pictures, we organize our bookshelves according to color, we make pottery, we write poetry, we do all these things that are inherently creative. We all have the capacity within us to express our creativity - and we all have the ability to share our silent poems.
All of my workshops are built around guided writing exercises and expressive art modalities that are a process of discovery. I don't know what everyone's going to discover at the beginning of the workshop, but I'm always blown away by what is shared!
Initially participants are not only hesitant to start the writing process, but they're hesitant to read their work out loud(but then they do!) and witnessing their transformation from nervousness to empowerment is remarkable. I love hearing their voices get stronger as they go on. As they hear their own voices, reading their own words, and feeling the impact of their words, this amazing shift occurs!
They realize a new depth to their creativity and are often surprised by the stories and emotions that they can convey with their own words. This awakening of expressive potential is why I lead writing workshops. I love facilitating this shift in self-awareness and creativity! I love seeing participants discover the power of their own stories and words. It's a truly beautiful and humbling experience and I am always grateful to be able to be witness to the creativity of others.
There’s a poem by Pablo Neruda (you can read it here) where the poet expresses how poetry is this otherly sort of thing that found him, something that just came bubbling up like a spring and sought him out.
I feel that way about poetry too - it arrived in search of me, and no matter how many times I closed the door on it or walked a different path, it found me.
The same too can be said for leading these expressive writing workshops - these experiences called to me and have given me a great opportunity to witness poetry arriving in the hearts of participants. Thank you to those who attend, and to you, readers, for witnessing the poetry in our hearts and our world with me.
I've got some online courses in the works, but if you’re local and curious about writing workshops here’s what's coming up for 2024:
To register or for more information, just shoot an email to rainesillito@gmail.com