Wish. Wonder. Wander.
( Guest Post by Sakshi Singh)
Wish. Wonder. Wander.
New Year. New Notes.
The year started on a good note when I enrolled myself for an
online course in Writing as therapy – something that intrigued me and made me
want to explore and learn more about the healing aspects of writing.
As I was finishing the course, I realized I hadn’t had enough
and I wanted to go deeper and that’s when I asked my teacher Victoria Field if
there was something more advance I could pursue or come to UK for and she
suggested the “Writing for health and well being program” a residential retreat
in November.
I wasn’t sure if I could make it as it was in the middle of the
year and with writing and teaching commitments it is never easy to take a break
but then the interest and curiosity was too strong and I wasn’t sure if I was
able to take this course again ( I got to know after I finished that this was
the last one they had been doing this for 10 years lucky for me! ) and as luck
would have it with the support of my family and colleagues I was off to Wales
in November.
After a 10 hour long flight and two train changes I arrived in
one of the most beautiful coastal towns I have ever seen Criccieth in North
Wales. At first it was a big story to tell how remote this place was and how it
took me 7 hours by train from London to Criccieth but as the course began soon
it was clear why this remote setting was the choice of location for this
course. The nature of the course demanded that you withdrew from the mundane
and the demands of your daily life in order to absorb this new guidance.
We were literally in wilderness at The Tynewydd writing center –
earlier it used to be the house of Prime Minister George Loydd. A real
architectural marvel it was!
As you walked down the drive way, there was a river and by
the river there was the only school in Criccieth called Ysgol, Llanstumsdwy
where I also had a chance to do a poetry reading of my books Jalebi Jingles and
Rat-a-tat poems with children who spoke and understood English and Welsh – a
truly novel and memorable experience for them and me.
Immersive. Inventive. Inspiring.
Our course was short but immersive, deep and healing focusing
mainly on the therapeutic benefits of writing and how it can be used to enhance
once’s well being rather than the creative out put and critically evaluating
the quality of writing. Our teachers in a small intimate setting showed us how
we can use writing as a tool to work with people across various settings, be it
in hospitals, prisons and with various conditions from depression to dementia
amongst others.
I had been exploring writing as a healing tool for quite some
time now personally and I found it highly beneficial processing difficult
emotions and challenging situations through writing – this is what lead me to
the course and I wanted to now enable myself to work with others and share this
gift of writing as a tool to enhance their health and well being.
The year began with a lot of yearning and learning to do
something new and it ended too with a lot of new ideas and inspiration.
I hope the New year brings a lot of ideas and inspiration to
you.
Sakshi Singh
(Sakshi Singh has penned two poetry books for children- Rat a Tat and Jalebi Jingles. She lives in Mumbai.)
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