Healing through Creativity
As we move into a new year and leave the present one behind, I wanted to share a project I recently led that helped a courageous and creative group of people process the difficulties brought on by this year while looking to their futures with hope.
Singing Our Stories was a month-long self exploration through song, sponsored by the University of Maine’s Jack Pine Project. Participants used song choice and lyric discussion to choose music that represented their identities, and then write lyrics to create original songs that described their dreams and goals.
Each week included assignments like making a playlist of songs that represented how participants felt during the year and journaling as they listen to them to help guide the process of songwriting, and a drop-in weekly Google Meet for reflection and discussion.
The group was a mixture of people who had never picked up an instrument to professional musicians who wanted some motivation to get re-started in a new way. Each person needed a different kind of support.
One participant said they hadn't written music in almost 25 years, and the program helped them reconnect to their musical self. Another said they learned how to focus an emotional experience into a musical style, while some said they felt less alone after the program.
In guiding the group, I tried to help people let go of the need for perfection and “getting it right” to allow for space in creativity and flow. I started by recording a guided musical meditation to help people get started, which you can listen to here.
“I could keep ‘perfecting’ it ad nauseum,” one participant wrote of his song. “Instead, I am being vulnerable and sharing it unfinished, too dramatic at times, a little slow in tempo, and altogether quite imperfect. Yet the process was powerful for me and re-awakened some parts of me that have been quiet for a couple of decades.”
Although I wish the workshop had been a bit longer, since four weeks is fast for writing and recording a new song, the results took my breath away. You can listen to and read the lyrics of some of the songs we created, including one of my own that came to me in a dream, here.
Are you interested in participating in something similar or do you belong to a group or organization that would like this type of workshop? Contact me here for a consultation.
And stay tuned for more info on our upcoming Expressive Wellness groups: Courageous Beginnings virtual retreat on Feb. 27, Creative Tools clinical training March 13; and a 6 week Creative Practices series starting in April.