 |
 Healing Words
As a writer, foster parent and TLA practitioner, I believe in the power of words to heal. If you are reading this then you, too, believe. You are a writer and/or a reader and are already using words to heal whether you realize it or not. You write your thoughts and feelings on the page and you are not the same person you were when you began the writing-you have learned something you didn't know before. It may be subtle or epiphanic but a change will have occurred. Try it, right now. Write the first thought that pops into your head no matter how silly or serious. Did you even know that thought was in your head? Keep writing. You now have the beginnings of a poem or story. When you write you never know who your words may touch in some healing way. Several years ago I wrote what I thought was a silly little poem-something about living in days gone by like Long John Silver and Captain Bligh and drinking rum and walking the plank. I posted the poem on a writer's website I frequented at the time, months went by and one day I received an e-mail from someone in Colorado who wanted permission to read my poem at her friend's funeral. She said my poem reminded her of her friend and how he had lived. So you never know how your words will touch someone. TLA is used in various social settings to promote change, especially with the oppressed. From writing workshops where the elderly tell their stories to theater with at-risk youth, TLA is making a difference in the lives of many disenfranchised individuals-it is giving a voice to the voiceless. I use writing to help the foster children in my home develop a positive sense of self, to discover that they are much more than a label, a "foster child." It is my goal to implement writing workshops for foster children, particularly adolescents and teens, in my area with the hope it will help these traumatized children heal. TLA not only promotes emotional and mental well-being, but physical healing as well. Many hospitals now incorporate an arts in medicine program as a healing tool. Some have an artist-in-residence who works with the patients alongside the doctor. At Shands Teaching Hospital in Florida the doctor/patient relationship is more compassionate and empathetic because they practice arts in medicine. Third year medical students have writing sessions where they write their fears and concerns and create poetry from them, which relieves stress and leads to further understanding of the self. Using words to heal is not a new concept, it is as old as time. Oral storytelling was and still is in some cultures a way of passing down our stories through the generations. If you are interested in learning more about Transformative Language Arts visit the TLA Network at www.tlanetwork.org where, for the price of membership you will receive the first book ever written on TLA The Power of Words: A Transformative Language Arts Reader or you can purchase the book separately. So write a poem, share your story, give someone or yourself a journal or diary but most importantly, give the gift of words-healing words-this holiday season. And have a blessed New Year! Books I recommend:
Websites to check out*:
*these are just a few of the many helpful websites for writers Karen Heywood is a poet, playwright, and award-winning essayist living her dreams in Mid-Missouri. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Stephens College in Columbia, MO.with a BFA in Creative Writing in May 2007 at the age of 50. Karen currently teaches freshman English Comp at Stephens, but asks that you not hold that against her…she really is a nice person! |
|
|||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
  |
Poetry
Therapy. Arts in Medicine. Journaling to the Self. Poetry in
Dance. Storytelling. Painting. Theater of the Oppressed. Narrative
Medicine. Writing to Heal. Transformative Language Arts encompasses
all of these, and more. It is the social and personal transformation
through the written, spoken and sung word. As founder of the
Transformative Language Arts program at Goddard College in Vermont,
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg writes "[TLA is]…changing the
world, one word, one story, one performance, workshop, or coaching
session at a time."
From The Attic
Truly Calhoun
Cheshire Cat
Songs of