Second workshop day, working with a small group from Hope.
Bertie and I arrived early to light the campfire and heat the water to fill the urns for tea. I checked the route and hung up all the arrows, making sure they were all pointing in the right direction!
I greeted the young people (all late teens/early twenties) in the car park. They arrived very promptly and we walked down to the site. I decided that this time I would try them all starting the walk at the same time, rather than staggering it. I asked them to just respect other peoples space and go at their own pace. They seemed happy with this plan.
Things that worked:
- I was so pleased with how today went. It could hardly have gone better really. Everyone was so up for it, so open to it and really gave it their all. The sharing circle was very powerful and almost all of us shed healing tears at various points. Everyone shared generously about their experiences and the stories behind the grief they were carrying. I felt incredibly honoured to be there holding the space for these brave, wise and inspiring young people. After I sang a song accompanied by the shruti box (one of the songs that feature in the audio), we held hands in a circle around the embers of the fire. The sun had just set and the sky was turning pink. We could hear owls in the trees. We connected as fellow humans who had all been through a shared experience and as a result felt like we understood and felt each other. I will never forget today.
- The people from Hope gave some glowing feedback which made me feel like this whole project has been worthwhile. It also made me want to arrange many more group walks.
Things that need improvement for next time:
- One person had trouble playing the track as it paused a few times. I wondered whether for future walks, it would be possible to get hold of a load of old mp3 players and good quality headphones. That way, no-one would have to rely on downloading the track and using their phones. I am going to look into contacting DJs to see if any will donate their old headphones and will check out Freecycle/Gumtree/put some adverts out to gather some mp3 players. I think that if I had this equipment then I could so easily take Walk With Me on tour and to festivals...
