Lapidus News

Therapeutic Writing with the Five Senses

 Saturday, July 11th, 11.00am – 12.30pm

THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. PLEASE GET IN TOUCH IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE PUT ON THE WAITING LIST.

Our awareness seems to have been heightened in recent months and a hyper-sensitivity to our encounter with our environment has been described by many. 

As we seek to hold a fragile balance in uncertain times, the use of our five senses may be significant and supportive. This online workshop is designed to for enjoyment, using verbal expression and writing as we focus on our interaction with the world and explore our emotions in relation to our sensory experiences.

*Look up*

A few years ago, on a trip to London, I met a woman named Clare. She runs a project called Urban Curiosity. We ordered lattes and deliciously buttery breakfast treats, and I asked her, “What’s this project all about?”

It’s pretty simple. Mainly, she leads people on walking tours throughout the city of London. People wander through different neighborhoods, and through beautiful green parks, noticing the trees, noticing the sky, the clouds, the pets, the people. The only rule is that you have to put away your phone. No photos. No videos. No texting. Just walk.

“I want to inspire people to look up, not down,” Clare told me.

I remember feeling a rush of energy in my body, almost like my skin was tingling, when Clare said those words. I remember thinking, “Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes.”

I watched a short film about a man who set up a high-powered telescope on a random sidewalk in Los Angeles and invited strangers to peek inside and look at the moon. It’s incredible how each person—all ages, all kinds of people—react in the same way. “Oh my god. Wow. Just…oh my God.” The filmmaker concludes this tiny, 3-minute film by saying:

“We should look up more often.”

Imagine if we looked up into the sky, and into people’s eyes, as often as we look down at our phones. Imagine the difference it would make. We would all walk around shimmering, awestruck, grateful, just one big collective WOW.

At least once a week, I have one of those weary, frazzled moments when my to-do list feels never-ending…when my inbox feels frighteningly full…when the quarterly reports come in and the book sales aren’t as high as I thought they would be…when I feel very small and very insignificant. Those are the moments when I feel tempted to dive into a digital device to escape and numb out. Instead, next time, I will try to remind myself:

“Look up.”

The answer I’m seeking is not down on my laptop screen, or my phone. It’s up. It’s out there. It’s above and beyond. In the trees, the sky, and the stars.

The Lapidus International Research and Innovation Community Journal is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal.

Our aim is to foster debate that can support the growing acknowledgement of the written and spoken word in supporting mental and physical health and wellbeing.

We publish articles, essays and reviews by academics, writers and clinical and cultural practitioners from diverse perspectives who use writing in any number of different contexts to this effect.

With the start if this new month, we are happy to announce our plans to change Lapidus International's name to a new, improved name: Writey Alrighty.

"We think it's a really cool name," says the chair of Lapidus, Barbara Bloomfield. "It really says what we believe in: that if you write, you'll feel alright." 

An inaugural meeting to gauge interest in Brisbane recently resulted in a commitment to form a group currently known as Lapidus Australia. It’s early days for us, with our next meeting to consolidate our plans to be held on 19 March 2020. 

Make self-care a priority in your practice. Come to Shropshire for a little magic over three days in a luxurious country house and have the chance to experience the delights of Deborah Alma’s new shop and centre, the Poetry Pharmacy.

A two-year study into words for wellbeing has concluded that practitioners need new structures for training and supervision in order to work with vulnerable people. The study, commissioned by Lapidus International, suggests that training opportunities are needed in the areas of safety, safeguarding and supervision.

The report, written by Prof. Tony Wall of Chester University and Richard Axtell from Lapidus, argues that ‘transition spaces’ should be created to educate and raise awareness and reflection among practitioners. Prof. Wall said at the launch today (Saturday, 18th January): “There are gaps in knowledge that can be filled in a positive and gradual way. We can put structures in place such as CPD, supervision and recognition of skills and all this will build credibility among leaders of creative groups.”

Every month we have a chat with a Lapidus member, and get them to share their words and wellness journey. First up, it’s Pam Blamey.

Tell us about yourself:

I’m a British Colonial Empire girl by birth but not by political persuasion. My father was a New Zealander, my mother was born in Kenya to British parents. I migrated from Kenya to South Africa as a teen and then to Australia with my husband and children in 1981 to escape apartheid. We settled in Brisbane and when my children went to university I did too. I studied Social Science, where I was introduced to Joseph Campbell and Carl Gustav Jung, and later did a Masters in Art Therapy. Before that I had been a nurse and a teacher of English as a second language. At some point my childhood love of fairy tales was re-ignited into a full-blown passion when I read an anthology of tales with a Jungian commentary and I knew I had found my vocation. 

Wellbeing practice through the arts is growing across the world but how many black and brown faces do you see at conferences, at universities and in your sessions? Which poems or writing would attract 'Others'? Why do dementia choirs sing western classics and not reggae?

For those born abroad, and for those with a cultural spectrum encompassing more than Europe, words for wellbeing could connect deeply. I would love to see people from every background represented in our work - especially those who are might not normal seek therapeutic help or who receive inadequate or discriminatory service-provision. I'd like to remind everyone using any kind of art in health practice that the world is an open channel for connection. We just have to tune in our dial to match new frequencies, if we want to welcome everyone in our community to join us. 

Take a moment to be kind. Be kind to yourself, or to someone else. Write a positive affirmation in your journal. Hug a kitten. Tell someone how great they are. Why not all three?

Then once you've finished doing that, head on over to our store page and download our completely free e-book: A Moment of Kindness.

This month's newsletter has been a bit of an adventure - madness with Mailchimp causing malicious malfunctions! On top of that, our chair's introduction got lost somewhere in the technological ether. Here is the introduction for you all to read so you don't miss out and we should be back up and running smoothly by next month. Enjoy! - Richard 

 As someone who is fairly new to this world of words for wellbeing, I was nervous, as well as excited, to be attending the Creative Bridges conference in Bristol this summer. So I appreciated it when the event opened with a reminder from the organisers to look after ourselves.

The emphasis on self-care continued in the opening session, on ‘Finding oneself in a different form’, run by Claire Williamson of Metanoia. In fact I was constantly reminded throughout the weekend of the importance of taking care of ourselves in order to help others – and also reminded that this is not just about setting boundaries and taking baths, but also acknowledging our pain.

Did you know that the Lapidus International Research Innovation Community (LIRIC) Journal is open for submissions until the 31st December 2019?

What is the LIRIC Journal?

The LIRIC journal provides an interdisciplinary space to extend and develop scholarship that explores the relationship of creative writing to health and well-being. Our aim is foster debate that can support the growing acknowledgement of the role of the written and spoken word in supporting mental and physical health and wellbeing.

The more eagle-eyed of you may have noticed that our website has been going through a few updates recently. The biggest change is the introduction of our new resources page - a link can be found to it in the menu bar at the top of the website.

We hope that with the introduction of this page, it will make finding things on our website a little bit simpler. 

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day 2019. Our outreach coordinator, Francesca, asked members to submit ideas/recommendations/creative prompts around mental health. Below is a round-up of what was provided!

Today is National Poetry Day and a few members of the Lapidus team wanted to share with you poems that mean something to them.

Facilitator: Dimitra Didangelou, Psychologist, MSc, Specialist in Therapeutic Writing

A monthly Lapidus group for the first time in Athens.
The meetings will be guided by psychologist Dimitra Didangelou and are open all year round for new members.