"Reflections" poem by Henry Bobotek
Large paper
Painters tape
markers
First we read the poem "Reflections" which is a poem based on the author's "preferences" (some lines include "I prefer tea I prefer myself when I listen, I prefer paperbacks") During the 2nd reading, we asked the group to write 10 of their own preferences on the paper The point of this was to get everyone to start thinking about what they like, what makes them them - without too much discussion
Then we hung up a large piece of paper for each person on the wall around the room, and did a rough outline of their head and shoulders. Once those were up, we gave everyone some markers and asked them to very quickly go around the room and write something that they value about the person on their paper. For example - on my paper, the rest of the group wrote "Important person" "outspoken" and some other things on the outside of the outline (leaving the inside of the head and shoulders blank for now). We purposely only gave them about 30 seconds per person.
After that, each person faced their own paper and responded to the prompts. Prompts included:
My body helps me be connected to my truest self when it has________________________
What do I do for fun and silliness that makes me laugh outloud?
I share my joy with_________________________
I could live without _______________________ but not for very long
Without ____________________I lose myself
When I feel most connected to something larger than myself I am ____________________________
Right now my body needs ____________________________
My 5 minimum daily requirements are_________________________________________
After that, we asked each person to sit and look at what they had written, and reflect. We sat in silence for a few minutes doing that, and then processed.
Themes that came up:
That it was hard not knowing who wrote what on the outside
Difficulty focusing on self, rather than others - what it is that we really need, separate from others