2 weeks ago I attended a 3 day workshop run by Pip, Tony and Jo (who assisted with great care) at Pilgrim Projects in Landbeach. The workshop was funded by NHS England with he view to it’s participants creating a digital story.
Day 1; started with a story circle where after our introductions we briefly outlined our stories after which we spent time writing our scripts. Although I attended the workshop with he intention of documenting my difficulties at dealing with childlessness I did struggled to make this relevant to my work as a manager in the NHS. It was hard to let go of the story I have told in my book and to tell the story in a different voice, from a different angle. I must also mention the lunch which was great, we were definitely spoilt!
Day 2; I had a revelation!!! The difficulties I encountered over the past year trying to manage my team whilst dealing with my grief started to unfold. and my script came to life. It was funny how I didn’t make the connection before, it was almost like there were 2 me’s; 1 that was grieving and 1 that was trying to hold it together at work and the 2 were separated. Once I connected them back together I started to see the whole me. Pip, Tony and Jo were integral part of this process. They facilitated the development of our stories with such care, compassion and insight it was such a pleasure to watch them at work. We indulged in another great lunch and spent the evening around the kitchen table sharing Indian take-out, wine and lots of laughter. Yes we were spoilt!
Day 3; after recording our stories we spent the morning adding our pictures, choosing our music and finalising our work. After yet another fabulous lunch (I should have weighed myself at the start of this) we sat down to the premier viewing of our stories. What an emotional moment. When we started we found it hard to see how we could develop our stories, at the end we proudly sat watching, with tears in our eyes, what we had accomplished.
During the 3 days I spoke to Pip and Tony about Jody and Gateway Women. They expressed an interest in working with anyone from the GW community who would like to produce a digital story of their own. It doesn’t have to be work related and it can just be for you (remaining unpublished). I have meet a Gateway Woman who has done this for herself and writing my book I, and the other participants, found it a wonderfully healing process that gave us a voice that we never had before. My digital story has also given my voice another dimension and platform to be heard. I would encourage you all to do it if you can and for anyone who is interested please let me know and I’ll speak to Pip and Tony to see what can be arranged. They would love to hear from you.
Please let me know if you’ve done something like this before and how you found the experience and please let me know if you’d like to take part in a digital storytelling workshop in the future. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
For now I’d like to leave you with my digital story… (click here)
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