Poetry and Presence (6-week course)

"Surrender is a lovely word to sing,
just let it ring. It brings I know not what -
a special something, yes, what is that thing
which rings and sings and as yet still is not?"

This autumn, you are warmly invited to join a six week exploration of Poetry and Presence.

We will be listening for the ways that poetry can bless and nourish us in the unfoldings of our lives.

Each session will combine practices of relational mindfulness (relatefulness) with adventures in the reading and writing of poetry. We will explore new possibilities for how we relate to language, to ourselves and to each other.

Perhaps our time together will inspire you to find fresh words for expressing love and appreciation to someone in your life (perhaps even, to yourself). Perhaps too you will be moved to write a poem from the perspective of someone you have been in conflict with. As the course unfolds, you may find writing that you do for work enriched by new streams of imagination and creativity.

Registration: https://www.relateful.com/offers/ihYwxSvY

⪡ Logistics ⪢
The course will run online, for 6 x 2 hour sessions, taking place on Tuesdays.
• The course will start on Tuesday 24 September, and run weekly through to Tuesday 29 October.
• The sessions will take place at 12-2pm US Central Time* (6-8pm UK time, 7-9pm Central European Time)
• Group size is capped at 12.
• There will be suggestions for optional writing activities to do between sessions.
• The investment for the course is $200.

The group is open to all, regardless of your prior experience with either relational mindfulness (relatefulness) or with the reading and writing of poetry.

The typical activities in a session will include:
• Pair and group exercises for bringing awareness, acceptance and creativity into your connections with other people.
• Opportunities to listen to, and explore your responses to, carefully chosen poems.
• Invitations to play with writing and speaking your own words, phrases and poems, and exploring how your creativity can enhance your relationships.
• Experiments in spontaneously creating poems together, with an invitation to see all relationships as poetic co-creations.

Some of the topics covered in the course will include:
• Poetry as self-discovery. Being surprised by the words that you write and say, even as you are describing your own moment-to-moment experiences. What are the new forms of life unfolding in us? How do they want to speak?
• Poetry as self-compassion. Using poetry as a doorway to understanding and befriending our inner worlds. How might we love the mysteries that we are?
• Poetry as connection. Getting to know each other through reflecting on how we are moved and inspired by poetry. What are our favourite poems and lines of poetry? What do they touch in us?
• Poetry as perspective-taking: Expanding our orientations by writing poetry from the perspectives of other people (especially people we might be in conflict with). What does the world look like to them? How might they express themselves?

What people are saying about previous sessions:

“Humble, brilliant, and wildly creative, Will invites us to sit together in the unknowing, and to wonder together. The spaces between his sentences are as imbued with presence and transmission as his words. His Poetry and Presence sessions are innovative, delightful and soul-expanding.” - Valerie

“I love being in the spaces that Will creates and inhabits, where it feels like anything is possible. I have a deep and growing trust in Will’s loving intention as a human and a facilitator. I remember coming out of Will’s sessions feeling amazing, alive and transformed!” - Christine

⪡ About the facilitator ⪢

Will Jefferson is a philosopher, a facilitator and a lover of poetry. He leads Relational Mindfulness (Relatefulness) with The Relateful Company, and offers 1:1 sessions to individuals to develop their skills in mindfulness, communication and creativity. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and wrote his dissertation on the moral significance of empathy. His love for poetry was ignited during a month walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route, in which he spent his evenings reading and memorising the 40 poems that friends had given him for the journey. He has a particular love for writing Shakespearean sonnets, one of which can be found below.

If you need more information reach out to info@relateful.com

"Surrender is a lovely word to sing,
just let it ring. It brings I know not what -
a special something, yes, what is that thing
which rings and sings and as yet still is not?
Is it a river that can heal old pain,
a place to disappear and re-emerge
with happy news of being born again,
invigorated by the bracing surge?
Perhaps, and yet I find myself unsure,
as I remain upon the shore unfound,
if I am ready for this evermore
to carry me from my familiar ground.
I want an answer - I am listening.
Surrender is a lovely word to sing. "

*Note that the last session, on 29 October, will be at 11am-1pm US Central Time due to daylight saving time changes happening in Europe a week before they happen in the US. For Europe-based participants, the time will not change for that week.