Arts and Minds - P4MH - 3.27.21 - Presentation

#Poetry4MentalHealth
Poetry For Mental Health:
This New Morning...

YOUR FACILITATOR: 1990s Chris
1990s Chris (he/him) is a queer
working class poet and writer,
from Hereford, England,
specialising in film and audio. He
has performed at the Royal Albert
Hall, and the Eden Project as well
as writing for BBC sounds, and
Channel 4 Random Acts. His work
hopes to start discussion around
masculinity, class, queer identity
and mental health.
IG & Twitter: @1990schris

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
○ Campus workshops
○ Monthly short film competition
○ Short film production grants
○ Global community

HERE’S THE PLAN
1. Define our terms
2. Practice a way of expressing ourselves:
Immerse - Explore - Express
3. Share
4. Evaluation

HEADS UP
● Mental health is personal – YOU are the expert on
your own experience
● Talking about our mental health can be intensely
personal.
● We are online - this is a public, shared space
● We are recording this session for internal training
and evaluation purposes
● Please take care of yourself however you need,
including asking for help.

NEED SUPPORT?
Access mental health support throughout this workshop.
Click Shared Notes
To link to online
resources
Private Chat mental health pros.
They are at the top and have * next
to their names
#1 #2

3 WAYS TO ENGAGE
We welcome your participation
CHAT BOX: Use the
Public Chat to connect
with the whole group
#1

POLL: respond
to a Poll when
prompted
#2
Set Your Status by
clicking on your name
and selecting from
the drop-down menu
#3
3 WAYS TO ENGAGE
We welcome your participation

If you need tech
support, ask…
Look for the person whose name begins with
AWI Support and Private Chat them with any issues.

Who’s here today?
In the chat, feel free to
introduce yourself and tell us
what you do.

#Movies4MentalHealth
A Newfoundland
Somewhere else in
Canada
Another country - Specify
in the chat!
POLL: Where in the world are you?
C
B

HOW ARE YOU, REALLY?
I am glad to be here and have company this morning
Not very adept at chat tech!!
curious
excited, intrigued
Interested, curious
Feeling good and glad to be a part of this
happy to be participating on such a beautiful morning
technology amps up the nervous system
excited
glad to be here
Grateful to be in the room!
Intriqued
Newly familiar !!

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE
DISCUSSING MENTAL HEALTH?
None
Unfamiliar
Familiar
Very Familiar
Expert
A
B
C
D
E

Mental illness
Mental wellness

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE
WITH WRITING POETRY?
A None
I mean, a little in school, maybe?
I’ve written a bit here and there...
I write poetry all the time!
C
B
D

POETRY
For this workshop we’ll define
poetry as a condensed
expression of your thoughts or
feelings
Anything you put to paper with
intention can be poetry

Share as many words that you can think of
that you associate with the idea of ‘HOPE’
Horizon
freedom
laughter
laughter
walking
Hugs
Positivity
breath excitement
One day at a time
kindness
courage
meditation, human connection
CONNECTION WITH OTHERS <3
Vulnerability
writing poetry
In the moment

The Blessing of the Morning Light
BY DAVID WHYTE
Immerse

WHAT DOES IT MEAN, TO YOU?
Explore
beautiful self expressin
Your darkness can be your
strength
extending love to others
Trust in yourself
i am embraced
from something
new start. a new day. HOPE. a
chance to start new and fresh
to see what is hidden in you
Self love

IMMERSE, EXPLORE, EXPRESS
We will immerse ourselves in 2 short films
from our OLIVE Film Collection.
We will explore the themes brought up in the
films through interactive discussion.
We’ll express our thoughts and feelings
through writing exercises to create poetry
as a response.

Round 1

CHAINED
Immerse
Content heads up: Post Traumatic Stress, Veteran

deeply sorrowful
reminds me of what my therapist
said recently: go slow to go fast
breathe and look around
The panic and frustration in this
video made me very sad for the
individual
It’s so hard though to go from one
step to the other where you cool
off to actually think
A PIVOTAL MOMENT -- inspired
to overcome obstacles and look
at perceived blocks from a new
perspective in order to keep
moving forward
Immerse
when struggle and suffering its so
hard to see your options.
we are in a whole envirnment that
can be used
to look
but hope and resiliency are
possible
Very moved/seeing how my alive
mind says feelings are real.....
surrender
Yes the options did not seem
obvious but yes wider
yes surrender!

DISCUSSION
Hope can be difficult to hold on to, to keep
sight of, and through life we are often
tested.
Explore

Explore
What can stand between us and hope?
Inner critic
Tunnel vision
Fear, and the familiarity of negative feelings
self defeating thoughts
Fear
panic. our own battle and struggles with our
minds
Internal negative voice
who we hang out with
hidden solutions fear, believing you don't
have the solution
our internal struggles
or could even find it or know what it looks like
Multiple failures

Take a breath.
Immerse

FREE WRITE
“Reaching the unreachable...”
Express

WRITING DEBRIEF
How did that feel?
Did you write anything that
surprised you?
Express

FIND THE SCULPTURE
Immerse

Let’s share!
Immerse

Explore
when the world seems ray. how do
you fight when you have nothing to
say. how do you ermerge when all
you want to do is hide when you are
fariad its time t go to walk away from
gray. in the hardness of white fullin
sight, deciing to stay
peace and Nature
bonded with nature/binding with
self/trapped in a lockdown/despite
reasonable stealth/deep in my mibs
eye/i resist the climb/cemented in
exile/i merely decline
I am as worthy and purposeful as
the trees & stars. We are creative
beings, there is an answer with a
beginner's mind.
the door is dark. I can see light
through the keyhole and at the
space where the door meets the
floor.
It was dark. I felt trapped. Despair
was all I could see. Exhaustion set in.
I will get dirty to find you on my own.
Stay there long enough, wait for me

Explore
The tree wears the scar, though the
man feels it's pain. Branches and soil.
Austere solidarity turns to unbounded
freedom with a key
the rush of anxiety, the feeling of fear,
the tightness in your chest, the
hyperventilation. the big question of
will i ever reach it? you can taste it, feel
it, almost see it, but youre not close
enough yet to fully reach it. some days
it feels like you may never rwach it. but i
know you can, and you will, picture it,
imagine it, mainfest that sh8it. keep
doing you. show up for you. be there
for you. no one else can reach it for
you. but also recognize and show up
for those who have helped you along
the way
beneath my fears, deep inside down
where all the confidence resides
i search past fear self doubt and
anger to my love of me that inner
strength to set me free - no chains can
hold me i am surrounded by love the
earth the trees and my community
Lost! Lost in a desert! Walking and
walking but still nothing to see on the
horizon
Where I wish to be is far from where I
stand, but where I stand, I cannot stay.
Hope is audacious and sets me free.

Round 2

LITTLE ELIZABETH
BY Elizabeth Ayiku
Immerse
Content heads up: Discussion of Trauma and Childhood Sexual Assault

Immerse
feeling empowered
how far away is our little guy or gals
very moving, powerful. gave me chills.
making peace with myself and
setting myself free from anger and
demons of another age
moved by her strength

DISCUSSION
In our lives we’ve all grown and overcome
a lot of adversity
Explore

Explore
What are some important messages you’ve
needed to give yourself in order to grow?
That I need to not hide from my
uncomfortable thoughts. I need to sit with
them, analyse them so they don't have so
much power over me.
The things we see as my biggest
weaknesses can be my biggest strengths
allowing myself to be vulnerable
feelings are ok. feel them when you can.
and sometimes they are overwhelming
and thats ok too.
Reminding myself to not compare myself
to others
Persevere
The fact you know it and hear it as a
negative voice recognizing it is not
the totality of you.
recognize those negative thoughts
and understand that most of the
time they arent always true
once you let it completely go, one
does not need to visit it so often,
and when you do visit again it is not
as hard
I don't have to stay stuck in my pain.
Healing takes time and the small
steps are to be celebrated

Take a breath.

FREE WRITE
“A Love Letter
To A Younger You”
Express

WRITING DEBRIEF
How did that feel?
Did you write anything that
surprised you?

FIND THE SCULPTURE
“A Love Letter
To A Younger You”
Express

Let’s share!

Immerse
If i were able now just to be/allof the
Littles/as one perfect Me
I long to transcend my darkness and
become one with myself
I have transcended to become one with
myself in the darkness
be raw, be vulnerable, be seen, be honest;
scab, heal; release, cry; be seen , be honest,
love, be loved
Be you - stay in your lane - looking around
has little to gain - the genuine you is all you
need comparing to 'them' will reduce your
speed - you have super powers of love
empathy and connectivity - harness that
know that cherish that and share all of that
as you drive calm and steady along your
journey
Patience, the invisible substance
that weaves your time here is a
healing. Unfold it as you would a
precious gift.
Trust your gut! Take all the parental
advices but live your own life and
make your own decisions! Dont be
scared, people will love you for who
you are, so give as much as you can
and dont hold back
It's not your fault. Forgive them. This
is where your strength and
discernment stems. You are young
curious and learning. Be grateful for
your guilt and shame but do not
ruminate. Celebrate your resilience.
Forgive yourself.
“A Love Letter to a Younger You”

Immerse
you still make me laugh
and feel happy in the mornings.
Work hard and move on.
You hold the keys to lots of
doors
You opened so many
(and frankly closed as many).
Thank you.
I am glad that I grew from you
to be me now.
I love you,

Immerse
you didnt need someone else to show you love or
happiness. you had it in you all along. you just
couldnt see it or believe through the ;lense in twhich
you were looking. so many times you knew what you
needed to do. your heart and your gut were tellong
you what you needd, you just needed to trust them .
you neeeded to focus on YOU. love YOU.
appreciate YOU. show up for YOU. trust and be kind
to YOU. you are strong, kind, and beautiful.
sometimes it takes losing someone in order to be
reminded of that

i. Something from nature you love
ii. A type of weather you love
iii. A day of the year you love
iv. Your favourite food or drink
Explore
A HOPEFUL LIST

FREELY &
DELIBERATELY
Your mission statement
“This New Morning...”
Express

With every age all parts of me/greets each
day innocently/will take my tea/will feel the
hope/with gratitude/so gratefully
---
This new morning I am
A wave - come from
Deep, in the depths of the ocean
To the surface, to you.
I am but one of infinite
Waves, my time is brief
and transient and yet I am
the most beautiful wave.
Immerse
On this new morning I will walk with
all the winds on this Island and duck
and curl up and let the rain and the
storms of the beautiful day in May
be mine. I will return from that very
very long walk seems years now, and
come home and dry off, comb my
hair, and roast a chicken in the
oven.
On the first day of school
I see the flowers bloom
I smell the night's rain
I am as sweet as a fig
“This New Morning”

THIS NEW MORNGNG; I NNOW THE HEATW
ILL COME, I HOPE THE SUN WILL WARM, I'LL
FIND THE SHDE, I'LL EJOY THE PECH, I'LL
SHARE THE SAHDE, I'LL SHARE THE PEACH,
THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, AS THE CHILL
TURNS INTO WARMTH
On this new morning I am excited and
curious about what to forgive, what to love,
what to surrender, what to move toward,
what to move away from and what to deeply
give thanks to
This new morning is an unfurling spiral
bonded to the immovable substance of
home
Immerse
This new morning... the smell of last
night's rainfall still lingers in the air.
the sound of the birds chirping as
they welcome the new morning. the
bright yellow sun pushing through
the clouds, making way for the
brand new day. the heat from my
fresh brewed cup of coffee that
warms my hands which are wrapped
around my mug. i sit on the deck
and let the blue sky and warm sun
radiate the positive vibes within me.

This new morning is warm and still with the
promise of a glorious day. The ocean is flat
and serene on this summer solstice. The dew
enhances the colours of newly planted
flowers and my coffee aroma lingers in the
heavy morning air.
It's a beautiful new spring morning after the
rain as I sip on my coffee. I slip on my rain
boots and jacket to take a walk amidst the
majestic trees. I breathe in their healthful
new bud aerosol. The morning is still but
buzzing with life - birds are chirping and the
ground swells with new growth. A place of
renewal, birth, clean and fresh - influencing
my mindset of hope and new beginnings. A
new day with infinite possibilities. Quietly
revelling in the wonder of nature and my
connection with it all.
Immerse
This new morning my mind is at
peace - i can hear the soft calming
trickle of falling water my breath is
calm, reassured like a fresh crisp
autumn day under beautiful blue
skies - im filled with hope and
endless possibility i will do what i
can today and will pour that glass of
champagne and celebrate me and
this life

This new morning I will rise from my sleep
with the sun of summer solstice, taking the
richness of the darkness into the length of
the day. The smell of balsam and
wintergreen fills the air, moist from a warm
morning rain. It fills my lungs and nurtures
my soul like a warm bowl of soup.
Breathing out me into the morning light.
this new morning I saw a maple leaf, which
reminds me of how much I’ve missed
home, Toronto, home of the Toronto
Raptors, my favorite team. Toronto, where
summer time is the most enjoyable and
you can enjoy some amazing wine from
Niagara. God do i miss home!
Immerse
This new morning allows me to stop
& smell the flowers...The glorious
smell of lavender & lilac ...Enjoying
the fresh rain as it soaks the earth &
brings to life the beautiful colours of
spring...Returning hope to me who
witness' its beauty.
Walking the ocean side trail I break
on this new morning. Salt in the air
and a trickling stream. This new
morning by the breaking waves
fresh blueberries nourish. Morning
sun and coffee warm both skin and
soul. I walk on again more generous
than all the days that came before.

You can take this process
forward…
Immerse
Explore
Express

Please fill out the evaluation!
@artwithimpact
info@artwithimpact.org
You can enter for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card!
Evaluation responses will remain separate and anonymous.

Stay in touch!
...and don’t forget to copy/paste the
resources in the Shared Notes!
@artwithimpact
info@artwithimpact.org

Arts and Minds - P4MH - 3.27.21 - Presentation

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Arts and Minds - P4MH - 3.27.21 - Presentation