Saturday 6 July 2013

Find Your voice ~ week 2 x

Good morning and welcome to another post from the fabulous class I am taking with Kristin and lots of very inspirational women, if there are any men I haven't seen them as yet but I apologise if there are. Anyway this week's prompt was rather tough, not in that it was tough to do but it basically made me feel very vulnerable and emotional, in my world that is a daily occurrence but this made it even more so.

this is my front cover of my class folder.

Lesson Two is all about you and who you are. For me that is a rather dodgy subject because looking hard at myself brings out all my angst and my negative stuff. But I bravely went into the worksheet fully committed to completing the homework well. Kristin has put so much hard work into this class and the worksheets are incredibly detailed. One of the things I loved this week was this beautiful quote.............

''Who are we if not the stories we pass down? What happens when there's no one left to tell those stories? To hear them? Who will ever know that you existed? What if we are the only ones left - who will know our stories then? Who will remember those?''
Carrie Ryan ''The Forest of Hands and Teeth''

This resonated so much because it essentially why I became a blogger and a scrapbooker ( and if you come back tomorrow I will explain why).


these are my title pages x


Anyway one of the activities we had to complete was the basic facts about us, easy peasy lemon squeezy. Then we were asked to extrapolate those facts with a story. So I chose to write about my age and my name.


the quote card is by Elise Cripe



Then the homework got much harder. This was the part where I had to lay my heart on my sleeve and battle those inner voices telling me I wasn't good enough or that I couldn't do it. But hey I did, so there inner voices.


So I am going to be very brave here and share some of my responses.................

5. What are your flaws? Own them...........

I am emotional, I cry easily and this is seen as weakness, especially in my family where often crying is stopped, where we are told off for crying. I can be obsessive about things, my Bipolar makes me hard to be around and can be all consuming I forget about other people. My query personality disorder, we're still not sure about that one but I feel it's right, makes it hard for people to see the real me. I often take on more than perhaps I should ~ personally and emotionally ~ I'm just a girl who can't say No and not in a kissing guys way. I do not take criticism well at all. I am not the most healthy person I don't do enough exercise and I would far rather do something else than go to the gym. I have high expectations of friendships and when people can't meet my hope for those friendships I find it hard to let go.

6. What are you assets? Use your strengths..............

I feel one of my strengths is I can show my emotions as it enables me to understand human frailty and it has enabled me to be a better nurse, friend, daughter, sister etc. I am a great listener, counselling training has honed those skills and this makes me someone people come to when they need to talk. I am not afraid to talk to people I don't know, I am someone who apparently can give good advise, I was a good teacher of knowledge and skills. Apparently my singing lifts the spirits, or so I'm told. If you are my friend or family I will do anything for you, drop everything and drive however far it is to get to you when you need me.

And the final question brings everything right back to the storytelling...............

7. What have you learned yourself? How does this knowledge makes you a better storyteller?

I think self-knowledge helps us to understand how to convey stories to other people. Storytelling comes from a very personal place and I think that can make the tales that much more powerful. Being able to listen to people has helped me learn about what might make an interesting story, teaching has taught me how to hold an audience, or not in some cases. Having Bipolar, for some weird reason, has made me more vocal about mental health issues and given me an excuse to explore myself and what having Bipolar means to me. Knowing how important history is, and maintaining family history, has made me want to explore my family and to ensure my family stories don't get lost, but are recorded for others to read in the future.


One of the other activities was to describe ourselves and alot of photos like this appeared over Facebook and Instagram so I had to make one too. I actually really love it.

I hope you have learned more about me and if you're taking this class enjoyed my learning. If you're not taking class I hope you have still learned something new about me.

Don't forget to come on over tomorrow where Storytelling Sunday will be happening across the blogosphere  


8 comments:

  1. I love that your emotions are both a strength and a weakness. Same coin, different sides. Great insight!

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  2. Well Jo while I was reading this I thought that's me, that's me too, and that's me, and this is weird!! I always wanted to be a nurse but ended up a carer and dogsbody! I'm a latecomer to FYV, hope I can catch up. See you tomorrow for STS at Sian's Blog.

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  3. Thank-you for sharing more of your self with us, and I love the photo with the writing/descriptions of aspects of your life on top. Good to remember, and visually depict, that you - behind the words - are more than what the words convey :).

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  4. Great job working through the lesson. I think Kristin has done a masterful job of leading us deeper and deeper with the work sheets. I'm really getting a lot out of the class.
    Rinda

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  5. Thank you for sharing Jo, it's nice to learn more about bloggy friends and I think it's important to embrace everything about yourself... They are not flaws, they are what make you.. You! :)

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  6. This is an inspirational post. You keep on going..I think you do so much more good in the world than you realise. Honestly.

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  7. Jo, I love what you've done so far with your class notebook, so creative! And your responses to the worksheet questions were so candid and insightful. I, too, am a very emotional person. I've been told by former bosses that I take things too personal, which usually ends up with me drowning in a puddle of tears. But I like how you turned being emotional around and listed it as a strength as well. Your thoughts really helped me see that part of myself in a different light. Thank you for sharing!

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  8. Such a wonderful post, Jo and I am SO glad you shared! I noticed a few of my own weaknesses in your list; and assets too. We're both bipolar, as well. :) Your constant support and encouragement on my own blog has been so, so very sweet and I hope I can provide you the same. You're an amazing woman, and your bravery of putting your life "out there" is admirable. It's not easy, I know. It's even a little scary. But this community we're building... I've got your back. :)

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Hello and thank you so much for stopping by. It is always a pleasure to read the comments I receive and to meet new friends. I try and reply to comments on friend's blogs as much as possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Love Jo xxx