Reflective Writing: Finding Your True Voice

by Dianne Bradley

Reflective writing is not a class in the conventional sense.  The process is based on a book:  Writing the Mind Alive:  The  Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice  by Linda Trichter Metcalf and Tobin Simon.  This method prompts us to explore our thoughts as they flow through our minds and explore them by asking the question “what do I mean by …” In the first session I will explain the technique and give some written examples. Then we will gather around a table or tables to write.  Baroque music will be played in the background.  The music has been found to boost concentration and inspire the exploration of feelings.  We will write for 25 minutes.  Then we will gather in a circle and share with the group what we wrote  if we wish).  The objective is to explore thoughts that have been repressed and perhaps kept us from functioning as well as we could.   The practice is different from meditation in that we explore our thoughts rather than free our mind of them.  This approach liberates us from the power these unexplored thoughts have had on us.