Sometimes, it’s good to take stock of where we are, what we have achieved and decide where we want to go. We tend to quickly forget recent achievements, and get caught up in the next task that needs urgent attention. Forcing ourselves to consider what our “top priorities” are can help us focus on what … Continue reading Exercise: End the year well and start the next with a plan…
Author: Maurice
Another fool with internet access.
Audio Exercise – What would Hercules do?
This is a recording of the recent guided writing exercise done in a café in Barcelona in November 2019. The participants' voices have been edited out. Enjoy.
Exercise – Your habitual metaphors
(Takes about 20 minutes) Think of a situation in your life that faces recurring difficulties. This might be your job, your romantic relationship, a family relationship, or something else. Try to pick something which has been on your mind a lot in the past weeks. The exercise (5 minutes) Use the following sentences as writing … Continue reading Exercise – Your habitual metaphors
Hellish metaphors
These are some ideas behind the next writing exercise.... Humans are expert pattern-recognizers. For example: We see plants with central wooden trunks and leafy canopies and recognize them as trees even though each looks completely unique; We meet two completely different people with different appearances but can anticipate how they will react to certain kinds … Continue reading Hellish metaphors
Audio exercise – Bad behavior
This is a recording of the recent guided writing exercise done in a Barcelona café in November 2019. The participants' voices have been edited out. Enjoy.
Exercise – Your personal hell and heaven
(Takes about 20 minutes) Stories can have a strong impact on us. Most of the time we are recipients of stories: through movies, books, and even daily conversations. Stories allow us to communicate complex issues quickly and create a shared understanding. In this exercise we’re going to try to use this “tool” to structure our … Continue reading Exercise – Your personal hell and heaven
Tell me a story, any story.
The next writing exercise tries to use storytelling for personal development and well-being. These are the ideas behind it... Fictional stories appeal to us largely because they have a metaphorical relationship to our lives. We enjoy watching a movie about a fictional romance, not because their challenges are exactly the same as ours, but because … Continue reading Tell me a story, any story.
Exercise – Bad behavior
Suggested time allocation: 15 minutes Preparation We sometimes react in ways that we are not proud of: we explode in anger, we’re mean to people we care about, we hide our feelings, or we’re just unreasonably anxious. While painful, such moments can be opportunities to learn about ourselves, our personality, our inner conflicts and our … Continue reading Exercise – Bad behavior
What the point of this?
When I first took to reflective writing, it was as part of my MBA, where we were encouraged to write to help us process complex work-related problems. I started and kept up a habit of writing whenever faced with particularly difficult issues - both work related and personal. A few years later, I became interested … Continue reading What the point of this?
Exercise – Killing the author
In 1967 Roland Barthes wrote his famous essay “The Death of the Author” in which he argued that a work of literature has an existence independent of the intent of the author. It is instead created anew with each reading as an interaction between the reader and the work. Although I happen to think Barthes’ … Continue reading Exercise – Killing the author
A patch of grass 