This has been a slow week.
I had felt like I had finally put a voice to a deep-seated inner desire, but this week has been confusing in terms of the practicalities of where to actually start.
I contacted the healer in Brighton and laid out my idea to him in as much detail as I could without being overwhelming. I then started to research shamanic and Aboriginal storytelling and sound healing. Perhaps I had thought I would find a nice little neat resource with all the information I needed. Instead, it seems the more I research the more confused I become.
As I sat in front of the laptop and typed 'sound healers' into the search page, it all just felt so futile. Until I had a tiny burst of inspiration! I started to realise that the very people I was looking for I actually already knew from my Reiki training over the last three years. These people had their own contacts too.
It’s also crucial to be clear on the people I want to surround myself with in this work – and that I believe takes time and patience
I got in touch with anyone I knew in the healing profession. I also posted a notice on the Healthy Pages forum, a website for all things holistic.
Within a day I had received some responses. My friend and Indian head massage tutor Maxine Fone gave me two leads. A couple of people on Healthy Pages suggested two other sound healers. I contacted all of four leads and outlined my idea and so far I’ve had one response.
The positive aspect of writing to people like this is that it has forced me to formulate how I see the school, the type of work I want to be doing and how. As I start the very slow but vital process of drawing interest, I now need to outline what I have to offer visiting tutors.
Patience
What kind of working relationship am I proposing and how would this actually work? It’s also crucial to be clear on the people I want to surround myself with in this work – and that I believe takes time and patience.
As I looked into sound healing I started to wonder if this is something I should start to learn myself. How can I propose we use it as part of the school’s training otherwise?
I have undergone some sound healing during my Reiki training and it’s also something I have practised on and off for a number of years. However, it’s never been anything I was formally trained in and it looks like the training can take anything from one to three years.
I’m unsure if this is something I need to do. I shall wait and see what responses I get from the sound healers I’ve contacted.
Looking into Aboriginal storytelling has been a lot to take in and really inspirational. Traditionally, the storyteller was the cultural educator.
This got me thinking about the storytelling tradition in theatre and film. Are we really fulfilling that role? Is that even a role the arts still fulfills anymore: to educate? Or is it obsolete in the age of reality TV? Do our drama schools prepare performers to be educators or entertainers or both?
Looking back to my training I remember being told it was about entertainment. The audience was able to educate itself. I want my training to rediscover the connection to the tribal art of active dreaming and storytelling.
While reading further on the Aboriginal stories of dreaming and heritage, I suddenly remembered that I knew someone who ran courses in ‘The Art of Dreaming’. She uses this work to get painters to access an altered state in their art work.
This person is Debbie, who I have been hiring rooms from at Quantum House. She may also be a good resource for other contacts. I shall send her an email at the start of next week.
This week then shall be about me knocking on those doors I already know, as well as really formulating how it is I want to work. Do I want to initially run these workshops solo, taking input from those professionals I feel can help me along the way? Will these workshops form the taster sessions for what will later be our class schedule at the school?
The bulk of this week then has to be about putting together, however sketchy, a way of working. That’s pretty daunting because I have no blueprint or model for a school like this. The closest I can think of is the Steiner school and so I’ll research that model too.
