Whilst preparing for a new project my research reminded me of the great time I had running a writers group. It never failed to amaze me how one subject could be interpreted in so many different ways by my fantastic writers/friends when I pulled them into being reflective if only for  a few hours.

It was an interesting time and I used to encourage members to set either the home work or class assignment for the group. One week it was my turn and most unlike me I hadn’t prepared handouts or decided on a topic. So five minutes before the group arrived I went into my daughter’s room (then aged 8)and just scooped up an array of toys.

The toys were placed in the middle of the room and the group were invited to select a toy then write a piece imagining they were that toy. The results were amazing if not somewhat crazy. An elderly female member chose the barbie doll and wrote a hysterical piece on how well she could now move as bendy barbie and her bosoms were once again pert! Another male member chose a teddy bear with inspirational talents – maybe how he viewed himself?

This works well with photographs too; just a case of letting one’s imagination run free if not a bit wild! Sometimes we just need prompting and  Shelford Chandler of Giant Steps Create  (who runs collaborative workshops) reminded me that;

‘We all have the innate ability to be creative.’

…we just hesitate in unleashing it.  

In life we all need to escape from time to time and  venturing into a world of play can be invigorating. I guess something which men often manage better than us grumpy women is to keep the child within them alive.

I’m off to play and create.