I was in capital a couple of weeks ago to facilitate a workshop with an NGO and had called for an Ola Share while getting from Noida to Delhi. It
was the week the rain gods had graced the city with their presence. Now for
someone who hails from the coast and has experienced monsoons very differently,
i.e has been through a deluge, faced the brunt of frequent flooding and is used
to watching sheets of water just fall out of the skies, rains in Delhi seem
like a misnomer.
Because what I had witnessed was nothing more than a mugful of water trickling from the sky.
Because what I had witnessed was nothing more than a mugful of water trickling from the sky.
But that is not the point.
The point is that that mugful of water caused me to take three hours
to traverse what was otherwise meant to be a 50 minute ride!
Despite it being an Ola Share, besides the one co-passenger who had
long since gotten off, it was just the driver and me in the cab. After over an
hour of us sitting in silence since I first got into his cab, he broke the ice,
saying:
“At this rate you’re not going
to reach your destination until evening, Madamji.”
“Arre! Please don’t say such
things. I’m just about succeeding at calming my nerves on being stuck like this
when it’s not even raining.”
“Well, for people like us this
is an everyday ordeal. I’ve been stuck in traffic like this since morning.”
“That is exactly what I have
been thinking too. Having to go through this on an everyday basis cannot be
easy for you.”
“What can be done? It’s just
that we don’t have the words to express what we go through.”
Exactly this time last year on the 9th of July 2016, I ran
my first ever workshop of Be You For You.
An introvert by nature, emptying my head, heart and soul on paper had
been a very natural phenomenon. But it hadn’t only been limited to emptying
myself out. Writing had helped me make breakthroughs as well as make peace with
otherwise challenging if not tumultuous issues.
I often wondered how and why this had been possible; until it occurred
to me that writing is non-intrusive and non-invasive and employed with the
right outlook (which I had on multiple occasions equipped myself with through
training) can lend itself to enabling powerful mental makeovers!
And this was something I felt passionately about.
Why my own travels had begun to leave me with soul-stirring thoughts because I would always come back and write about them on my blog.
[Read: The Backstory of #BeYouForYou and #HaveFeetWillTravel]
Why my own travels had begun to leave me with soul-stirring thoughts because I would always come back and write about them on my blog.
[Read: The Backstory of #BeYouForYou and #HaveFeetWillTravel]
So draft after draft of concept notes later, I felt courageous to not
only share my idea of Be You For You with the world but also pilot it and watch
it take form for the first time before my very eyes in July last year.
At the root, was firm the goal of encouraging and galvanizing people
to begin expressing themselves. To themselves, first.
And that’s why that conversation with the cabbie struck a chord.
Self-expression.
How often do we pause to consider its relevance and importance?
In my observation, seldom, if ever…
From the very moment our senses have awakened with us in the morning to
the moment they finally shutdown, we are constantly communicating with
ourselves. In other words, we are telling ourselves stories – stories about how
our day is going to be, stories about what we thought of the relative we bumped
into at the mall, stories about why we’re dreading a particular meeting…
In short, stories about everything that is, that has been and that
will be…
Is it not strange then, that for all the books and training programs
being made available on interpersonal communication i.e. the process of
interacting with other people, there is not enough material on intrapersonal
communication i.e. the process of engaging with ourselves?
In the past year, I have had the opportunity of being a part of this
intrapersonal journey with those curious and motivated to express themselves
better. The feedback has been more than just encouraging and at a scale much
bigger than I had fathomed about a year ago!
Participants leaving the workshop have had the following things to
say:
- "This workshop has definitely led to a shift in my thinking process. It has provided me with a lot of insights and tools to help me touch base with my core."
- "I'm leaving the workshop with a great set of tools to help me navigate my place in the world and the belief that I can be in control of how (and what) I think and feel"
- “This has led to more self-awareness, more ways to be expressive. Definitely a lot more insight into myself.”
- “It’s going to help me get into the habit of looking inwards and taking better care of myself using the tools suggested.”
- “This experience has brought a lot of wisdom and positivity for me and the inspiration to express myself through writing a little more often.”
- “I feel a lot more confident about being me and penning my thoughts down"
- “I am leaving the workshop with a big to-do list and a slightly clearer mind. I am learning that it is okay to be self-compassionate.”
- “I find that I have stumbled upon a medium to disconnect and reconnect with myself.”
But that is not all.
Every once in a while, I receive texts informing me on how someone has
been implementing a writing technique that was introduced to them for the first
time at a Be You For You workshop.
Every once in a while, someone will share a piece of expression they
have created for the very first time in their life and they attribute the nudge
to a Be You For You workshop.
Occasionally, someone will express how they are getting better at
understanding themselves and therefore better at managing their own
interpersonal relationships because they have been articulating themselves out
since attending a Be You For You workshop.
Some have gone on to making journaling a regular practice. Others have
revived their blogs. Still others have reintroduced crayons and colours back
into their lives.
It is heart-warming every single time.
Heart-warming because almost every one of them prior to attending a
workshop spoke of how they:
i)
didn’t know how to write
ii)
didn’t like writing
iii)
didn’t think they were creative enough
iv)
didn’t have a good enough vocabulary
v)
didn’t know English that well
vi)
didn’t…
vii)
didn’t…
viii)
didn’t…
And yet… Look at the strides they have been taking since.
P.S.: As these aren’t creative writing workshops, none of the
above mentioned excuses are even valid in the first place! If anything,
participants are encouraged to create new vocabulary and better still doodle
because the focus is on expression.
What is true for individuals is true for organizations too – be it for-profit or not-for-profit. Self-expression is not only relegated to the realm of
personal development. It is as much as part and parcel of organizations as
their workforce communicate with its different stakeholders, sharing with them
the collective story of the organization itself.
And Be You For You has begun to make inroads in working with
organizations too.
But Be You For You wasn’t meant to be just one workshop. If anything,
the journey so far for both participants as well as for me has only been Step
1!
And what better occasion to take this forward than the day of its
first anniversary…
On Saturday, 8th July 2017, a bunch of folks who’ve
attended the Be You For You workshops during the past year, signed up and attended
an advanced level of the workshop – Be A
Better You For You!
Because if ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, then with better self-expression comes enhanced self-awareness.
Because if ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, then with better self-expression comes enhanced self-awareness.
This past year has been a journey of a different kind. A journey of
tapping into my entrepreneurial side. A journey of travelling within and
encouraging others to embark on…
A journey that would not have been made possible were it not for the
support and encouragement I’ve constantly received from a bunch of folks – in the
guise of offering space to run my workshops, recommending friends to attend,
being strong advocates and sharing the event notification via every known
platform, putting me in touch with other folks who can help me take this
workshop to other cities, advocating for the workshop within their workspaces…
the support has been tremendous and humbling.
But this is only just the start…
Below are dates for the upcoming Be You For You workshops:
Mumbai --
Bangalore --
September 23: https://www.facebook.com/events/1854052274855147/
Sign up and register NOW...
For collaborations, drop me an email on nomadicthunker[at]gmail[dot]com
--
To subscribe to posts via email, click here
For opportunities to work with me, click here