This newsletter was going to be an end-of-year gift edition to you — my readers. Then it was going to be a beginning-of-the-year gift. But on December 20th I stumbled over the finish line that marks ‘work’ from ‘rest’, and in the dim days of the winter solstice succumbed to a virus and to my body’s insistence that all it was good for was lying in bed reading. So my end of year was taken up entirely with feelings of gratitude that I have somewhere safe and warm to rest and recuperate.
While resting I mostly read: James’ Riordan’s Siberian Tales, Sharon Blackie’s Hagitude, and Polly Atkin’s Basic Nest Architecture. I also engaged in some serious napping; my headphones tuned in to Radio 3’s Night Tracks, a hot water under my feet, and Lucky Cat on my stomach. I cooked or ate soup, pancakes, and figgy pudding. I noticed that during hours of darkness (in the North of England about 17 hours out of 24, come midwinter) it was very hard for me to stay awake.
Now it’s 8:43am, an early-January morning. My curtains are still drawn, and a milky blue light spills across the hallway floor. Oscar Dog is curled up beside me, tight as a nut, his nose covered by the plume of his tail. This week I’ve been back at work — picking up the threads of last year’s unfinished projects, and planning a new workshop on creative reflection for hospital activity coordinators. Also writing this short letter to you — my readers! To say hello. And to welcome those who have subscribed since I last wrote. Welcome, and thank you!
By way of an introduction to my work — the gift — I am offering a Poetry & Wellbeing workbook, created for nursing students at the University of Manchester. You can download the workbook as a PDF by clicking the link above. There are 3 different activities, and each section will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. The workbook includes: a poem to read and reflect on, an introduction to free-writing, and a guide to writing your own poem. The intended audience is adults working in healthcare settings, who have quite possibly not done any creative writing since leaving school. Finally, at the bottom of the workbook, is a link to a short survey. Any feedback you have to offer will help me with my research, and will be received with gratitude.
Wishing you a peaceful, healthy and creative 2024,
Rebecca