Learners in a high school in the Valley of a Thousand Hills were given the first rule of unlocking the right brain – ten minutes of non-stop writing!

This is the first step towards the writing of poetry and of a short story, all done in the 2 hour right brain training.  During their two hour workshop, they learnt to write poetry and short stories.

Some of their writing may be put into an anthology of stories for their school.

The training was facilitated by Thembi Njoko, Senior Education Specialist, Youth Development, from uThekkula District.

When something happens to us that hurts our feelings, we experience pain in our heart, and usually also anger and fear of it happening again.  But what do we do with these feelings?  Many times we do not know how to cope with them. They disturb us; with thoughts going around and around in our minds that interfere with living our life in peace, and interfere with our sleep. And so, for many people, the way to solve the problem is to push it away; to pretend that it did not happen.  We “forget” it ever happened; storing it in a part of our brains that is locked away. Unfortunately it usually does continue to affect us, but often without us knowing it.

However, the right brain has a strong connection with the feeling part of ourselves and so, when we do “right brain” activities, we often tap straight back into those painful feelings. Writing about the experiences brings it out of the hidden places; it brings it up to our awareness. To heal, we need to be aware of what we were feeling, and to release the anger and pain…. to let it go.

Releasing trauma

Firstly, just writing about it, is one way of getting it out. It does not matter if the story written is a good one or a bad one, or if it is grammatically correct. What matters is that it is put down on paper by writing or drawing; it moves from the inside of a person to the outside. However, in the process of doing that, the painful feelings come up to the surface again. Handling these feelings carefully and correctly is important, or the pain just goes back inside again.

Dealing with traumatised feelings

People have different ways of handling their feelings. Each person needs to be respected. Some possibilities are as follows:

• Sometimes the pain does not come out; but just the anger at being hurt.  The person may complain on and on about someone else. They are blaming that person; they are angry; but not aware of the pain (because sometimes they can’t face feeling the pain). But unless the pain comes out, they are not healed. So if someone is blaming another person or situation, we can help them by empathising… by imagining how it must have been for the person to experience what they did, and sharing how it might have felt. eg.  “When your father left home, it must have been difficult for you. It seems like you are very angry with  him for leaving you all in that mess, yes, but maybe you are also sad that your father was not there for you?” Sometimes a person just cannot let it go. They may carry on and on venting and  blaming. They need to have someone to talk to, but should not be allowed to dominate the time of the group meeting. Rather, you can say “I see you are very angry, let’s talk about it afterwards.”  Then after the session you can listen or try and find the person some help.
• Other people are more private about their feelings. They may try to hide them from others.  In this situation, the person may become unnaturally quiet. They may refuse to write or draw. Or they may ask to leave the room. (Of course not everyone who asks to leave the room is having a reaction!) In such a situation, it is still important to be respectful of the person. They don’t like other people knowing their feelings: that is their choice and it should be respected.  For this type of person, it is best to try and find a time when everyone else is busy, and to quietly go up to them and ask them “are you okay?”  If they say, “I am fine”, then it is important to not interfere any further. However, once the session is over, ask the person to stay behind and again gently ask  if there is anything that is troubling them that they would like to talk about.

But many others will cry, which is a good form of releasing the pain. When someone is crying or close to tears, what do you, the mentor, do? Bear in mind the skills of counselling:

• Encourage the person to stay in touch with their feelings. Do not be tempted to get them to stop crying just because it makes you feel uncomfortable to see their pain. Some people are comfortable with you witnessing their pain and want comfort,  others are not, and want to be left alone. Try to get an idea of what they want and then act accordingly.  If  you get the idea they want comfort, then  let the person know that you care about their feelings. Just getting closer to the person may help, or just maintaining eye contact is sometimes sufficient.  If they talk, you may wish to empathise with what they have said by saying “you feel……” (whatever you imagine they might be feeling).  If the situation allows for it, encourage them to talk further. Or suggest they speak to you afterwards.
  • Do not try and make it seem as though it was not such a bad thing that happened. To the person, it was traumatic. Different things affect people in different ways.
  • It is important not to be judgmental or critical of the person or the situation. Again, people are all different.  No-one likes to be judged as a bad or weak person. Often when a person is badly behaved it is because they have been abused or neglected. Don’t judge what you do not know.
  • Respect the person. That means do not try to force the person to do or think something just because you think they should. All people have a right to be themselves and think and do what they want to, as long as they are not abusing or interfering with another person. All people are entitled to choice.
• Touch of the person’s body is a sensitive thing. Many times when people have been neglected, or physically or sexually abused in their long forgotten past, they become sensitive to other people touching their body.  So it is best   to get permission first  by  asking, for example, “Do you need a hug?” It is extremely important to respect them in their vulnerable state.

Confidentiality and Follow up

• What a person tells you should be kept in confidence. Under no circumstances should it be told to anybody else, especially sensitive information.  However, if there is on-going abuse or neglect, or if the child is experiencing current emotional trauma from past abuse,  then it is very  important that you follow this up with the correct  relevant procedure.  Tell the child, that you need to report this to the guidance teacher or social worker so that they can help him/her.  Then speak to the school counsellor or social worker. If there is no counsellor / social worker,  then speak to the district counsellor / social worker, or the headmaster. Follow up later with the child to see that the problem has indeed been dealt with. 

To develop counselling skills,  a  good reference book is  “The Skills of Helping”  by Robert Carkhuff and William Anthony:  Human  Resource Development Press, 1985.

Conclusion

Let us rise from the bottom of  the class to the top, using right brain creative writing methods! This is a life skill and your life, in many aspects, will greatly improve. Let us show others how creative writing is really done! Ex Africa, semper aliquid novi.  From Africa, always something new!

Dancing Pencils Writing Clubs, running under Mentors trained in nonjudgmental noncritical methods, support and nurture talent, showcasing the best in annual publications of new books. These clubs come from rural, township and city areas in South Africa.

These are written mostly in English but also in our official indigenous languages. The stories reveal the true beauty, lives and culture of our wonderful people.

If you think a bit about your own functionings, do you ever argue with yourself? Disagree with yourself?  Try and persuade yourself or discipline yourself? Who are you arguing with?  You are arguing with another part of yourself. In fact we all have a rational (or male) part to us, and we all have an intuitive (female) part. And like a real life couple, they do not always agree with each other. They squabble and one can try to take control.

Physiologically the two parts are reflected in the two sides of the body- mind. The left half of the brain, connecting with the right side of the body, is thought to be generally   in charge of the logical, rational and  structured functioning. Being sequential it gives us a past and a future i.e. it gives us a sense of time. The right brain, connecting with the left side of the body, is more typically female: and like the  archetypal female,  it is irrational –  its mode of   operation is  through  feelings, intuitions,  impressions, pictures, imaginings, ideas and dreams. With this part there is no sense of time – the future and the past merge into the current moment. And out of the space of the current moment springs creativity.

When the left brain is dominant, the individual tends to over-analyze; has a need to work it all out and does not like to let go of control. To let go of control for them may even feel like death. When the right brain dominates, when a person is able to get into the space of the “now”, the mind quietens down, creativity flows. The individual is likely to be very intuitive and finely attuned to subtle energies. This may produce a very sensitive and spiritual being.

When we are very young children we are all right brain. The imaginary world is strong, thinking has not yet developed.  However in order to function in the world, our minds do need to be developed.  And so our parents and schools teach us. They train us to think logically and rationally. Unfortunately often the left side grows so strong (especially with very clever people), that they under-utilize the right brain. The individual stops listening to their feelings, their hunches: the little quiet voice at the back of their mind; the gut feel.

In order to function optimally in the world, we need to use both sides of the brain in a balanced way.

If we have disconnected from our right brain, we have stopped listening to ourselves. To our inner guide. It is vital for our happiness to be in touch with this part. But how can we re-connect with this part? How do we get into this magical and mysterious, unfamiliar place within ourselves?  There are many ways to do this. We may start with listening to our feelings – if we minimize feelings; we often need an objective observer to point them out to us, or to help us become aware of them, and know how to deal with them. We also need to start paying attention to our dreams,  and looking to understand the messages they are giving us.

Yet another way is to consciously set time aside each day (or most days) to take ones attention form the outer world and go within. We call this meditation. It is a time of being alone with oneself.  Meditation involves gathering up ones attention that is focused on the outside world… all the dramas of one’s life … and focusing that attention onto one thing.  The focus may be on a relaxing the body progressively, on saying a mantras, on the air as it is breathed in and out the lungs, on the chakras, or staring at a candle flame… to name a few.  None is the “best”… whatever works for you is good. However, it is better to not chop and change, but to try to stick with one method.  I will talk more about this just now.

For me it is helpful to imagine the two parts of self as two rooms. One room is the world you are sitting in right now.  It is the chair you are sitting on, and whatever other scenery that surrounds you. The other room is not visible. But it is attached to this room though a secret “imaginary” door. And it contains within it an imaginary world. The feelings we experience when we go into this room are young feelings…. vulnerable, open, tender, the feelings you felt as a very young child who did not have a developed cognitive facility. So this part is represented by a child-like state… the inner child. When we have had many woundings in our life, the inner child is wounded. And as such, it is distrustful. The imaginary door guards the inner child. Protecting its innocence.

Only when the child feels safe and trusts that it will not be hurt by you and your actions, will it allow the door to open. It is not something one can force. It needs to be handled delicately with kindness and gentleness (to oneself) but with persistence and patience.  We may be tempted to hurry the process to get results. If results do not come easily we may become frustrated, self-critical, or simply give up trying to make contact. But in doing so we are abandoning the self. The lesson here to learn is that the door does not respond to force because the vulnerable child state on the other side is scared by force. We need to treat ourselves the same way we would lovingly treat a child… with patience, care and understanding.

In doing focused awareness, it is important to realize that it is very normal to have many thoughts rush to the consciousness. These need to just be recognized for what they are, but then to again bring the attention back to the point of focus.

Purpose

The Dancing Pencils Writing Clubs: Clubs are being established around the country. They  are comprised of about 20 people and are  facilitated  by a mentor. Mentors run between one and three writing clubs  in their area.  They are trained by Felicity  in teaching  methods that facilitate creative writing.  Stories are written, shared and  the best ones selected for publishing. These writing clubs allow the children to develop  their craft, to share their life experiences, and  express their feelings in a nurturing environment.

Right Brained Writing 

The  brain’s activity: Our brains have two halves and these two parts function in  different ways. The left brain side is  rational, perfectionistic and logical. The right side is imaginative, intuitive, creative and lateral.   Creative writing entails accessing the right side of the brain.

How: To  encourage the right brain, attention is given to freeing the imagination.  The inner critic, with its need to “get things right”, is cast aside. Permission is given to making mistakes. No  judging and criticising of content, handwriting, spelling and punctuation are allowed. This freeze the individual  from the blockages of “ought to’s”   and   surprising  material is expressed. Children are encouraged to  illustrate their stories.

Benefits: Children learn how to use their whole brains, and realise the importance of not judging themselves.  Many children are the more right brained types that have difficulty doing  regular left brained, rote learning  school activity.  This method  affirms and nurtures the potential of the natural artist – it enhances the development of song writers, play writers, poets, artists and authors.  It  builds self-esteem  and confidence.

Umsinsi Press

History:  Umsinsi Press was founded  by Felicity Keats in 1995.  At the time she was teaching  private creative writing courses and established Umsinsi  in order  to give her students a platform from which to be “heard”.

Function:  Umsinsi Press is the vehicle for printing the works of  students  and  the selected products of the dancing  pencils’ literacy project.  Stories are sent  to  Umsinsi, typed and on CD and in handwritten form, where they are type set, including illustrations. A  short  resume about the author and their photo appears on the back cover.  Books are “launched” regularly. Officials, teachers, friends  and parents all come to  recognise and affirm the authors.

Finance: Mentor training is charged for but there are no club fees. Print runs of books are sponsored by  Education Departments, Corporate sponsors and Umsinsi Press itself.  The entire operation of the company is dependent  on this sponsorship.

Royalties: Once a year,  depending on the number of books sold, authors  receive “royalties” (Monies paid to them).  This is tremendously exciting  and motivating to get the youngsters  writing!   E.g. With a print run of 3000 copies of her book,  an 8 year old,  received  in the region of R5000 at year-end.

About Felicity Keats-Morrison:

Felicity  has a B. Com, and UED.  She has always had a love of the  creative process and has for the past 40 years  been intermittently producing journal articles, books, writing stories and painting pictures. She was the  editor of South Africa’s Bee Journal  for many years and is the author of  10 children’s books and 9 writing guides.

In 1992  she began facilitating creative writing to small groups  of interested people. This extended to classes of young scholars in, mostly, model C schools. These schools sponsored their own books. Finally, Felicity extended herself out into less privileged schools,  facilitating as many as 200 students at  a time.  Finding it impossible to reach all the children, no matter how rural, she realised she needed to teach others to do what she does and hence she now  teaches  teachers and librarians.

Right brain writing is being establishing in a number of districts in provinces around South Africa as the immense benefits of a rapid flow of thoughts increase the learners’ interest in both writing, reading, listening and communicating, and in critical thinking. In fact literacy levels have risen from 50% to 82.7%  in the Shine Centre in Cape town, using this method.

Felicity trains not only high level education specialists in right brain writing, but has developed a course for master trainers who have all the skills that she has. This will lead to a rapid increase in literacy in our country.