AGENDA

1. Catch up from how last week went

2. Share work (songs, poems etc...) that people have brought

3. Discuss future direction

LEADER'S COMMENTARY

 This week had a simple agenda but it actually ended up being rather difficult to follow because no one had written anything from last week.  Not that they didn't want to - people just felt stuck or unable to know where to start.  So what we ended up doing this week was a quick songwriting workshop / experience where we all got out some paper and spent some time writing in a free-flow sort of format.

First we talked about the barriers to writing and how it doesn't have to be anything great on the first shot but for this writing exercise I wanted them to really just put something down so we could talk about it and I could encourage them.  People are often hesitant to enter into this type of creative exercise, sometimes because it is so foreign to them and sometimes because they are afraid that others will judge them by what they create.  I personally think it's the leader's responsibility to push people past these roadblocks by ensuring that the group enjoys many positive creative experiences together. 

What we ended up doing is spending 10 minutes writing lyrics independantly of each other while I played the same chord progression over and over as a starting point / idea.  Then we talked about what we had written and where it was coming from / why we wrote what we wrote, what we were trying to say and how we might say it better.  Then we took a crack at actually singing a couple of the partial tunes we had just for fun and more encouragement.  It ended up being a really great experience for everyone but it makes me think as a leader that our group needs more guidence in this area of personal expression.