Connecting and sharing what is up top: Trauma, Trivia, Joy
The aim of this exercise is to continue to get to know something that matters to each of us and to help us to ‘park’ things that might be on our minds that we don’t want to take into the session but want to share so we can be present with the group.
Each person in the set is asked to convey briefly an event or incident, one of which could be termed a trauma, another a trivia and one a joy that has happened to them. Each member of the set takes a turn in describing their events, including the facilitator who may start the process to begin with.
There is no discussion of the events. Other set members usually convey their empathy and feelings with the occasional word or feeling, the effect of which is to create a warm and supportive atmosphere, relax the set members and help the set get to know each other a little. Set members are asked not to invent events if they have not actually occurred. If a set member has just a joy and trivia that is fine. If a set member wishes not to be included in this activity and ‘pass’ that is also legitimate. Most participants find the activity light and energising.
Moreover, the activity may trigger an issue that a set member wishes to address and/or the event may unwittingly become a key part of the issue.
The activity will take about 5 to 15 minutes depending on the members participating. It is important not to rush an individual but to convey the idea that it is a ‘brief’ warm up to get us going.
Other activities that can help park whats on our minds are:
– Asking everyone in the group to share what is keeping them out of the room, and what is keeping them in.
– Asking everyone what is sitting on the ‘top’ of their minds.
– Any of these can be done with images.