Two Options for Spring: Fridays at 2 or Tuesday nights (only about 3 spots for Tuesday night)

 

Start class by watching Dr. Gabor Mate about the 7 impacts of trauma

  • Trauma is not what happens to you, it’s what happens inside of you as a result of what happens to you
  1. Separation from self
    1. Ignoring a gut feeling
  2. Disconnection from others
    1. A feeling of isolation, don’t trust others
  3. Altered worldview
    1. However you see the world, that’s the world you live in
  4. Lifelong pain
    1. The wound is open and never [disappears], it’s pain you need to escape from (need to deal with it to heal it)
  5. Disruption of cognitive development
    1. Infants have no self-regulation, what happens if an adult never developed that self-regulation
  6. Personal shame
    1. Shame on who and what you are as a person (self-blame)
  7. Difficulty being present
    1. It keeps you stuck in the past, when you think you are reacting to the present you’re actually reacting to the past

 

Listening to Noa Baum

  • The effect of this difficult storytelling exchange
  • “created not just by the content of the story at the process of being together in the same space and time sharing stories and this process is the core attribute that sets storytelling apart because you see it’s not just about the story it’s about us that human connection”
  • Shift in the cognitive 
  • Accepting the paradoxes around us is the hardest thing for us
    • As long as you insist on one answer, only your own story, then you aren’t open to change
  • Opening up leads to insight and compassion, but it’s not easy
    • Do you stay safe in your familiar shelter of “us vs. them?” OR do you allow yourself the “uneasy territory of paradox the choice”
  • Julia – even though there’s a lot of divide right now, there can be understanding through storytelling/sharing

 

Prof. Dolson – Are you experiencing polarization when you move into campus and have a roommate? Have you experienced the ability to connect? Find common ground?

  • You need imagination to do that
    • Kaylee – “Trying to put yourself in their shoes”
  • How many times have you had to “fall off the wagon” to recover
    • 6 or 7 times to get a stronghold in recovery
  • Pain is inevitable, suffering is not
    • Pain is one of the things that keeps us alive, but how do you deal with mental pain?
      • We have developed tools for that, storytelling is (one of) the most important ones
      • When we share a story we build a bridge

 

This semester we’re sharing our own stories

  • There’s a need to work with your story and make it one that your audience can find themselves in
  • It should be a story you feel comfortable sharing, but important enough that you can work on
  • Looking at Persepolis: 
    • How much of her story is trauma? How much is memory? What stands out to you when you consider why is she telling her story?
    • Where is a place in her story that you find yourself relating to her?
      • Brice – kinda just the book itself, considering yourself as a younger version and what you viewed then vs. what actually happens/the views of your parent or an adult
      • Kristine – surprised at how perspective she is as a child
    • Did anything stand out to you about Iran
      • Brice – the dress code, didn’t know it died at some point and then came back

 

Last part of class: share your idea for the story you want to tell with a partner

  • What would that story be like?