Our Place Community of Hope
I have learned that life goes on because I have friends to dance with at Our Place, That it creates such as extreme pace. The programs are very fun to do here, That it brings enjoyment to me and tears. The members are very nice most of the time, This makes me happy that my laughter starts to shine. Sometimes I like to play different games, But the games are not always the same. Some of our members sometimes are sad, But when we come to Our Place things do not seem so bad. At Our Place we are about to present a play, This will be about Our Place in December, which is near Christmas Day.
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My Story
Our Place Community of Hope for me is a place where people suffering from mental disorders can come and get involved in activities where they can forget about their mental disorders. I first came to know Our Place through a friend. This friend invited me on St. Patrick’s Day in 2017 to watch them play in a pool tournament. My first instinct was this is a place of peace and quiet. Everyone was busy doing something or talking to others. I was surprised I even got a good healthy meal, which I so enjoyed. I would come here occasionally only when my friend played in the pool tournament. In mid-2018, I started coming to Our Place on my own. I found it to be relaxing and stress free. Where I was living at that time was too stressful. So, Our Place grew on me. I started to join in activities, which I liked to do. The members here are friendly and entertaining. I have made a lot of cool friends here. Hope is one friend I love helping because when she is down, I will do whatever it takes to make her smile. When she smiles or laughs, she makes me feel so good inside. One of the members I have known over 20 years is Lisa. I enjoy having dinner here because I am surrounded by friends, where if I was at home I would hardly cook. Since I have become a member, I find myself improving. I find myself now motivated to do things, not like before where I didn’t want to do anything. One of the ways I have improved is less negative thinking and more positive thinking. I see myself in a different way, cause I when I started here, I was fearful of meeting new people and doing new things. The staff here are always cheerful, helpful and trying to get the members to do new things, or to join in on what activity is going on that day. I started to see Page and Paul doing some painting, therefore I thought to myself, I should do this, too. I was hesitating to do it. So, then these two members started to encourage me. When I did my first painting on trust, I felt so amazing. Painting is a hobby for me now. Pool looked like a fun activity to do, too. My thought was it was only for men to play but then I saw a couple lady members start to play. I was highly doubtful of myself ever playing and understanding how to play pool. Then one day Page approached me and asked me if I wanted to play. I told him that I didn’t know how and that pool wasn’t for me. He said, you don’t know until you try; I will teach you. Eventually after days of grilling me, I finally gave in. Guess what happened? I love it and look forward to playing pool when I get the chance, even though I am still a beginner at the game. I had also seen Page and Lise writing. I started to ask them what they were doing and they said they are a part of a writing group here. They encouraged me to join, but I was like, that is not for me. Page didn’t give up on me, he repeatedly said writing is therapeutic and I should really try it. So, I did my first piece on true love. I was fascinated by how well I actually can write. Now I enjoy writing because I can express my thoughts and ideas on paper where I can share them with others. When my true love writing piece was published in February’s newsletter, I was amazed. It felt good to accomplish something new. After six months of continually coming to Our Place, I have changed my life. I don’t get involved in drama like before. I now feel good about myself. I have built up my self-esteem and self-confidence and I no longer put myself down. I have begun to like the person I have become. By the Our Place – Community of Hope Writing Group
On Jan. 22, 2021, the Our Place writing group whipped up its first “word cake”—and a few more writing desserts (see below). Here is how the concept came to life. Anyone is encouraged to attend group and read their work to other participants, and facilitators. On a late December afternoon, Rodney stated someone’s work, which had been read aloud, sounded like a word cake. It was such a distinctive way to describe writing. The term brought to mind layers of rich prose and poetry. It also ignited a spark in the group. We agreed we would like to collectively whip up a word cake… one day. Fortunately, Lisa held on to the idea, and reminded and encouraged us to create our first word cake. (Again, that was in early 2021.) It was simple and joyful to bake, and there were no rules or instructions to follow after the initial prompt. When we were ready to start the cake, co-facilitator, Peter, said, ‘let’s think of pretty words.’ With this prompt, co-facilitator, Kathryn, wrote down all the words that poured and dripped and dropped out of group participants’ minds and mouths. They were often written down in random order with the intent of producing flow-of-consciousness word cakes. The exercise has held special meeting for the group. It gives us an opportunity to create a piece of poetry with a group byline. And the value and spirit of being a supportive and collaborative group very much defines this Our Place writing endeavour. Here are the word cakes we have baked over the months; some sweet, some scrumptious, and some savoury. Enjoy! Word Cake no. 1 Compassion, kindness, love, peace. Sensitive, energetic, caring, happy. Kindred. Overcome, overwhelming. Overwhelmingly beautiful. Joy, amusement. A list of the 10 prettiest words. What is a pretty word? Serendipity. The earthly scent produced when rain falls on the ground. Supine. Solitude. Loneliness. A dog waiting for its belly scratch. Rest. Peace. Rest in peace. Happy with themselves. Ourselves. Word Cake no. 2 Inventory. Aurora. Dawn of the early morning. First morning light. Idyllic. The rain in Spain. Falls mainly on the plane. Working class. How now. Brown cow. Carotene. Carotin. Typesetting. Spacing. Thinking in words and about their shapes. Shapes made with our mouths. Word Cake no. 3 Mercury. Lucky. The names of two cats. Clinomania. What does that mean? The obsessive desire to stay in bed. Pluviophile. Walking in the rain. Singing, laughing, relaxing. In the rain. Rain-drenched flowers and rainbows. Words that are illnesses but sound sweet. Rosacea. Melanoma. We can’t hear you. We can’t hear you. Can you hear us? Come a little closer to your screen again. Speak up. Wait. Pause. Using my mouth to make sounds. We can’t hear you. Can you hear us? Word Cake no. 4 Miniscule. Transitional. Absolutely. Words. Enjoy them just as if you were eating them. And they were delicious things. Colour. Honour. English vs. American. What’s Canadian? Your mouth goes up with the “u”. Makes an up sound Celadon. Where did you get that name? The glaze on pottery. I thought it was a dinosaur. Thirty years ago, I found out. It is one of the prettiest words. Word Cupcakes (bite-size writing treats) no. 1 I was watching a baseball game. Didn’t know what was going on. I just watched the television. And I wrote and I wrote and I wrote. Describe what you see. Not what you know. A bloody stupid game. no. 2 My dog. His name is Finn. He drags me. Rather than me walk him. Lowercase. Uppercase. Capitalize. Capitol. Inauguration Day. As I get old, I see the beginning of a word. Then I imagine the rest. Always Capitalize. Nouns. Important Words. no. 3 Meme. My sister’s nick name. My oldest granddaughter years ago. With her on the ferry. Float. It’s the word, meme. M-E-M-E. Nothing like it’s become. Surrender. Surrender. Time’s up. I’ve got to go. Bye. Bye. Bye. See you. See you. Next week. Word Cake: June 2021 On the last Friday of June 2021, writing group participants created another word cake. At the start of group, we talked about the word, “hope", and what it meant to each of us. “Hope” then became the prompt, and first ingredient, of this month’s treat. HOPE. despair. And anaphylaxis. Tolerance. Discipline. Gratitude Humility. Vicissitude. Sporadic. Butterfly, O butterflies! Accomplishment. D-I-S-S-A-S-O-C-I-A-T-I-O-N. Panegyric. Armadillo, run! run! Armada. Success. Excellence. Symbolism. Association. Onomatopoeia. How many syllables is in that one word? Pandora. She opened the box that held all the evils of the world. Word Cake: July 2021 (The theme and prompt was, "Canada") Butter tart. Butterfly. Two words, or one? Red and white. Maple-sugar candy. Maple syrup. Ed Grimley from SCTV. I wrote about a pie this week. The C-N-E. E not N. Cancelled—again. Hudson’s Bay and Beaver Tails… the Air Canada Centre and hockey ... lacrosse and the Blue Jays. Whoa, slow down. Why don’t Canadians want the Habs to win? Sorry. Apologies. People say we are too polite. Are we? It’s a very nice place, very nice position, to be. To be in. Celion Dion and Justin Beiber. Anne Murray and Shania Twain. Brett Kissel and Brian Adams. Gordon Lightfoot. They put a statue of him, of Gordon Lightfoot, in Tudhope Park. Jesus, he looks like Jesus. Jesus playing a guitar. I used to be married to a woman he went to school with. Now someone said he’s selling a home in Forest Hill. Anne Murray. Anne Murray. Be sure to write that name down. How about Centre Island? The ferry takes you there. |
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