It begins!

We had our first session with the incredible group of young collaborators in the school holidays. It was EXCELLENT.

Alyson Evans, the super-facilitator/collaborator/magicmaker (we will think of an appropriate title at some point), developed a lesson plan with me that got everyone grounded in the project, working collaboratively, and sharing generously.

And naturally, everything was Taylor themed.

I do think that this actually led to a number of the exercises working a lot quicker than usual. The shared Taylor Swift fandom allowed for a level of connection and vulnerability that can usually take a lot longer to build. Because Taylor is so vulnerable, we can be so vulnerable.

I learnt so much from Alyson - even simple things like starting the session sitting in chairs allows everyone to feel comfortable and grounded. You can then slowly introduce activities that get them moving and even out of their chairs.

There were so many amazing moments during the day, and so much excellent content to wrangle, but here are a few highlights.

The first few Eras of a person’s life, just so you know, are:

Innocence Era - ages 0-8

• Fun

• Nothing is that deep or serious

• Opinionated without fear

• Yellow

• Idolisation of parents

• Digging holes

• Nothing ever hurts you

So Cool Era - ages 9-12

• Not brushing your hair because boys don’t brush their hair

• Cringey

• Teacher’s Pet

• Awful music taste

• Doing gymnastics

• Pick me

• Superior

Middle School Era - ages 12-15

• Self-loathing

• I hate everyone

• When will this end???

• Annoying, cringe, awkward phase, bitchy

• One Direction Harry Styles

• Making a bucket list

• Backstabbing

First Heartbreak Era - ages 15-16

• Dying your hair red

• Glow ups

• The pain won’t be for evermore

• Want to be asleep

• Red

• Melodrama

• Turning to music

• Slamming doors