Getting Acquainted: Talking Circle

Trauma persists because we don't talk about it.

Let's get (re)acquainted, so that we create a foundation for a safe place to talk about ANYTHING.

I know a lot of people feel that they don't know what to say, so I'm going to give it some structure that you don't have to follow.
Have you heard of the poem "Where I'm From?"

It was created by George Ella Lyon. It's a unique way to think about your heritage and the path that leads to you. I'll leave it below. If you choose to fill it out, bring a piece to the gathering to share, or share the whole thing. (You can also leave it in the comments, if you wish).
Let's see each other and allow ourselves to be seen.

Here's the template:
I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail) I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).

I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one). From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member). I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

Here's what George Ella Lyons wrote just to give you an idea of how this might unfold…

Where I'm From (by George Ella Lyon)

I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush the Dutch elm whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.
I'm from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair. I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb and ten verses I can say myself.
I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger, the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures, a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded -- leaf-fall from the family tree.

I wanna know who is the expert on herbal medicine.

Who is from Mississippi? Who met a president?

Whose favorite song is "Hound Dog?" Share yourself!

We will meet here: https://us06web.zoom.us/s/7618256344

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