Going Deeper: An Online Workshop

Participating in an online workshop with Jaclyn Mishal, is the next best thing to being on a retreat in some exotic location with her. Sitting comfortably in my study wearing pajamas and slippers, I felt that I was almost in the same room with her, enjoying her challenging writing prompts and exercises. More importantly, it got me to sit down, stop procrastinating, and actually write the beginning paragraphs that may one day morph into a full-fledged article.

The online workshop is actually quite simple and takes very little technical prowess. After signing up (online of course) and paying a small fee (in this case it was $15.) you receive an e-mail confirming your registration, with a link to use at the date and time of the webinar. Additional e-mails follow reminding you of the time and date.

Using a convenient webinar hosting platform it is easy to hear and see Jaclyn, communicate with her in writing, and also talk with her if you are brave enough to do so. In the workshop I participated in participants seemed hesitant to talk, and perhaps spending a few moments on introductions might help to create more of a group feeling.

Choosing an issue I wanted to write about and spend some time examining was a bit difficult.  I chose one area, and then realized that that was not IT.

The Going Deeper workshop was scheduled conveniently on a Sunday at 12 PM EDT. Jaclyn moved us along at a snappy pace, doing four different writing exercises in the course of an hour. The pace, she claimed, allow us to access our right brains, and shut down that critical, demanding left-brain for a while. It just does not have time to interfere and block the flow. This worked well for me.

Choosing the issue I wanted to write about and spend some time examining was a bit difficult.  I chose one area, and then realized that that was not IT.  What to do? A short, online consultation with Jaclyn encouraged me to shift midcourse.  In the future, it might be helpful to receive a preparatory question several days before the start of the workshop in order to list some possibilities and let my unconscious brain ponder them for a few days. With Jaclyn’s help  I was able to keep on track and enjoy the exercises that included a sentence completion and a prompt about accessing memories that allowed us to dig and dig deep.

Despite the fact that workshop was online, and we needed to bridge thousands of miles, I felt Jaclyn’s presence, direction and interest.  The format allowed me to flex those writing muscles that occasionally get a bit creaky with disuse. Jaclyn provides a lot of encouragement, sends great energies, and has a lovely smile, all which go a long way to making this a terrific workshop, well worth the time and effort.  Now it is up to me to follow up and finally finish that article.