Be Aware, Observe, Describe, Write

an important part of my weekly routine. I get together with a group of wonderful people (with mood disorders like myself) who get skills coaching. It enables us to learn techniques that help us with stressful situations that occur in our everyday lives.

Each week, we focus on a different part of a module; a unit of skills. Last night's focus was primarily on AWARENESS; Being aware, having knowledge, and being mindful.

Six Of Us Took Our Seats...

The clock struck 5:30 PM on the nose.

In usual form, our facilitator began the meeting by tapping a little mallet on a bowl that chimed like a soft gong to ease us into the evening's agenda.

She brought to our attention:

A large water pitcher filled with Tulips!

...as the water pitcher was passed among the group.

what the tulip in our hands were all about using our five senses:

• Sight
• Sound
• Touch
• Smell
• Taste *Didn't use because of the probability of the plant being harmful to digest

To Observe And Describe is/was a great technique to bring us in and FOCUS.

It also helps/ helped take one's mind off previous events that may not had gone as planned previously in the day.

I Saw...

• There was a square piece broken out of one of the leaves
• There were 3 leaves; Two were standing up, one was folded over
• Leaves had vertical designs/patterns
• Flower was closed up during exercise
• Flower was pink and yellow
• Stem was light greenish to yellow in color

I heard...

• It squeaked and crackled when I moved it in my hands

I could feel that,,,

• Stalk was hard/end was wet

The Tulip Smelled...

• Very mild fragrance at first
• It's smell got more potent as the exercise went on

Then, we had a group discussion on our observations. A lot of our answers were similar. A few of us went a step further and looked inside the flower. Mine bloomed the next day.

That gave me the opportunity to observe the tulip even more (see picture above).

We Took The Exercise One Step Farther.

This time, we brainstormed as a group.

The Facilitator asked:

"What steps did the tulip go through to get it in our hands"?

The six us of us happily (one at a time) called out answers.

• "What country are they from"?
• "Who planted the seed or bulb"?
• "How long do they need to grow"?
• "Was the soil fertilized"?
• "How much sun was needed"?
• Was pesticide used"?
• "Was it flown or shipped here in cold storage"?
• Many points were brought up in 5 minutes.

We even got as far as as talking about how much our local Grocery chain/How much it profits from the tulip in our hand.

This exercise gave me a question to ask with a hub to follow up on;

Where Does That Tulip Come From, Really?

Observe And Describe It

Write Your Hub!