During the first day of the 2014 Austin Feminists Poetry Festival, the rain poured down. Despite the inclement weather, I’d prepared 30 booklets for my “Spoken Word for Insomniacs” workshop just in case.
I also took the opportunity to set up a stylish display of my book and Austin Writer Roulette business-card-sized fliers.
The space was an art gallery, which displayed vibrant-colored paintings.
In addition to my book, there was a display of feminist poetry.
I left no stone unturned in order to promote the Austin Writers Roulette, which conveniently took place the day after the festival ended.
I loved that among the feminist poetry, these four kitchen magnets were all together.
As I’d suspected, the rain or the traffic kept the crowd away. Nonetheless, I enjoyed taking my participants through the steps of their insomniacs booklet.
First, they wrote a list, in words or phrases, of what kept them up at night. Then, they wrote a one-sentence “elevator pitch” of each insomnia-inducing item on their list. Next, they visualized and wrote themselves as the hero. They could have had superpowers, a sidekick, cool gadgetry, and time-travel. Lastly, they used the remaining time to develop at least one of the ideas with themselves as the hero.
I gave them the most time to work on this part since I wanted them to walk away with at least one tangible thing.(Speaking of walking away, the doorstop caught my attention, along with the persistent rain.)
When I returned to the group, I saw at least one of my participants had been cured of insomnia. More proof the process works!