2022 has been a year of big change! I supported a couple of bus-loads of artists, facilitators and therapists, developed three new courses, finished my training as an arts therapies clinical supervisor and moved to the country to live and work at a meditation retreat centre!

Read on for an overview of my year.

In my last blog, Who Am I Without My Stories? I wrote about conducting an experiment here at the Devonshire meditation retreat where I now live and work. In 'The Non-Self Experiment', I tried to go a whole week without telling any of my stories to the retreatants. 

This blog charts my experiences through my second week of trying not to tell any of my stories. Come with me as I explore how I did it, what I learned and hold up a Brain Trumpet to listen to the parts of me who really want me to tell my stories, with added bonus inspiration from my friend Goetz, who is several hundred steps ahead of me in the exploration. 

It’s been nine weeks since Holly moved to The Barn retreat centre in Devon and this week she is doing a social experiment; this week, Holly has decided to not talk about her background AT ALL.

For one week only she is not Holly Stoppit the clown teacher / dramatherapist, she’s not the one who grew up in the circus, she’s not from Wales, Bristol or Milton Keynes, she’s not the 5th of 6 children, she’s not from Northern English and mysterious Jewish heritage, she’s not vegetarian, nor fond of cheese, dancing, wild swimming or walking up windy hills, she’s not a dyslexic writer, a newly qualified supervisor, a fool or a clown and she’s certainly not someone who is grieving lost babies.

She is just one of the coordinators, holly with a small h.

Gosh darn - people aren’t lying when they go on about moving house being one of the most stressful things you can do (my tripadvisor review of moving house: “I’ve had more relaxing times at other times in my life.”)

Dearest Reader,

It is nearly time for me to bid you a fond farewell for now. After 16 years of running my own courses, I'm taking a much needed break and immersing myself in community, nature and meditation for 9-12 months from the beginning of July.

This is a guest blog from Holly Stoppit Workshops poet-in-residence, Bee Golding charting her year as a poet, funded by the Art's Council's Developing Your Creative (DYCP) fund. Over to you Bee!

Holly Stoppit Workshops Poet In Residence, Beccy Golding strikes again!

We were very lucky to have Beccy amongst our tribe of fools on our new 5-day Site Responsive Fooling course over Easter. She documented her week by writing a poem every day.

Ah, the Easter holidays of 2022, back in the days when it was still cold enough to wear a coat, a gang of fools gathered in a school in central Bristol to explore Site Responsive Fooling.

It was such a beautiful week, that I wanted to share a taste of our time together. Below are pictures from the last day, when the fools all chose a performance site in or around the school.

This announcement first appeared in the Holly Stoppit Workshops Newsletter, April 2022.

Hello. I am Holly and I am a Public Shedder. “Shedding” is a term I got from Amy Turn Sharp (I've posted her writing below), for me Shedding means letting go of a reality that used to define me, it can be a painful process, full of grief and vulnerability. Usually considered a highly private activity, I have shed in public, on purpose, many times as a performer, public speaker and writer. I have also helped other artists to shed in my capacity as a facilitator of self-exploratory workshops and a director of comic autobiographical theatre.

This blog charts my Public Shedding journey, from novice, impulsive, not-very-aware-of-why-I-was-doing-it Shedder to professional Shedder and holder of fellow Sheddies. There are guest spots from writers Amy Turn Sharp and Jeff Foster and a couple of cameos from a friend on facebook and my Clinical Supervisor. Plus two useful lists (who doesn’t love a list?): Why Have I Been Shedding In Public? and Questions To Ask Yourself Before you Shed In Public. Enjoy!