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!

Dear Me From July 2021,

It’s Me From March 2022! I’ve come to sit with you in this den made of sticks, in these snowdrop carpeted woods on the undulating Sharpham estate in Devon. Spring hope is bursting through the decaying remnants of your summer’s leaves. There are perfect new buds on the trees, quivering with the potential for another vibrant summer.

I come baring two huge hot-pink flowers that I found on the ground. One of them is for you. 

In session two of The Mindful Play Inquiry Online, we began by exploring our favourite kinds of play when we were kids and our favourite kinds of play now. We pondered on why people play and what might stop up playing as adults.

Then we dived into a non-verbal, physical play session. At the end of playtime, I asked the group to reflect on the quality of their play throughout the session. They were invited to share some actions that supported them finding their way into the play zone.

After the session, I took their chat box sharings and crafted them into three poems: What Does Play Do For You? What Stops Grown Ups Playing? and What Can You Do To Get Into The Playzone?

Massimo “Max” Cavallini is an Italian clown and fool, living in the Netherlands. He invited me to talk about how the Fool meets the Clown, ahead of his new two day workshop called "The Fool through the eyes of a Clown.” 

In the first week of January 2022, Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking in Stroud opened its loving arms to me and two collaborators, Dominique and Chez. We spent four days in and around a grand old Victorian stone built house, diving into my continuing exploration of body-based and nature-inspired approaches to writing, which formed the backbone of my Arts Council funded ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ project in 2021. 

For our Hawkwood retreat, we added our shared practice of “Fooling” into the mix....The following blog offers a peek into our process.

To mark the turning of the years, I started 2022 on my meditation cushion in the company of over a hundred people, scattered across the globe. I’d signed up for an online meditation retreat, led by one of my favourite teachers, Martin Aylward and assisted by Milla Gregory. For four days, we gathered on Zoom to explore presence, letting go and opening up, through guided meditations, dharma talks, breakout discussions and invitations for solo investigations.

I had a number of lightbulb moments about how to let go which I’d like to share with you, as well as some meditations for you to try. But first I’d like to give you a little context to help you accompany me on my journey towards understanding more about the power of surrender.