Individuals age 55+…Fran and Kathleen are eager to help you get your stories down. We are leaders, not professionals. If you’ve ever felt like writing but are intimidated by the idea of learning with a pro, give us a shout. Our online program is easy to follow and a great way to get your stories down for future generations, or to exercise your imagination! Ask about our new low price.
Journey With Me at the CALA Conference & Trade Show
M. David Vail of Connecticut won the raffle we offered during the Connecticut Assisted Living Association’s Conference & Trade Show held March 4, 2010. The prize is a Journey With Me Program Workbook, valued at $1700. David entered for The Saybrook at Haddam (www.thesaybrookathaddam.com) and we are delighted they will have a chance to use the program there.
Writing is a gift. It is a gift we give ourselves. It is a gift we give others. It is a gift we all share.
A step beyond journaling, writing enables us to share our creativity and inner thoughts. Writing produces a great sense of accomplishment. It is enjoyable to go back and read things we’ve written a month, a year or even a decade ago. It reunites us with our former selves: who we were at the time of the writing and how we viewed our characters and plot.
It’s fun to look back and think, “Wow, I wrote that! It’s pretty good!” That sense of pride and accomplishment is irreplaceable.
At Journey With Me, we talk a lot about “linking generations.” More than just exposing one generation to another, linking generations enables each age group to learn more about each other and even to learn from one another.
Seniors acquire a new understanding and appreciation for the younger generation. They begin to understand why youth make the choices they do. Simultaneously, they realize that their words and experiences are valued, and not only by their peers.
College students grow to know the older generation for which they will one day be responsible. They gain more insight into the older generation’s needs and values. They learn from seniors things no formal academia will impart; practical life experience and traditional values. To learn more, visit www.journeywithmellc.com.
“I have enough to do without offering residents another program,” you might be thinking.
Or, “The economy is shaky; the last thing I want is to increase my budget.”
These are both completely understandable sentiments when presented with something new for your assisted living facility. But remember, the key to success in any business is not to remain status quo and trying to keep up with what you are currently doing; it is to be a step ahead. That is what moves a business forward.
Undoubtedly you already offer residents quality services. You ensure their daily needs are met and surpassed. But what about keeping their minds healthy and active? Not just entertained, but really working, with purpose. Journey With Me is designed to show seniors that their lives have value and their words are important to their peers and to other generations.
Writing through Journey With Me has given new spark to participants’ lives. They get to know one another on a very different level, thus fostering community. They accomplish goals they otherwise would never have thought possible, enabling them to have success at any age. And they leave a legacy for future generations.
Journey With Me is a one-time investment for your facility. Once purchased, it can be used repeatedly. That’s sound budget sense.
“I have a hard time relating to that fear,” I admitted.
My mother, JWM founder Fran Lyons, and I were discussing one woman’s hesitance to sign up for our online course, even though this gal felt strongly she would enjoy it.
“Because you’re educated,” she said to me, her gaze unwavering.
“Maybe,” I relented.
“You know how to put words on paper – you always have. This woman is not educated and is afraid of making a fool of herself.”
Now I could relate. I thought of all the things that are outside my comfort zone, that cause actual fear in me even though there is nothing to truly be afraid of. For starters, there’s public speaking. Is something awful going to happen to me if I speak in front of a crowd? Will I be struck by lightning? Stoned by the audience? Will they burst into laughter at my ineptitude? No, of course not, but in my mind I am afraid of looking foolish, just as this woman was feeling about JWM online.
I had to think about this one in a new light. I can identify with trying something one is uncertain about. But I also think that some of that fear is not well founded. For Journey With Me is not about dazzling people with poetic prose; it is about sharing real stories. It’s about linking with others to share the values and traditions of an oft-forgotten generation.
The most important aspect of good writing is having something compelling to write. It’s not the punctuation or the spelling that make a reader want to know more (although these must be correct in a final draft if a reader is to follow along). Instead, it is the subject matter and the author’s voice that make readers eager to turn the next page. Spelling and punctuation can be learned, but what JWM participants bring to the table is of far greater importance. They bring their experiences and their life wisdom; their imagination and ideas. These form the foundation of good creative writing. The details of correct writing and the principles of expanding a setting or showing a character can be added via our JWM lessons. They don’t have to be there in the beginning.
Our program is one of supportive learning. The goal is to help older adults just get their stories down initially, and then we begin to hone them and really make them shine as we study the art of creative writing.
We hope fear won’t hold anyone back from writing with us. As Kitty Wilson, founder of MindStretch likes to say, “You need to get out of your comfortable box.” Once you do, you can experience things you never imagined possible.
“I’ve learned that the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.” I love this quote from 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney. Seniors have great life experience to share, when given an opportunity.
My grandmother was one of thirteen children, and as a busy mom myself (of only two!) I loved to hear how Grandma’s mom handled it all. Siblings helped out and were mother’s helpers, which drew the family closer in many ways. I vividly remember one cold morning following an ice storm when trees had fallen around Grandma’s house and on her attached garage. Her power lines were down in her yard, and her house was cold. She looked frightened. While family and neighbors worked outside to help clean up the destruction, we sat in her kitchen and she told me many of her life stories. She tottered about, fixing us tea. Despite the mayhem outside and the cold inside, she had a glow about her as she shared her stories with me.
This is a little of what Journey With Me can accomplish; that internal glow can be kept aflame. While seniors are facing the difficulties of aging – be it moving into a new place that doesn’t yet feel like home or coping with a physical challenge or a change in life circumstance – their minds can be kept engaged and their true selves can be celebrated through their own writings. Younger generations can learn a great deal about life and values just by reading the seniors’ works.
No trip to the classroom necessary.
It was heartwarming to share Journey With Me with all of you who attended the Mass-ALFA Conference on November 5. Your positive response to our program helps us to realize our dream of enabling seniors to experience intergenerational learning while reaching their goals, feeling valued and being put to work all at the same time.
