Playful and imaginative guided journal-writing can boost happiness and creativity, according to author Rebecca Loncraine, who will be leading a course on the subject in Marlborough next month.
During Creative Journal Writing for Well-Being, Rebecca promises to show attendees “how creative journal writing can be a powerful resource for navigating life with increased purpose, meaning, calmness and joy”.
Rebecca’s last book, The Real Wizard of Oz: The Life and Times of L Frank Baum was published by Penguin USA, and her latest project is a book about flight – she’s also a glider pilot.
But Rebecca doesn’t have her head in the clouds: she gained a doctorate in English Literature from Oxford University, and she has drawn on her training in Positive Psychology – the science of happiness – with Harvard professor Dr Tal Ben-Shahar in putting together her writing workshop.
During the one-day course, attendees will explore how to use journal writing to cope with change and loss; deepen a sense of purpose and direction; decrease stress and cultivate calm; get to better know the inner self; live mindfully; cultivate positive connections with others; find joy in the every day; and boost creativity.
“My writing workshops focus on exercises designed to unlock new angles on the material people want to write about,” explains Rebecca.
“They are less about sentence structure, grammar, language and style and more about finding unusual, fresh ways of seeing, hearing, and thus knowing things.”
This one-day course will be held at the Wellbeing Clinic, London Road, Marlborough from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, June 15 and repeated on Sunday, June 16. Attendance costs £50.
Places are limited and early booking is advisable. To secure a place, contact the Wellbeing Centre on 01672 513583.