Exploring Flourishing Spaces with MSc Students

 It was a pleasure to join Maria G. Turri and her students from the MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health for an engaging discussion on Flourishing Spaces. The session sparked insightful reflections, questions, and even some reverse mentoring for me! Always grateful for these opportunities to learn together.

The group created a word cloud on ‘flourishing’:

The following poem was co-created with the group after reading a poem called Take Care by Dr Shona Urquhart. I invite the group to finish the sentence ‘at work I feel cared for when’ and with their responses on menti, I craft a poem. The poems remind us that small acts can make a big difference to support the development of flourishing spaces for each other. Perhaps we can each choose something off the list to do to brighten the day for our colleagues.  :

At work I feel cared for when…

At work I feel cared for when someone has a good word for my work

When someone recognizes and appreciates the time and effort I put in

When someone brings me a bunch of flowers, I feel comfortable expressing my ideas

I am encouraged to be creative

At work I feel cared for when the children wish me good morning/ good afternoon

My kids share their snacks with me

My kids run to the door when they see me

The children ask about my day or weekend

At work I feel cared for when someone asks how I am and actually takes time to hear the answer

people check in on me, make sure I’m okay, make sure I’m happy, make sure my mind doesn’t wander away.

At work I feel cared for when my colleagues ask ‘are you ok?’ as at times it feels like I am in the Trenches

When any colleagues ask about my tiredness.

When we can be honest together about how difficult this work really is

At work I feel cared for when I get knocked over with hugs

— Prof. Louise