Communication Strategies Wk 2

Awareness leads to connection. In our second session of “Communication Strategies,” we exercised our “noticing muscles” and talked about how we can use new information to make new friends and deepen our existing relationships.

The poem “This Moment” by Eavan Boland is a careful description of a neighborhood at dusk. We are invited to notice “the stars and moths. And rinds slanting around fruit.” But we are also asked to make connections and to fill in the story. “Things are getting ready to happen out of sight,” the poet tells us. We asked the girls to imagine these things and to think of themselves as detectives.

The notebook is a useful tool for a detective and we encouraged the girls to study the group and write down their observations. We asked them to notice ten things they had in common with other people in the group and to thing about how we can use these commonalities to connect.

On the flip side, we can also connect through our differences. Asking open ended questions is a great way to engage in conversation and deepen our relationships.

Everyone enjoyed giving compliments. One girl echoed the group sentiment, saying “Giving compliments makes me feel good about myself.” Noticing the good in others can create a sense of well-being.

Next week, we’ll be talking more about connection and how we can engage in conversations. For homework, we’ve asked the girls to map out how they are connected to the others in the group and identify what specifically creates this connection.

#girlgroup #girlsrule #letstalk