During this week’s session, we’ll continue our exploration into identity by sharing with one another the various ways we define ourselves and embrace and experience our cultural backgrounds and heritages.
For the session, please bring a bag containing 2 to 4 items of your choice that represent or speak to one or more elements of your identity/identities and/or cultural background. (If you don’t have access to the objects themselves, you can always bring pictures of them instead!)
As we all know, conversations about social identity can be powerful and also make us feel vulnerable–so please reflect back on our opening session and our expectations for mutual respect and communication. Please, when others are sharing, actively listen with compassion, seeking to learn from what they have to say and are sharing. Listen from a place of caring and openness.
During our session, I’ll ask you to (1) join a group of 3-5 and have you each share about 1/2 of your items, noting to others what the items represent about your identity/identities. After the first round of sharing, I’ll (2) reconvene new groups and complete the same activity with the new group. We’ll then (3) convene as a group of the whole–and you’ll then share one item with the cohort and we’ll reflect on the activity and process.