Jolene Sheehan and Anne Delargy ran this fascinating and thought-provoking session. Jean Thompson, writing afterwards, described the contents of the session so clearly that it makes an ideal introduction to this blog post:
“Who would have thought that a game of Snakes and Ladders would lead to such deep and philosophical discussion about the meaning and turning points in life?
Jolene started us off on our journey by giving us each a small tile (different for everybody) that she had painted with an image and we had to think about how this image could help us reflect on the turning points in our lives. Anne guided us through the subsequent reflection and discussion engendered by the tile, then introduced us to the game of Snakes and Ladders. Good fun as always but I don’t remember this game when played with young children ever led to such a deep discussion. But why not? It complemented perfectly the previous reflection using the tiles.
Going up ladders were the positive turning points in our lives, going down snakes the more negative ones. But can you have one without the other? How much does chance play a part in decisions and turning points? When you slide down a snake, how can you stir yourself again to get up the next ladder? ”
We hope you enjoy reading the following pieces of writing inspired by the session, including more from Jean later.
Continue reading “Turning points”
The Stories of Our Lives 