SHOW UP, DO THE THING, AND YOU MIGHT SURPRISE YOURSELF!

SHOW UP, DO THE THING, AND YOU MIGHT SURPRISE YOURSELF!

An important message for me, and for anyone who is listening to the “why nots” instead of the “why tos”, especially anyone wondering whether they should try out a Songwriting for Non-Songwriters workshop.

What a whirlwind of a week at the TheMHS Learning Network conference.

Big ideas, inspiring keynotes, intriguing presentations and engaging creative workshops… Apparently, one of those workshops was mine.

But confidence does not always arrive before the work. Sometimes, it arrives because someone shows up and does the work anyway.

IT WAS AMAZING!

The workshop and teaching systems I have developed, along with the presentation skills I have honed, are apparently not only valid, useful, engaging and change-making in small Zoom sessions or rooms in community centres, not that it would diminish their worth if they were.

Apparently, they are also all those things in national mental health conferences with some of the greatest thinkers and doers in this space.

That was a big thing to discover.

The work had been developed through experience: through songwriting, through teaching, through facilitating workshops and through finding ways to make creativity feel accessible to people who may never have considered themselves creative.

It had been tested in smaller spaces, with people taking those first tentative steps towards writing songs.

But there is a particular kind of vulnerability that comes with bringing that work into a professional conference environment. The audience is new. The expectations feel higher. The possibility of being judged can become very loud.

The workshop was an opportunity to find out whether the approach could hold its own in that setting.

Apparently it could.

IT DID NOT RUN SMOOTHLY!

There were tech issues.

My nervous, scattered brain lost its place in the notes. I made points long after everyone had already read them at the top of the PowerPoint slide I was about to move on from.

But I rolled with the chaos, made it part of the fun with some tasty twists of playful self-deprecation, and kept going.

IT DIDN’T HAVE TO RUN SMOOTHLY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

The process did exactly what it was supposed to do.

With a few quick tips and a few little exercises, everyone in that room began writing a song.

Some people even went well above and beyond the brief and almost completed songs, or at least the lyrics to them, within that one-hour workshop.

The group connected through shared storytelling. Myths were busted. The impossible mountain was broken down into the first steps at its base, and people took some of those steps through two- to three-minute exercises.

No one needed to know music theory. No one needed to play an instrument. No one needed to arrive with a polished idea or a lifetime of creative experience. They just needed to be willing to begin.

That is the heart of Songwriting for Non-Songwriters: creating a welcoming space where people can explore ideas, memories, emotions and stories without needing to prove that they belong there first.

ONE WORD ABOUT HOW THEY FELT AFTER THE SESSION

• Inspired

• Happy

• Skilled

• Buzzed

• Excited

• Creative

• Motivated

• Free

• Calm

FAVOURITE THING?

“All of it! Loved your way of describing the techniques and getting us into writing lyrics. I can’t believe I actually have a song idea and half a song in an hour. Amazing!”

“The sharing of other people’s creations.”

“Easy content and downloads.”

“Ben is great. Friendly and relatable.”

“Reflecting deep into my senses.”

BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS

“It only takes a few simple exercises to generate ideas.”

“To keep focusing on creative expression in my personal and professional life!”

“Loved it! OMG, I can write a song.”

“To just get started and think of ways to incorporate this into my teams, both for people accessing services and to support staff, team building and reflective practice.”

“That it is more fun than I would ever have thought.”

Those responses show that songwriting does not have to be intimidating, complicated or reserved for people who already see themselves as musicians.

They show what can happen when people are given a clear starting point, a little encouragement and permission to play.

THANK YOU!

Thank you so much to everybody who showed up for me and themselves in the session.

Thanks to my new conference buddies for keeping my nerves in check on the day: you know who you are.

Thanks to anyone who told someone to show up or talked about the session afterwards.

I cannot wait to continue this work in any space where I am lucky enough to do so, online or in person.

Massive thanks to the MHS Learning Network and all the conference sponsors, particularly the lived experience bursary sponsors who made it possible for me to attend the whole conference.

SHOW UP. DO THE THING.

The inner critic may still have plenty to say.

It may say that someone else is more qualified. It may say that the work is not ready, the idea is not good enough, or the time is not right.

It may say, “Why bother?”

But there is another question worth asking:

Why not?

Show up.

Do the thing.

Take the first small step.

You might surprise yourself.

If you would like to chat about exploring songwriting for yourself, your clients or your team, you can reach out via the Songwriting for Non-Songwriters contact form.