Impact case study: Vivy

“At the beginning I didn’t though think of myself as a writer. I have had a bad experience of writing growing up. In China you do writing to pass tests. It is not creative at all. I never had many chances to do art activities. You go to school, you come home and study. When I started coming to the group, I was intimidated by the idea of writing, because I still felt these feelings from school. But it was not long before I realised this is so different to writing at school. I realised I enjoyed writing.

Writing can be overwhelming; it can be hard to know where to start. Mymoma shows us how to take the first steps and I grew to enjoy the methods she uses to help us create. If you ask me, ‘write a poem about love,’ it can be hard to know where to begin, I mean how to do you even start? But Mymoma breaks it down into stages, like when we wrote about love, we made it like a recipe. So, we thought about words to do with love to make up the ingredients. Then she asked us to think about actions to do with cooking. So I had ‘chop up resentment into small pieces and shove it into the sauce and cook it until it is softer and more mild.’ What I have learnt is that the method is very important. We get guidance, but you are free to choose how to respond. I love having this freedom because my life has not been about freedom.

I enjoy the writing, but I also enjoy listening to other people’s work, as it helps you open your mind and think differently about people. We share our words and we don’t judge. Everyone needs that little push to believe in themselves, especially when English is not your first language. This is not an ESOL, but we still find that we improve our English. I think maybe my English improves better here than in other kinds of English lessons. We learn to feel the words and see their shapes and all their sides.

Step by step I think I am growing in confidence. Mymoma encouraged me to do a performance at the library, that was a confidence boost. I found I had a hidden ability. This is not something I ever thought I could do. I didn’t believe it was possible. I do art projects and now I am bringing my poems to my art, placing poems on my sketches. It helps to have the group and know I can chat with Mymona about how to approach things and how to polish things.

I think this experience will carry on into my future. The writing helps me explore myself and explore the world and explore how it is for other people. Will it be practically useful? I don’t know. But that is what I love. Everything I have learned before in China, at school, everything my Mother wants for me, has been about purpose and utility. How nice for me to have something that is just nice, just for the sake of it being nice. Not to just to get to the next stage, the next test, the next school or work. In the future when I have children, I want my child to have a colourful childhood. I hope I am able to find a different way for my future and my child.”

Vivy