My class is called "Memory Journaling with Evan." The class is for people who are interested in reminiscing and sharing their memories to reflect on their lives, learn more about themselves, and explore their own minds. I should note that this class is not therapy and the goal is to not treat mental health problems. The class is just a safe, warm, respectful, non-judgmental, confidential place for people to discuss memories.
Students will learn journaling practices to help them remember their experiences and respond to questions so they can reflect on their memories and their lives. Students will obtain material for potential autobiographies (or ideas to incorporate in their future autobiographies if they are interested in writing one). After the class, students will have a written record of different important memories in their lives. After the class, students will walk away with a greater appreciation for the incredible mental process of remembering and reminiscing. Students will experience the joy of recalling memories, or perhaps the nostalgia that reminiscing on memories can bring.
I am the ideal instructor for this subject because of my memory journaling experience, which I have been doing over 14 years. I love remembering different experiences in my life, writing about these experiences, and writing about what they meant (or didn’t mean) to me. I love looking back on my old journals and seeing what I was doing or thinking many years ago. I love seeing what has changed or what hasn’t changed about me or my life when I read these old journals. I love the reliability of having a written record of my memories that I can look at any time. Now I want to help others do the same with my memory journaling class.
Classes will be conducted via online video calls. There will be 8 sessions in total: memory journaling 101, early childhood memories, teenage or adolescent memories, early adulthood memories, meaningful memories, significant memories about art/ music/ film, nostalgic memories, and a "meta-level" class about the role of memory in our lives.
Each session will have a theme and each sessions will start the class with a journaling prompt that students should have completed before the session. The teacher will offer the students a safe, judgement-free space for students to discuss their responses to the journaling prompts and allow the students to share memories, insights about them, thoughts about them, etc. The teacher will offer students the chance to ask questions as well. Most of the class will be discussion. The class will end with journaling prompts for the next class.
This class is also available every Monday and Wednesday from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM Mountain Time. If the schedule below doesn’t work for you, please use the "Suggest Your Own Meeting Time" feature to let us know your preferred time.
