A series of letters, stories and reflections on the way home. Daniel Silver is a poet, storyteller, art therapist and educator. Based in NT. Written versions of each episode along with photographs can be found at danielsilver.work. Or follow @danielsilver._ on Instagram.
One day someone is going to tell you to believe in yourself, even though you don't know what that means exactly.
In this presentation I describe the development of the thinking that led me to a method of instruction I've called the way home, which is an artificial/educational tool for acting out psycho-social development.
A story about innocence turned rogue in a small boy on a narrow bridge.
Freedom is a story in two parts, you've probably heard the first.
This is the beginning of a new chapter, and a note on therapeutic relationships in education. It contains two stories and an introduction to forgiveness.
This is the third step, to gather, also the end of the second chapter and the beginning of a new way through, to understand. Its a mouthful of precise language.
The second step on the way home. Is this Art? And an attempt to understand a conversation about abortion.
The first step on the way home is to sit down. This letter features Mr Puebla, the Little Clown and other examples.
This is letter is about looking for home and what it might mean to help others who are looking for it too. Its also an introduction to a project I'm currently undertaking at Arquetopia in Puebla, Mexico. And online version of this letter is at danielsilver.work Including a YouTube video of a story I make reference to in this episode.
I arrived after dark in Mexico City with one word of Spanish. By the end of the following day I was left with impressions. And something about distance.
This episode picks up where the last left off, with fragments and some old stories, and the promise of new ones. You can read an online version at danielsilver.work Note: The story of Murayana comes from Arnhem Land. I first heard it when I found an old recording from a project that took place at Gapuwiyak School in 2005. After that I asked some of my friends and family for more details. What I’ve written here is only a fragment.
This letter deals with doubt and the path of understanding without jumping to conclusions. It also describes meditation. You can read it here danielsilver.work
I hope this fragment sheds some light on the tyranny of comfort.
This letter is about the sweet nectar contained in stories. You can read it at danielsilver.work
This letter is a little rusty. Its about bedtime stories and Yolngu spirituality.
In this letter an old story comes to an end and the scene is set for another turn round the sun.
This is part two of a story from Alice Springs. Its about love and birth and separation and therapy.
This letter comes from Alice Springs. Its about a cafe that serves directions.
This letter deals with a very sensitive theme. Its about what it feels like to give up on a dream, perhaps its also about the origins of prayer and ritual. Its as far as I ever thought I'd go.
This letter contains descriptions of hunting and the history of eyes.
In this letter I tell a story about cats and seek forgiveness.
In this letter I introduce the Buffalo Boys, the Dusty Welder and avoid grand conclusions about community arts and project based learning and how important they are for kids.
One day my adopted mother said to me, 'Wakū, when you are alone, there are different ways of knowing things." This letter is a meditation on that. It's paired with my last letter, so while not essential, you might want to start there if you haven't heard or listened to that one.
In this letter I turn around and ask, 'How on earth did I get here?' The answer is a story about a snake and a turtle.
Comedy has a way of holding light to the darkness. Of making things easier to see. In this letter I attempt to learn its spell.
How should we respond to the needs of others in a world so full of causes for which to fight? This letter is my answer, which takes the form of a story.
In this letter I get a little angry. I write about Yolngu kinship and the importance of teaching to students' interests in a place so unique. In any place really.
There are some things so complex that only a story can tell them. This letter is about lessons learned by missionaries in the early part of the twentieth century. Its also about the stories we tell and might tell towards a better future.
In this letter I reflect of my time in Wallaby Beach, the common thread in a misfit bunch and settle into my new digs in Gapuwiyak (Lake Evella).
Written only a week after my arrival in Arnhem Land, NT, an area reserved for Aboriginal people since 1931. I spent my first two weeks in this unique part of the world learning to make yidaki (didgeridoo). At least that's what I thought I'd be learning.
In this introductory episode I speak about who I am and what I'm doing and what you might expect from this podcast. At least from the first few episodes.