Journal May 2026 Release_Full Edition - Flipbook - Page 78
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good morning to me, and I said good morning back. (Laughing). And I
know that might seem small to you.
Brian:
…That does not…seem small at all.
Will:
(Enthusiastically). Not small.
Brian:
That feels tectonic.
Will:
And I did this (waving his hand in a gesture of “Hi!”), I did that, I did
one of those. So, you know what I'm saying? I did one of those, and it
was a big deal, man. So, to answer your question, what it's been like
with the kids, it's been like it usually is, but augmented, like I'm
happier, like, and I'm noticeably happier. Internally and externally,
it's been freaking great.
In the exchange above, my question invited Will to “get beneath the surface” of a
particular moment at school he referred to as “being in a good mood”. He started
telling me about how this good mood affected him in his classroom with his
students. Now, you may have guessed, but Will is a good teacher. At this point in
our working relationship, there is no doubt about that. So, the story of how his
“good mood” helped him teach had no gravity to it. We might as well talk about
the kind of car he drives to and from school. The question I asked was intended to
redirect his authorial attention towards what else may have happened, to look
again at the story of this particular day in which a good mood won out. The
question, one that illustrated the conditions in which his bad mood should have
prevailed, led to a lively review of how an alternative mood succeeded, warming
him up to his “dickhead” vice principal. And this set the course for us to discuss
further how this act might be the beginning of warming relations between him
and some of the staff he’s come to feel so negative about.
Animative Descriptions and Vivifying Discovery: Inviting Clients Into The Marvel Of Their Understory
Journal of Contemporary Narrative Therapy, May 2026 Release, p. 52-79.
www.journalnft.com
