B"H

Who *are* You? Who Are You *Really*?

I recently attended a women writers' conference that took place here
in Tzfat. The conference is held every year in either Yerushalayim or
Tzfat, the two "artsy craftsy" cities in Israel. Forty of the most
popular and prolific writers in Israel, who happen to be women, were
in attendance. I was only asked to attend because someone is always
needed to gawk at one of these affairs.

We were were asked to write impromptu for some fifteen minutes on
subjects the enablers of the workshops threw at us, then to read our
writing aloud.

"Who are you? Who are you, really?" was one of the topics. Think
that's a tough assignment? It's worse than you think. It was an
workshop aimed at honing our skills as interviewers. We were asked to
get up and begin to walk at a leisurely pace around the room. After
a few minutes the enabler said: "Stop. Turn to the woman closest to
you and sit across from her. Now ask her: "Who are you? Who are you,
really?" Listen to her very carefully. Watch her body language. Pay
attention to the her nuances." We did so. Then were told to return
to our original seats and given fifteen minutes to write up what we
observed. We then read our observations aloud, being very sensitive
to the other woman's feelings, obviously. It was a powerful exercise.

Now, I ask you: "Who are *you*? Who are you, really and how does
that affect the choices you make about what you eat?"

You've all got 15 minutes. Start hammering away on those keyboards.

Doreen