EXERCISE 2— GIVING IT ALL AWAY

In our culture, few of us take the time to write our "wills" until we have reason to believe that our death is imminent. The assumption is commonly made that a will is not necessary until our elder years. Even then "wills" are often written in a language that does not adequately convey the personal feelings and meaning involved. This exercise is designed to assist you in exploring the feelings that might be associated with this process of giving up our prized possessions and leaving them to the persons of our own choosing.

Procedures

1. Think about 10 prized possessions you each currently own. Write the name of each possession on a sheet of paper. After each possession, briefly write what you value most about the possession.
2. Then, for each possession, you will choose some person you would most like to give that possession to. Choose a different person for each possession.

Debriefing

1. What was this experience like for you?
2. What kind of feelings did you become aware of during this experience?
3. What was it like for you to describe your valued possessions?
4. What was it like to try to choose some person to give your possessions to?
5. What kind of feelings do you now have about your possessions? Your loved ones?
6. What feelings do you now have about writing "wills"?