For over ten years, a one-day workshop in Conversations Inviting Change has been part of the Masters in Applied Narrative Medicine at the Institute of Management Studies in Milan (ISTUD). The Masters is a training programme designed to help healthcare professionals use narrative medicine in their clinical and social practice. The workshop has been part of a longstanding collaboration between John Launer and Maria Giulia Marini, who is also the founder and president of EUNAMES, the European Narrative Medicine Society.
In September 2024, John ran what will probably be his last workshop for the Masters. He is now handing over to Anna Beug, one of our recently accredited CIC facilitators, to continue the collaboration. In celebration of his visit, the students at the workshop this year wrote a “Minestrone song” to mark the occasion, with the help of Artificial Intelligence, and adapting the now famous CIC metaphor of dumpling soup. You can read the words of the song below in English and in the original Italian. If you are a member or friend of the Association of Narrative Practice in Health Care (ANPH) you can hear it sung to music on our group WhatsApp dated 16 November 2024.
The Minestrone Song
John Launer explains to doctors
Conversation is soup
Broth is the relationship
Vegetables are facts.
With conversation
The whole narrative changes
But listen carefully to the advice
Stir the soup.
Listen listen move the soup
Every word is a portion
Gather the facts carefully
Share without hesitation
Every soup is different
Every story is a universe.
The details make the weight
But don’t forget the meaning
Listen listen move the soup
Every word is a portion.
Gather the facts carefully
Share without hesitation
In every conversation
There is a bit of interpretation.
It’s not just information
It’s heart and connection
Italian version
John Launer spiega ai medici
La conversazione è minestrone
Il brodo è la relazione
Le verdure sono i fatti
Con la conversazione
Cambia tutta la narrazione
Ma ascolta bene il consiglio
Mescola il minestrone
Ascolta ascolta muovi il minestrone
Ogni parola è una porzione
Raccogli i fatti con attenzione
Condividi senza esitazione
Ogni brodo è diverso
Ogni storia è un universo
I dettagli fanno il peso
Ma non dimenticare il senso
Ascolta ascolta muovi il minestrone
Ogni parola è una porzione
Raccogli i fatti con attenzione
Condividi senza esitazione
In ogni conversazione
C’è un po’ di interpretazione
Non è solo informazione
È cuore e connessione