Trevor Corkum

In life and in practise, I am guided by a strong set of values.

I am grateful for the guidance, mentorship, and ongoing support of so many incredible teachers in my life. I believe teachers come in all forms--formal mentors, family, friends, even strangers whose impact may not be felt until much later in our lives.

As a teacher, a student, an ally, and a human being, I strive to incorporate the following values into all that I do.

compassion

Our lives are guided by stories of all kind--stories we tell ourselves about who we are and about the world, stories about our place in that world. Stories passed down through families, stories entrusted to us by others. The grand narratives of our time: power and possibility, resistance, hope and resilience.

I live and teach from a place of deep compassion--for the earth, for my students, for each one of us doing our best to live and make change in a challenging world. This means having compassion for myself and for you, leading with humility, and ensuring that my classes and workshops are safe and respectful spaces where discovery, joy, vulnerability, and growth can flourish.

creativity

Like Jeanette Winterson, I believe the greatest learning happens when we take risks. We each have the right to decide what risk looks like in our own lives. In my teaching, I take care to create  conditions and space for creativity to take hold, listening closely to your intentions and goals for a particular project or workshop and adjusting my approach to support these goals.

We all have the right to express, as best as we can, our deepest emotions--fear, joy, grief, shame, ecstasy, and connection--on the page and in the world. Tapping into our innate creativity and finding ways to craft our stories is not about seeking perfection, but a step in an ongoing journey of understanding, self-acceptance, practise, and connecting more deeply with the world.

Creativity is nurtured when we find the sweet spot between compassionate discipline and surrender. As writers, we grow to trust our instincts about when to continue along a certain path, when to pull back, and when to shift direction. My work involves providing support, guidance, and practical advice to help you nurture greater trust in your own creative process.

Sometimes we do this through playful writing exercises or interactive storytelling designed to shake up or redirect creative energy. Other times we'll find ways to honour the difficult magic of staying present when the work is tough. At all times, we'll honour and cultivate a sense of creativity as practise, play, and a gateway to engaging more fully with our experience of being alive.

connection

We're all connected--to one another, to the world, to the vast and expansive cosmos. For me, the best writing comes from a place of mystery, becoming comfortable with the truth of how little we know about the world. This means finding the tension between confidence and humility on the page.

Because our bodies are the receptors for our life experience--both conscious and unconscious--I also believe that deep joy and learning occurs when we are connected to our bodies. In a world where this is difficult for many of us, and where so many forces conspire to separate us from ourselves and one another, I am committed to teaching and writing from an embodied place that seeks to reconnect us to our own gifts, intuition, and innate wisdom. I often incorporate breath work, movement, and other simple forms of embodied work into my classes and workshops. Tap into the visceral experience of being alive through writing from a deeper awareness of your own felt and lived experiences. 

service

Writing--and living--do not happen in a vacuum. We live in a world of great inequity, at a time when the resources of the earth are being overexploited, and when many of our fellow humans continue to live with daily fear and desperation.

I was raised with a bias toward action; to try to understand the connections at the root of many of the world's great challenges. My training as an adult educator has gifted me with the opportunity to consider how my own work and values can align to be of service to others. Through One Life, and my consulting company One World, I use my experiences in global education, in writing, and in teaching to connect folks to one another and into a deeper experience of being in the world.