An Eventful Adventure (It's Been a While)!

This past Saturday I trotted off to Congregation B'nai Israel (CBI), on Galveston Island for a "Realizing Your Creative Soul" workshop. The facilitator was a woman I discovered when I was perusing the website of the Jung Center in Houston. I was looking for something artsy-fartsy to do.

I went all by myself, as I often do for events like this. I met several interesting people, but for the most part it was a matter of working alone in community. I do wish I'd been a tiny bit more outgoing and had gotten more than just the first names of the women working beside me.

During the morning, we gathered images and words that appealed to our hearts. We were to do this without thinking about it. Once we had images gathered we created what the brochure called "New Reality Boards." I've always loved the cutting and pasting work of doing collages. It wasn't long before I was in a state of "flow" and I was unaware of time passing as I worked.

This is my board. I'd thought I might add a few more things to cover the small blank areas but I'll probably end up leaving it as it is. I chose the green background because it reminded me of growing things. Continuing growth is something I aspire to.

This little girl appealed to me immediately. The words below are a "found poem" of sorts (words below). Gratitude, hope, and grace are such key words for me. In the beginning, the rabbi sang the Hallelujah song. He said some of the words were a little bit different. What I remember was "as long as there is breath, hallelujah." That phrase, that intention, pierced my heart. I cried a bit. Things felt very sacred at that moment. Then we sat down to work. Or play.

We sent our critics (and I also sent my gremlins and judges) over to sit in the congregational chairs while we worked. They weren't allowed into our process. I tried to leave them there but I think one or two of them slipped back into my car when I opened the door to put my board in the back seat.

This is another favorite part of my board. I'm so clever. The "She embraced her story" first said "We embraced her story." I search for the s, h, and e to glue over the "we."

Here are other pieces that spoke to me. "You are not alone" is an old message. I've felt that so much in the last several years. Then there is the small green message, "I am not my diagnosis." No one there knew any of my history. I told no one any of my story. It just didn't seem necessary. That was sort of freeing in an odd way.

This is not a great photo because of the glare, but what I love about it is that phrase, "Just try and kill this." It was an article about growing plants and I've recently become interested again in nurturing house plants. As I've said before, in this period of my life, there is something hopeful about growing things. And with some of the things in this period of my life, I've had to reach down and find that tenacious spirit, the tiny bit sassy spirit that secretly whispers, "just try and kill this." It's not always easy. But always, as long as there is breath...hallelujah.

And finally, this quote from Agatha Christie? Amen, and amen! And hallelujah!

"It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy." This kind of adventure (artist's date?) makes me happy (ba-da-boom, Project Thoughtful Thursday, week two response).

Words in the found poem:

Living,

with gratitude and devotion

hope and grace

dream philosophy: live with optimism, renew with hope

create expressions of love

a quest