Last week/weekend I attended the BuildaBridge Institute, a 4 day training enrichment experience about transforming lives through the creative arts. It was an excellent program and I came away feeling very refreshed and inspired by all the good things that people are doing to pursue creativity and healing through the arts in communities in the U.S. and around the world.
My favorite part of the experience was all the hands on stuff we got to do. On the first day we talked about art as a metaphor and we each broke clay pots and had to put them back together with elmers glue. We talked about how this can relate to mending what has been broken in our lives, and even if it doesn't look the same when it gets put back together, it has gone through a transformation and can have a new purpose. We had to be patient with the glue, which could also be related to life in that we tend to want a quick fix to problems but healing takes time.
Another component of our time was assisting teachers in an after school arts program that BuildaBridge does with inner city kids in West Philly. We got to choose one of several workshops including dance, drama, photography & sculpture, and drumming. I chose the dance workshop and really enjoyed it. The kids in the photography class displayed their photos (see pic) on the last day and they were amazing!
We also got to chose an enrichment class to participate in during the evenings. I chose the mural class and it was pretty darn awesome! Our theme was heaven and earth, the idea that sometimes we see glimpses of heaven here on earth and how the two are so connected to one another. We each cut out 2 photos from National Geographic and spliced them together to create mini collages. Then we chose 3 collages for our mural and waaa laa! On the last night each class gave presentations and they were all amazing. To see the transforming power, significance, truth and beauty expressed in all of the participants and through all of the art forms was a very meaningful experience for me. That night I saw my very first bright and clear shooting star as I was walking back to the dorm room and it reminded me again of the little slices of heaven that we experience here on earth every day.
I am realizing I haven't had much time for processing in my life lately. It's like one thing happens and I am already moving on to the next. Am I really learning and reflecting on life's experiences or just letting them swish past me, never really letting them beat down to the core of me? I've noticed this with traveling overseas especially. I go on these trips and then come back and rush right back in to life and activities without fully remembering and reflecting on the experiences I've had. I think I've just become accustomed to constant transition and change in life so I learn to shove stuff under the rug and move on to the next experience. Perhaps thats why I feel so scattered in what my purpose is sometimes. I don't like feeling transient and I worry that I'll never be ready to put roots down and feel solid and grounded and therefore I'll never make a difference (me being pessimistic). At the institute they stressed the importance of reflection and processing and it made me realize that I just don't leave enough space for that in my life. So how do I change that?????
Today was a beautiful summer day, I enjoyed a good bike ride around town, picked up some Ethiopian food at Eastern Market and had a picnic with myself at the park at F & M. Oh the beauty of golden summer sun and gentle rustling breezes are enough to make one's heart wander to another place in time...
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