How have you had to be courageous in your life? Courage was the theme for the recent guided art meditation for women inside an immigrant family detention center. I asked the women to rapidly write when/how they had been courageous before they made the decision to leave their home country, during the process of leaving, and while on the journey to the USA. The written portion closed with a prayer for courage in the journey ahead.
Some of the women write much detail, spending 30 minutes or more writing their experiences and thoughts. Others write only a few sentences. It seems counter-intuitive to the women, but immediately following the written portion they begin adding layers of art. Quite often, the words are entirely covered and it is difficult to impossible to read any portion of what they had written. The idea with the written portion is to "dump" their feelings and experiences, to name their joys
and struggles and then to move into the art portion with the vision toward God's presence in their lives (past, present, and future).
During the art process, I talk with the women about the importance of symbols. There are a myriad of stencils and stamps available, they choose symbols and shapes which hold meaning for their lives and/or which bring them hope.
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| Flowers symbolize growth and new life. |
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| The butterfly (mariposa) is one of the most-selected symbols by the women. |
Some of the women write much detail, spending 30 minutes or more writing their experiences and thoughts. Others write only a few sentences. It seems counter-intuitive to the women, but immediately following the written portion they begin adding layers of art. Quite often, the words are entirely covered and it is difficult to impossible to read any portion of what they had written. The idea with the written portion is to "dump" their feelings and experiences, to name their joys and struggles and then to move into the art portion with the vision toward God's presence in their lives (past, present, and future).
