KID smART

On Saturday we talked about intergenerational links.  We did a visualization.  Creating a bridge of life is being in different generations at different times with a story from each person.  Not knowing what’s going to be next.  As the years go on, the bridge of life stretches and grows stronger.

first off, i have to apologize for getting this particular blog posted way too late… but in the true essence of the Dream Catchers workshops let’s just say i’m “…slowing down time…” lol

Day Two  (June 25, 2008) found us Heart Searching w/visualization exercises that led into a Talking Circle. My group’s visualization was Footsteps. We opened with a ritual led by Andrew and then closed our eyes as Sonali read our visualization of walking on a path and leaving symbols for all those who come behind us of our purpose and life’s work. Tough one, but once i surrendered to her words immediately a torn audio cassette tape along w/a trail of footprints is what transpired. My message to all those who should follow me was to find your own meaning in whatever should be left on that tape once you piece it back together. 

Andrew made an agba(?) (So, sorry Andrew if i”m screwing that one up) which is the beginning of all things in Ife’ spirituality and a demonstration of patience.  Elise made a colorful inch worm and then confessed she wasn’t quite sure exactly what her message would be? Ed made a beautiful golden eye that was watching over all of us and we closed with a walk in ritual.  I wish i had some of the drawings to give you a better idea because they were quite cool

As usual .. im late. Forgive my seemingly lack of dedication to the cause, but its been a busy weekend. Ok enough with the excuses.

on Thursday we conducted a theatrical exercise that once again got everyone involved. after the group shared stories that they’d selected and read the previous day, and HOW these stories spoke to EACH of us respectively. we transitioned into a portion of the experience when we one by one moved, piece by piece constructed a staging area. each person placed an object, or arranged objects to create a comfortable space in which we could share our stories.

One member of the group stands .. walks into the staging area and bows to the rest of us, asking “would anyone like to share with me, the story of the most beautiful bird they’re ever seen?” a few of us raised our hands and were selected and asked to share our story. After sharing, the leading group member would proceed to act out the story of the bird (without words). The stories being acted out.. made us all laugh and smile. After completing the stories acting we’d move on to another storyteller and another actor. each time bowing to one another signaling that we are wholly listening. this creates a space that is welcoming and the person telling the story is made to feel accepted and heard.

we followed this with a brief discussion and ended the day with a short exercise that could have been extended for hours (in my opinion) . we stood in a circle facing inward and began with “these hands have…” and filled in the blank respectively . after the circle was complete we followed with ” these feet have…” and repeated the process.

i think largely this day of exercises showed me that. ONCE we find this special place of comfort within ourselves, we can naturally create this place out in the world ANYWHERE. When we can do this all of our masks come off and we can BE OURSELVES and be comfortable with that.

Today I will begin with where we ended. Sonali showed a brief powerpoint on the meaning of stories. Stories as mirrors; as reflections of our lives and the way our lives intersect. A mirror is not there to relay the problems or imperfections, but it is there to see uniqueness, patterns, history. The metaphor in these slides was that our stories weave us, reaffirm our connections to one another, and expose the similarities in our struggles and strengths. Today was about stories and relationships. It really is an incredible thing when you get a group of creative minds to answer “What brought you here?” The answers were varied, but there were continuities. The answers included emotions, practicalities, longings, disappointments, hopes, and perhaps most frequently, community.

We wanted to focus on New Orleans, on neighborhoods, on memories, stories, relationships, what bonds us, what we miss, what we dream of. Sonali started off the session with describing what happens after a breakdown. Whatever the breakdown might be, we all experience a very similar kind of pain and anguish, and also a strong yearning to heal and find belonging and meaning. This is a theme most of us have crossed paths with, whether we’re conscious of it or not. We question our paths, our histories, our futures, our reactions, and our sense of security and belonging in a fast-paced world with unexpected events. In order to practice stretching time and reflection, we were asked to tell stories. As we shared our stories of how we got to the workshop and what drove us to it, we started to feel a calmness and a focus; a new energy. We each placed a stone of some sort-most were these beautiful yellow, green or orange stones, like the colors of lemons and the Mediterranean Sea-to the center of the table, usually after holding it during the time we spoke. The rocks at the center of the table represented the completion of the story circle. We all contributed. Some felt a sincere energy shift, as we were all coming from a place of wanting to engage, explore, and build together as a community with shared experiences working with youth, creativity, community development, and in a post-Katrina environment. To make progress, we agreed that we had to begin with ourselves. To impact youth in the positive ways that we want to, we must explore what they explore.

So, as our group of twelve proceeded to communicate and find connections among our stories, we understood more about what binds us, what weaves our stories, and how we must also communicate with youth with the same kinds of openness and trust that, despite age and background, we all have something to offer one another, we all have stories, and we all yearn to connect and interact. And so, we literally wove our stories. With a ball of yarn, thrown from person to person, each person wrapping a section around their finger-and some people taking the time to further creatively twist and tangle-we created a web. To talk is to heal, and healing leads to rebuilding strength and moving forward. So we weave to reweave; we hear our stories, what and whom we love, miss, and long for, and we create a larger framework of our connected stories that stand as our building blocks. We mounted our web of yellow yarn on the wall to observe for the rest of the workshop. I felt so engaged during this exercise that asked us to reminisce the places or people that impacted, or stood out, in our community pre-Katrina. As someone who grew up coming to New Orleans, but only moved here after the storm, I longed to be on the porch Elise spoke of, or the auto shop Asante spoke of, or the drumming classes Andrew spoke of, or the church Ayo spoke of… When you hear these stories, they are told with such detail, recall… But then the next story told was of what changed. The church pews weren’t there, the crazy guy on his bike wasn’t riding down that street anymore, the tops of the houses in the lower 9 can’t be seen from the bridge anymore, and the UPS man actually asked for a signature!! Wherever we are coming from, and whatever lives we have lived, we are spending these days telling our stories, exploring our common ground and collective journeys, and with lots of passion, sadness, hope and humor, we’re trying to figure out how the heck we got here and where we’re going….

KID smART, The 7th Ward Porch and Dreamcatchers Foundation

These three organizations are working together to create a new meeting point where the arts and healing work can combine together to regenerate communities.  Over a four-day workshop, artists and community organizers from KID smART and The Porch are learning about how children and communities took on the journey to heal themselves in the tsunami in the villages affected in India three years ago.  

This blog tells the story of our discoveries as individuals going through a journey of self-reflection, the telling of stories and imagining a new reality for our communities.