It's A New Year! Time To Make A Collage!

When a new year rolls around, or I sense it's time to make a change in my life, or I just need to connect with my self again, I find myself reaching for a pile of old magazines. I quickly flip through the pages, tearing out images and words that seem to leap off the page at me. I don't worry about the design or why the words intrigue me, I just keep flipping and tearing. Once I have a pile of seemingly random images and words, I start cutting and arranging them on my canvas, which is often just a scrap piece of cardboard. I learned this creative exercise from a dear friend more than a decade ago, and it never ceases to amaze me! When I look at my finished collage I always feel like my heart is saying, "See, this is who you are... these are your dreams... this is your path."

Creating with our hands is one of the best ways for us to connect to our heart, and this is why I love creating art with children! Many of the children I work with as an Occupational Therapist struggle with their challenges and with feeling "different". When I create art with a child, I am inviting them to connect with their heart and their uniqueness. When they share their creation with someone they love, they aren't just sharing their heart, but they are inviting them to love them back. That connection is so important for all of us, but especially for children. Each piece of art is one of a kind just like the child who created it. It brings me great joy to use art at the center of my therapy sessions, because I know it's not just helping the child overcome their physical challenges, but it is helping them see and feel how special they already are!