This class is an excellent way to get in touch with issues of grief and loss and transform them through the creative arts. It doesn’t matter how artistic you see yourself as being or not being -- if you are alive, you are creating every second! The overall purpose of this class will involve acquainting participants with several creative portals for exploring and transforming grief and loss. Then each participant will begin creating their own final project, choosing a creative medium as a means of sharing—and healing—their experience of grief and loss. This could be by actually writing down, and then telling a story, creating a song or chant to sing, painting a picture and describing its creation, coloring a sacred healing mandala, creating a photographic collage, videotaping a unique dance or sacred movement, writing a poem, or even a combination.

Each week I’ll help you explore a particular creative technique for working with grief and loss. After we talk about each creative approach, I will ask you to practice it the following week, bringing in memories of grief and loss as you use the technique. See what works well and not so well for you. The most important element will be to stretch yourself—allow yourself to be imperfect and even foolish. Allow the sacred energy of Spirit to flow with you as you create; then everything you channel through you is perfect just as it is!

You will be journaling about your experiences; be prepared to share a little of this with the class each week. Depending upon which creative avenue we are exploring, I will ask you to share your ideas, no matter how sketchy, with other class members by sending email for poetry and writing, and JPEGs for pictures, art work. For dance or movement, you’ll need a means of creating a video that you can send via internet. Once you’ve decided on the medium (or media) you’d like to use for your grief and loss storytelling share, you will begin creating that. In the final two sessions, class members will share their stories with us, taking about 10 to 15 minutes to do so. You will have plenty of loving support, and I will sometimes ask that you take a risk you may not be completely comfortable with. Remember, the worst you can do is fall flat on your face; that’s one of the easiest ways of surrendering to God, according to the mystics! And becoming vulnerable is also how we heal.