Creativity for Transformational Change
There exists a sacred space, a space created and held by Golden Bay visionary Trudi Fersterer. Every Wednesday morning during the school terms a group of women meet, myself included, to open up, tune in and get creative- this is Creativity for Change. Based mostly around Art Therapy-type exercises facilitated by Trudi, we are able to utilize a number of resources and mediums (various sizes of paper, brushes and pens and rollers, acrylics, watercolours, crayons and dyes, oil and chalk pastels, glitter and glue) in addition to language, movement and song to traverse through elements of healing, trust, truth, forgiveness, growth and transformational change.
Every week begins with a series of rituals that welcome and ground us, allow us to tune into ourselves and connect with one another. A non-denominational spirituality roots our soles/souls deeply into the earth – our community – and allows each of us to engage with the shifting tides and ebbing dunes of what makes us tick. Intuition guides as we strive to move beyond the mind and into a freer expression. Not only is time thus set aside purely for ourselves, the sacred space has also fostered new friendships and connections that began in a safety net of compassion, mutual support and a core of honesty.
My own experience has been one of growth and the ever-constant flux of change. I feel supported by these women to be exactly as I am – voicing my fears and hopes and by my very flaws, perfect in sincere effort. My inherent creativity has been nurtured, my blind beliefs challenged, my spirit buoyed even in the darkest pits of emotional and physical struggle. I carry these women with me: a collection of echoes and hands, the stones in my pocket.
Standing Like a Tree
A cluster of women, of cellular connection
and reinvention,
limbs entangled and rising, rising
above the flame, beyond the canaille
into a waiting and blistering sky.
Roots and heels dug down into carpet into earth
Into soil sky embrace, painted fingers sung,
inked and fixed, a small symposium
of fragile growth.
Beauty and bravery here,
held cupped,
retrieved into solid beating heart
and let out
in breath.
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