Collage

[Gemmie]

Good Morning Ladies

I attend a womens support group at our local Womens Abused Centre and last night we did collages. At first I thought what a stupid thing for a bunch of grown women to do!! lol Wow, was I wrong.

Its hard to even describe how it felt but there is something very meaningful in finding just the right pictures and phrases to express what you are feeling. Plus the whole process is somehow soothingly reminiscent of good times in childhood.

Anyways just thought I would share this, and if you ever get a chance to do a collage go for it, you will be glad you did, I know I am!

[freya]

I am part of a group of women that has been getting together every year at the beginning of January for -- January 2010, I think it will be 9 years now -- to do collages. It's kinda like a "New Year's" resolution-type thing, but more fluid and sub-conscious driven.

What we're supposed to do is, sometime between December 31st and the meeting date (which is usually the second weekend in January), each of us gets a stack of magazines and goes through them pulling out the images that "speak to us" or that we're drwan to. Then, once we have the images, we arrange them on a piece of posterboard, or whatever other surface we choose, however feels right to us at the time. It's definitely a thing where we're not supposed to be thinking about it, or analyzing it, or trying to make it to "say" or "not say" something....more about just doing what we feel lead to do with it.

Then we all get together on a Sunday afternoon and we take turns showing our collages, talking about our processes and our feelings while we were making them, and then passing them around for everyone to take a turn looking at them more closely and commenting on / responding to what they "see." One of my friends, who's a therapist, kinda acts as the facilitator -- not that we really need anyone to be "in charge," but just because it seems to help things go more smoothly and she's really good at asking questions to open things up more.

The idea is to just like to identify patterns/themes in our lives and things/issues we're working on and to see progress and changes etc.... from previous years.

It usually ends up taking several hours and ends up being a very intense and exhausting emotional/spiritual experience. But it's a wonderful time, and we always get a lot out of it.

And when we're done, we order Chinese food and have a party!

freya

[jamdls]

What a neat idea! I may try this even just on my own over the holidays.

[barb dwyer]

I learned it as a 'prayer board'

to go through and get photos and even ads
that reflect an ideal
you want to work toward

often,
I find I've cut out stuff
that I either CANnot achieve in this lifetime
(like being shorter, smaller feet, etc)

but that when I cut them out
I didn't realize it ... make sense?

it *is* a great way
to let the unconscious
speak through iimages.

[Gypsy Feet]

"Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self " by Sarah Ban Breathnach is a book I was reading, until I got to the collage part. I have been trying to find the time to go get magazines for about 4 months haha=)

I got stuck on "Codependent No More"by Melody Beattie for over a month when I got to the part where I had to write goals because I couldnt find a pencil and paper

[indigo]

Welcome sounds like a fantastic idea.