October Event - Expressive Art as Healing Process

Expressive Art as a Healing Process

An Introduction to Touch Drawing

A fund raiser to benefit the programs and services of AWBA

Friday, October 3, 2014

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Gilgal Farm Retreat Center

"Springs of Living Water" - Judy Smoot

Since posting preliminary information about this fund raiser open to the public, we have received quite a few requests for further information.  As a result, all details have been finalized and we have chosen to open registration.  Directly from our website ~

Gift yourself with a day of healing art in the countryside of Fairfield County at Gilgal Farm. Rest, refuel, and refresh as you experience expressive art as a healing process while helping raise funds for those served by the ministry of Always We Begin Again. This event is open to the public.  You will be invited to experience the simple expression of Touch Drawing and visit with the horses of Gilgal Farm in the quiet and peace of this sacred space on the outskirts of Lancaster, Ohio. 

For a detailed brochure, registration information, and links to additional information,  visit the Upcoming Events page of our website.   Space is limited so early registration is encouraged if you are interested.  Myself,  Chris Harnden and Deb Aichele will be your guides for the day.

I have found Touch Drawing to be a meaningful practice for myself and have enjoyed introducing it to others.  If you know someone impacted by a Parkinson's diagnosis, read about the  September pilot program for Touch Drawing, "Listening Beneath the Words."   It is fund raisers like the October event that make this September series available to the Parkinson's community at no cost.

Any questions or wonderings about either of these?  Email me at director@myawba.org.

AWBA Happenings ...

Typically,  I try to get a few posts uploaded before a newsletter goes out and did not make it this month.  Life is very full for myself personally and for AWBA right now.  If you receive our newsletter (register on the AWBA home page at www.myawba.org) or visit our Facebook page, you will already know about this.  If not, below are the highlights.

We have been raising funds to cover expenses connected to an upcoming pilot program for those impacted by Parkinson's.  Thanks to our generous supporters, we have met that goal and details are now available for "Listening Beneath the Words."  Visit our website events page at Events to learn how to register.  Space is limited to 10 participants.  If you must miss a session, you will not find yourself out of the loop.  Just let me know when you register.

Listening Beneath the Words

Introduction to Touch Drawing

A Pilot Program for Those Impacted

by Parkinson's

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - noon

Sept. 6, 13, 27, Oct. 4, 2014

Gender Road Christian Church

Canal Winchester, Ohio

In addition, we are finalizing details for a fund raising event open to the public and tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 3, 10 a.m.  - 2 p.m.  Registration information should be available in July.  To receive advance notice of registration as soon as it is available, email director@myawba.org.  Space for this program will be limited to 15.

Expressive Art as a Healing Process

An Introduction to Touch Drawing

Gilgal Farm, Lancaster, Ohio

A fund raiser to benefit the programs and services of AWBA

~~~~~~~~~

Lastly, my husband and I are relocating to the Hocking Hills region of Ohio, about 50 miles from where we currently reside.  This has been a long time coming.  Our new home enables us to live in a natural environment that more nearly  matches who we are and carries the additional bonus of opportunity for AWBA to more easily expand into Southeastern Ohio for some of our in-person events.  As anyone knows who has built a home not in the area where they presently reside, it is chaotic on a good day.  We have begun our moving process with a plan to be reasonably settled by July 6.  As I prepare to move the AWBA office, my blog posts may be silent until July.  Just know that we are still here, still serving, still planning and still receiving emails at director@myawba.org.

Thank you for being here, for listening, for your comments and feedback, for your prayers -- simply for your presence.   

"Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God." - Maya Angelou

I suspect that bloggers everywhere are taking note of the passing of Maya Angelou today.  This woman of beauty and wisdom is one of five poets and authors who have a dedicated file on my computer for their words that I want to remember.

A favorite gem,

What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.

Some of you may remember that I have been an early morning walker at a nearby park since last spring.  Mid-winter was a bit of a challenge and I am thankful to be back with my  rhythm.  This morning, however, I had trouble getting out of the house and away from my office even at an early hour.  I was thinking about everything I had to get done this day.  It seemed there was no time for the "quietude" in  which God speaks to me.  I forced myself into the woods and things settled for me just a bit bringing the clarity I needed to fully live into the particular space that I occupy.

This act of "always beginning again" takes a lot of courage some days. It is one of those phrases that sounds so great when you hear it and, yet, takes considerable intention and prayer to make it a reality in one's life.  Those impacted by a chronic diagnosis that demands to be tended to every minute of every day must make a choice to begin again in each of those minutes.  I do not fall into that camp at this point in time but I have been there often.  It is never far from my memory.  

To take full responsibility for ourselves is no easy task and is not for the faint of heart.  We are here for such a short time.  Some of us become prolific and well known like Maya Angelou. Others of us engage in the simple daily activity of "doing good."  It is all important and carries impact for the world at large.

Take a moment today to bring to mind Ms. Angelou and any other writer or poet who has inspired you.  Their words carry such potential but if not put into practice for our own unique story, they are simply words on the page.  The potential is unrealized.  What can you do this day, in the midst of your current life story, to begin again and make a choice to do good somewhere for someone?  May you hear the voice of God in that act of doing good.

Our Newest Blog - Ebbs and Flows

We are so excited to share with you AWBA's newest blog, "Ebbs and Flows."  Blog author Michelle Rogers writes.

I’ve had years of experience as a caregiver in both my professional and private life. I consider myself blessed and challenged by the lessons I have learned while being with others in that way. In recent years though I have found myself on the other side of good health. Diagnosed in 2008 with the first of what would be several chronic illnesses, I have found myself facing many new challenges. And what I have come to believe is that the journey of life, whether as caregiver or care-receiver, involves a back and forth movement of body, mind and spirit. Sometimes I fight it and sometimes I can just go with it…either way there are things I learn and things yet to be learned. As a grateful member of the AWBA community, it is my hope to share some of my thoughts and feelings and to hear also from you, as our lives continues to ebb and flow…

Stop by to visit at Ebbs and Flows to read Michelle's first post, "Dragonflies and Fairies."  You can receive automatic notification of new posts by registering your email address on the blog's home page.  If you would like to comment to any post, simply click the comment link at the bottom of the post to which you wish to reply.

Michelle, thank you for sharing your story with the AWBA readers and helping us widen and deepen this community of compassionate and supportive listeners.

To Communicate Without Words

When words seem ineffective, creativity makes visible the inexpressible.

(copyright 2012, Judy Smoot)

Those who have been following this blog for a while may recall that I am a student of the expressive arts and will finish my training in 2015.   I deeply believe that when the timing is right in a person's journey, creative expression has the power to move us beyond the walls we build around ourselves into an expansive place where the unspeakable can be heard in some manner - first by ourselves and then, as we desire, by others.  We trust our stories into the safe hands of a few chosen kindred spirits where we are listened to and honored without judgement.   Whether through movement, voicing, visual art, clay, sand play, collage, music-making, and other forms of expression our deepest and most authentic voices are heard.   

As AWBA continues to explore all of the ways of providing spiritual care to those we serve, expressive arts is one avenue for our programming.  If you do not receive our monthly newsletter (to receive this email visit our website), I want to share with you that AWBA is developing a pilot program directed toward those impacted by Parkinson's.  Below is information about this new program.  Currently, we are seeking funding for supplies so that we can make this series of workshops available to participants at no cost to them.  We are off to a great start and continue to seek your support.  I invite you to visit the links shared below to learn more about this simple and meaning-filled form of expression.

Introduction to Touch Drawing

(A Pilot Program For Those 

Impacted With Parkinson's)

(copyright 2014, Judy Smoot)

Using non-toxic, water-soluble oil paints, a brayer, tissue paper, and fingertips, participants will be invited to explore this visual form of expression.  No art experience is necessary in this casual, nonjudgmental creative space.  Touch Drawing has been very successful in the Sarasota, Florida community and you can read one person's experience here.  The facilitator for this AWBA event has received in-person training from the creator of Touch Drawing, Deborah Koff-Chapin.

It is our desire to offer this four or five-week pilot program to participants at no cost.  This is where you come in.  We seek your support for purchase of art materials.  Every dollar donated goes directly to this program.  It is our hope to expand this offering in the future to include other diagnosis so that we can tailor each program to those particular needs.

Your contribution of: 

$40 - purchases all supplies for one participant for the series

- or - 

$5 - purchases one paint board
$8 - purchases one paint brayer
$10 - purchases tissue paper for one person for the series
$17 - purchases paint for one person for the series

Paint brayers and boards are reusable for future Touch Drawing workshops. To make a donation in any amount, click here to be directed to our website.  

We anticipate offering this pilot program in late summer if not before.  We are also seeking a site for this event if you have access to a space with few or no steps or an elevator and, preferably, an uncarpeted floor with easy access to a sink.  Email us at director@myawba.org if you might know of a location for this series.

Instructions for Living a Life

Instructions for Living a Life

pay attention

be astonished

tell about it

~ Mary Oliver

I have been sitting with this quote for a few weeks now as I sketch and doodle to come up with a piece of art on which to place these words for safe keeping.   I think they need to stay with me for a while.

As many of you can appreciate, I am compelled to be outdoors in recent days.  It was nearly impossible to take my early morning walks when ice and snow covered every pathway (and I did try a few times), and temperatures were dangerously cold.  There were not enough layers to make it possible.  Now that the thermometer is above freezing, that is enough for me.   I ventured out in the wind and the rain this morning to visit my favorite garden to see how the new life is coming along.  I have seen crocuses showing their brightest party faces these past couple of weeks.  However, today, they were all curled in on themselves for safety.  But, oh my, the Lenten Roses were abundant and they did not care about the wind and the rain.  They demanded to be noticed.  Pink and white blooms everywhere.

I continued onto the boardwalk and came to a stop with this image.

I tried to keep walking but I couldn't.  Something drew me to the reflection of the bare trees.  Dripping wet with no one else walking the area but me; and this just stopped me in my tracks.  I don't know why.  Maybe someone else does??  It will come to me.

So, I lived Mary Oliver's words today. I paid attention in the midst of seemingly unpleasant environmental circumstances, I was astonished and now I am telling about it.  Was has astonished you this week?  Have you told someone?  It may seem silly like the above very wet walkway but there is no defending of "astonishment".  It simply is what it is.

I send blessings of spring to each of you.  May you look beneath the surface to new life straining to be found.  May it astonish you.  May you tell about it.   Share it here if you like :) 

Upcoming Retreat - Meet Libby Byrne

Our next online retreat "Beginning Again" is offered March 24-May 23.  This online community experience allows you to participate as much or as little as you like and to engage when it is convenient for you.   This program is open to anyone impacted by a chronic diagnosis which includes those in a personal support role, and volunteers and professionals serving this population.  Visit our website events page to learn about the book we will use and how you will be supported on this journey.  Registration deadline is March 14.

We have offered this program twice previously and are excited to welcome artist Libby Byrne from Melbourne, Australia as a participant for this 2014 version.  In addition to Libby sharing her own experience as one living with Multiple Sclerosis, Libby will share some of her artwork as a resource for retreat participants.  We asked Libby to share with our readers about herself and her connection to AWBA.   

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I live in Melbourne, Australia.  I am an artist and I have worked with art and people in many different ways for years now.  The discipline of being a practicing artist is also a means of paying attention to the presence of God.  The canvas is often a place where God happens for me. Working with art materials allows me to see my human experience and then make room for God to work within those places.  

How did you find AWBA all the way from Australia?

I discovered AWBA when I was having a difficult week living with Multiple Sclerosis.  Having googled a combination of ‘spirituality’ and ‘chronic illness’ the AWBA site appeared on my screen.  

What is your experience with a chronic diagnosis?

I was diagnosed with MS in February 2010, although I think that the first symptoms appeared in 2007 / 2008. However my experience with a chronic diagnosis began in the late 1990’s when one of my closest friends was diagnosed with MS.  For twelve years I found ways to try and be aware of her experience with this mystery condition that seemed to be debilitating on some days and then barely present on others. The experience of my own diagnosis was a deep shock.  I think that we had never considered the possibility that I could be diagnosed with the same thing – it seemed evident that my role with MS was to be aware of my friend and to care for her as she lived with chronic illness. There was an underlying assumption that if I was caring, I could not expect to also be living with my own illness.  Since February 4th, 2010 I have been challenged to find the time and energy to do both.  

How do you believe that AWBA and this online retreat will support the journey of those living with a chronic diagnosis and/or the loved ones and professionals who support them?

I am hoping that AWBA may be a network of people who are beyond the immediate connections of friends and family – and so able to be present when the people who live with illness are tired, emotionally and physically.  I am also hoping that AWBA will be a community who calls and reminds us to listen for God in the midst of life with chronic illness. 

What do you hope to bring to the "Beginning Again" retreat through your work as an art therapist, studies with art and healing, and your own experience as one impacted by a chronic diagnosis?

As the retreat unfolds I plan to work with art materials to see the experience.  In sharing some of these images I hope that others might find resonances with their own experience.  However, it might also be that an image I post may be surprising to others and in this case I hope that it might be a signpost to begin thinking about our human experience of God differently.   I also hope that others may be inspired to make their own visual and creative responses.  I hope that in posting art online as we retreat – my images will be like postcards from my journey sent and received by others who are on similar but different journeys.  

What do you love most about living in Australia?

I value the freedom that I have in living in Australia and I am deeply aware of abundance as I live my life here. 

~~~~~~~~

Libby and I have had wonderful exchanges via email and I hope you will consider this retreat opportunity as a gift for yourself or someone you know.   You can view some of Libby's art on her website.  I look forward to facilitating this experience and to journeying with you for this retreat. -- Judy