SOME CREATIVE ACTITIVES
In times of restrictions and social distancing we long to discover inner resources of strength.
Here, we have put together a few simple exercises:
Clay
This can be any malleable material, though a natural source might be preferable. If you do not have clay, you can use soft moist earth and work with that. This is also fun to do with children. Take a small handful of clay. Hold the clay, feel it, warm up to it. Form a small ball. Then press your thumb into it so that an opening emerges. Deepen and expand this opening until a small bowl is formed. Observe how the bowl becomes hard and dry over time. Maybe the bowl will stay with you for a long time or it will disintegrate and the earth you have taken from nature can be returned to it.
Painting
Use any paper and drawing or painting material you have at home. You also need cardboard (can be from packaging material), a ruler, sharp knife or box cutter and masking tape. Cut the cardboard to fit the paper. Then cut an opening in the cardboard. It can be a square, a rectangle or circular, whichever you prefer. This is called a passe-partout and will be your window into your creativity. Now place your passe-partout on your paper so that the opening is in the middle of your paper. Take your tape and glue the passe-partout from the inside. Now everything is ready. Just start somewhere, maybe with a dot, let your pen or brush wander, go on a journey with it, wherever it takes you. You can mix your painting/drawing materials just as you like. When you feel, you have reached the end of your journey pause and feel if you are ready to take off your pass-partout. Then carefully remove the tape and lift your cardboard window and wonder and rejoice about your journey, where it has taken you.
Meditation
"But that shadow has been serving you!
What hurts you, blesses you.
Darkness is your candle.
Your boundaries are your quest.
You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe."
~Rumi
"Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. Move within,
But don’t move the way fear makes you move."
~Rumi