What a Day--And it Ain't Over Yet!

Here's the follow-up on my prayer/art/meditation session I ran early this morning. Success!! I had 'only' 22 kids. Again, I thought it was a group of 9 or 10 until I got into the art room and they filled two tables.

I began with a discussion on values. What are values, and which values are important to them? I then asked them the two powerful questions, 'What do you want more of?' and 'What do you want less of?' And the answer had to be about values, not things. And painted, not spoken.

I gave out watercolors and the magic began. The kids painted for about 20 minutes, quiet meditative music playing in the background. These campers, ages 12 to 15, were painting peace signs, hearts, families, and symbols of trust. When they shared what they painted with the group, their feelings and needs were so beautifully expressed. Many divided the paper in half and painted their answer to both questions. It was lovely to see the contrast between love and pain, families together and people in need.

Kids are capable of much deeper thought than many adults give them credit for. I love seeing what's possible for these young souls. If more people believed in them and cared about what they think and feel, imagine what the next generation of adults will be like!

And now I am off to teach an adult class in art. I am exhausted from starting my day so early, and yet I enjoy teaching the adults as well. I am curious to see how many adults tonight will say "I'm not good at art", or "I'm not creative". It saddens me to hear such negative self-limiting talk. We need to stop judging ourselves so harshly, to accept the beauty that lies within each and every one of us. We are all creative, just in different ways. 

As I am teaching the grownups tonight, I will be replaying the words of my young campers from this morning. I will be thinking of what's possible. And I hope I can inspire them to think a little big more highly of their inherent ability to create and let go.