Art Therapy for Broads Abroad : Guts Are Beautiful : Exercise #5

:: What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.::

 - Pericles

Today I was reminded of the Russian fairytale, Vasalisa.  In one version it begins with, "Once there was, and once there was not."  Vasalisa is about to become an orphan.  Just as her mother is taking her last breath, she gifts Vasalisa a small doll to place in her apron pocket.  Vasalisa is told to bring the doll out whenever she has an important decision to make, for the doll symbolizes the instinctual lessons acquired over a lifetime.

The first year of living abroad messes with your gut.  Obviously, the food is different, as are the people, the language, the systems, the process, and the roads.  Expectations are in constant flux as you make minute shifts, adjusting to all the new in your life abroad.  The one foot in each country, makes a great deal of sense during this first year.  You need those reminders from your life back home to guide your daily movements abroad.    

Today's exercise is an opportunity to honor what you know and can trust - yourself.

Guts Are Beautiful © News From A Broad, 2012

Materials:

• 1/2 meter of clear heavy vinyl - think about reusing something you packed your items in for your move.  I used one of my Space Bags to avoid creating more plastic waste.
  
• 1/2 meter of craft paper - paper bag opened can serve your purpose.  This is sometimes difficult to find in countries dependent upon single use plastic bags.
  
• Sewing machine or needle & thread
  
• Stuffing - this list is intended to help you generate ideas: firecrackers, buttons, bones, beads, feathers, leaves, lace, plastic farm animals, magnetic alphabet, fake flowers, peacock feathers, stones, etc..
• A pattern used for a simple cloth doll. 

•  

Process:

• Take a few moments to write a list of potential stuffing materials.  Assign symbolic meaning to each item.  Does a feather suggest flight, a sense of being flighty, or both.  
• Gather your stuffing materials.  I didn't bring much in terms of detritus with me when I moved abroad.  However, over the last year, I've collected natural objects during my walks along the beach, and in the woods.
• The example pattern of a doll is in pieces, but it is better to cut a solid pattern as you will sew only the edges. The image is a suggested shape.  Please design your own outline.  The easiest way to do this is to fold your piece of paper in half, outlining only half of a doll shape.  Cut along that line, open, and you have a full figure.
• Trace the figure onto the folded clear vinyl.  You now have the front and back of the figure.
• Sew the edges, leaving an opening at the head large enough that allows you to slip your stuffing objects into the doll.  You may find it easier to sew the sides, leaving the top half of the figure open until you have fitted items for the lower half into the form. 

Options:
Added touches:

• Use a Sharpie or similar permanent pen to write on the outside or inside of the vinyl.
• Use silk thread strings, as wisps of accent along the edge.
• Incorporate embroidery stitches
• Add leaves of gold, silver or copper leaf to the inside of one of the vinyl pieces.
• Have words tumble from the areas where the mouth and ears would be. 

Conclusions:

• Are your guts organized or chaotic?
• How well are you paying attention to your instincts?

Create the life you want!

The Broad

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