at the nursing home

Last week I assisted an art therapy session at a nursing home in hampton. it was a rainy day and i didnt know what to expect. but i went. excited. open. soul feeling like the scent of the fresh rain.

i walked in the building and was led into the dining room area.
there were several 'seasoned' sistas and brothas in wheelchairs with nurses and volunteers helping them with their work. I was paired with an 80 year old brotha named Jesse.
Strong black brotha. He was focused on his work. He took an entire hour working on a bird he wanted to paint. I helped him with the watercolors. He laughed at me. I looked around at the others. Nurses were drawing the pictures and painting them for their patients, but me?

I let Jesse go on and do his thing.

What is creativity if I force myself on to someone else's process? Although some of the people were limited in their ability to draw and paint so what!!!! Let them have autonomy and the gift of doing whatever they want!!! From time to time Jesse asked me to move the paper around for him and clean his brushes. I was his assistant because he only had one arm.

When he finally finished his piece, he had the best out of everyone. It was an amazing watercolor on paper of a bird on a tree stump. He blended blues and greens, reds and browns to create something amazing. Everyone else made easter baskets lol

So when he finished I said, "you want to paint something for easter?"
he laughed, "I cant. I dont know what easter look like!"

He used the power of his own mind to paint and take time to create what he envisioned, not what someone else had. If i learned anything from this session, I know that as a therapist and creative encourager, I dont want to force. I want to beckon. I want to faciliate. Gently knead. Softly call for the creative energy that exists in every patient, client, sista, and brotha. And allow them to surface in their own time.

and this is a lesson for all parts of life...we should all ask ourselves, do we tend to force our ideas and our ways upon others? or create an environment where all can exist and grow?