We've all heard the commercial catch phrase of Alec Baldwin asking, "What's in YOUR wallet?" But even more revealing is the question, "What do YOU see?" which sometimes, as in the case of this collage, can reveal a lot about what in your life you're reaching for.
Which is the latest exercise I gave my students in the 21 Day Journaling with Collage course, using the collage, "On the Backs of Dragons" (playing of course, with the quote by Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.")
Which is the latest exercise I gave my students in the 21 Day Journaling with Collage course, using the collage, "On the Backs of Dragons" (playing of course, with the quote by Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.")
There are a lot of images in the piece - the yak, the Komodo Dragon, the planet, the starry sky, the St. Frances statue (IS it St. Frances?), even the electrical outlet.
But being human, our eyes and minds tend to gravitate toward movement, thus our eye is naturally drawn, our imagination piqued, by the motion inherent in the reach of the Young Girl. How your mind fills in the blank as to what she's reaching for can reveal lot about your -own- story. So that's the exercise I chose for my latest 21 Journaling with Collage students.
First I had them "walk" around the collage allowing a story to form in their minds about the young girl. I asked them to ponder her back story. How did she come to this place? Does she live here, or is she just visiting? What is the relationship between her and the statue, and who did/does her represent? How about her relationship with the Komodo Dragon? How does it feel about her standing on its back? What's the planet that the yak is standing on? What is going through his/her/its mind? How 'bout that space outlet? What's behind it? What, if anything, gets plugged into it?
Once they had a good sense of what story THEY saw in the collage (because they're different for all of us!) I asked them to tell me:
What is the Young Girl reaching for?
Will she/does she reach it?
How does her life change if she does?
How does it change, or remain the same, if she doesn't?
But being human, our eyes and minds tend to gravitate toward movement, thus our eye is naturally drawn, our imagination piqued, by the motion inherent in the reach of the Young Girl. How your mind fills in the blank as to what she's reaching for can reveal lot about your -own- story. So that's the exercise I chose for my latest 21 Journaling with Collage students.
First I had them "walk" around the collage allowing a story to form in their minds about the young girl. I asked them to ponder her back story. How did she come to this place? Does she live here, or is she just visiting? What is the relationship between her and the statue, and who did/does her represent? How about her relationship with the Komodo Dragon? How does it feel about her standing on its back? What's the planet that the yak is standing on? What is going through his/her/its mind? How 'bout that space outlet? What's behind it? What, if anything, gets plugged into it?
Once they had a good sense of what story THEY saw in the collage (because they're different for all of us!) I asked them to tell me:
What is the Young Girl reaching for?
Will she/does she reach it?
How does her life change if she does?
How does it change, or remain the same, if she doesn't?
And being the sort of teacher, who always does her own assignments, my answer turned into this:
"The Little Girl (notice how she changed from Young Girl in my writing) is obviously reaching for an electrical plug, as the Light of the Universe has went out. It's not a matter of if or how she reaches it, she HAS to reach it otherwise the Universe itself will freeze and life as we know it will cease to exist. Fortunately, she has the Komodo to stand on, as well as the statue to stabilize herself against."
As I read through my own story, and working from the aforementioned premise that "what story you see in a piece is always a piece of your own story" I could then ask myself lead on questions, such as:
Where in my life has the light seemed to have gone out?
What would it take to bring it back?
What reach would need to be made?
Who is present that could help me?
Who is a stabilizing presence? Who is someone I could stand on?
See how the stories we think we're making up in fact lead us deeper and deeper into our OWN stories? Try it for yourself! What do YOU think the young girl is reaching for? And does she get it?
Want to play more with the creative power of story and collage? Then join me for my next 21 Day Journaling with Collage workshop beginning July 1st. Or sign up for the latest Contemplative Collage newsletter here.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you!
In Love and Light,
Dante
"The Little Girl (notice how she changed from Young Girl in my writing) is obviously reaching for an electrical plug, as the Light of the Universe has went out. It's not a matter of if or how she reaches it, she HAS to reach it otherwise the Universe itself will freeze and life as we know it will cease to exist. Fortunately, she has the Komodo to stand on, as well as the statue to stabilize herself against."
As I read through my own story, and working from the aforementioned premise that "what story you see in a piece is always a piece of your own story" I could then ask myself lead on questions, such as:
Where in my life has the light seemed to have gone out?
What would it take to bring it back?
What reach would need to be made?
Who is present that could help me?
Who is a stabilizing presence? Who is someone I could stand on?
See how the stories we think we're making up in fact lead us deeper and deeper into our OWN stories? Try it for yourself! What do YOU think the young girl is reaching for? And does she get it?
Want to play more with the creative power of story and collage? Then join me for my next 21 Day Journaling with Collage workshop beginning July 1st. Or sign up for the latest Contemplative Collage newsletter here.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you!
In Love and Light,
Dante
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