However, SoulCollage® can also be a powerful tool for expression and healing for those working in communities, for the caregivers. As artists for Clowns Without Borders South Africa (www.cwbsa.org) we also need to ways to process what we experience in the field. It was with this in mind that I facilitated my first SoulCollage® session with the core staff of CWBSA on April 18 2012. It was deliberately scheduled for the Wednesday afternoon of a week of staff training, knowing that by the middle of a week of intense discussion and reflection, the clowns would welcome such a process.
I started with some silly dancing to get everyone out of their minds and into their bodies. With a fun playlist, I had the group barefoot and dancing like robots, cowboys, ninjas and so on. I then encouraged everyone to find a comfortable position to come into their own space and close their eyes. I led them through a short Breathing Space - paying attention to the sounds outside, their breath and the sensations in their body. Then I read them ‘The Artist’s Creed’ by Jan Phillips, that Catherine Anderson had slipped into my hand at the end of the facilitator training. Then began the collage process, with focus and commitment. In order to take SoulCollage® into the Southern African community, we will have to adapt it to be accessible. For example, when it was time to “read” the SoulCollage® cards, as none of the clowns are first language English speakers, I felt that the wording “I am the one who…” would be foreign and awkward for them. So I changed it simply to “I am…” and it worked wonderfully. Although we have worked together for many years, we still have so much to learn about and from each other. One of the clowns, Mr Fish, had even used the images to generate new ideas for a clown routine! It was a memorable experience.
The next day, something tangible had shifted. The discussions and reflections went to a whole new depth and honesty. Many things that had lain dormant for a long time, waiting for the chance to be brought into the light, came to the surface. I have a feeling that the SoulCollage® process played a significant part in this.
Thank you to Seena Frost who created SoulCollage® and Catherine Anderson who had the vision to come and train the first South African facilitators in the process!
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