Grief & the Holidays: Sometimes Broken-Ness is Necessary for Creative Rebuilding

The Holidays are definitely difficult for people who are grieving - whatever the grief may be.

This weekend was creative in many ways and exhausting in many ways.

Saturday tired me out - it helped me to remember the messages my body gives me as she wants to slow down with me. I attempted to rest but ended up running around for most of the afternoon and saw two out of three acts of Our Town at one of our local theaters.

I worked on making paper cranes, like I hoped to - not very well, in fact there is one point in the construction I can't seem to get past, but since my primary aim is forward motion, I feel good about what I've accomplished.

I am practicing making eyes. I try to do so daily. You can see some are better than others.

I also managed to sketch some eyes. I have a project I have not spent much time with at all but I really, really want to - and one of the mental blocks to that project is my inability to draw faces well. By simply sketching eyes I am improving, thanks to watching some of the artists who hang around at instagram and the blogosphere of Art Every Day Month.

Sunday, I helped facilitate a Grief and the Holidays workshop. As usual, the people there surprised me with their willingness to dive in. We had them throw and break stuff against the wall to later use in a mixed media holiday piece. I didn't know if anyone would actually do it, but they did do it and the results were priceless.

I spent a lot of time running around though, so by the time I went to bed both my legs were complaining of abuse from the soles of my feet - my bunions let themselves be known - to my upper thighs, which were buzzing up down to my ankles.

We broke a lot of Christmas (and non Christmas) items against a wall & recreated a momento to include in our holiday traditions this year and in the future.

Considering the night before I left the play early and got home with a fever, I think I did fairly well.

I started the day today working on a variety of pieces I am really excited to show you tomorrow.

I'm sad this month is almost over. I've met some great people. I hope you will keep returning.

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You may still join Art Every Day Month - Leah Piken Kolidas has been inspiring many of us for years! Check it out -

Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

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