World…
Today in therapy, everyone is working on a self-chosen theme. They have written this theme in the corner of their paper, and with oil pastels, they are creating an abstract drawing within that theme.
What they do not know, however, is that after 10 minutes, they will need to pass their drawing to the person sitting next to them and will be allowed to work on someone else’s drawing for a certain period of time.
She has chosen the word ‘world,’ which also means ‘peace’ in Russian.
She begins to draw—mountains from which honey flows into the world.
In 10 minutes, she has sketched the initial forms of the world on paper. Then she must pass the paper along, and another person continues to work on her world…
Empathetically, she continues to work on the drawings of others, each of which has its own theme.
When the circle is complete, she receives her own drawing back. She is pleasantly surprised and closely observes all the changes that have taken place. She calmly continues with the drawing, finishing it and adding a few more details here and there.
During the debriefing, she shares how surprised she was at how others built upon her world. They respected and retained the original drawing and built around it. It is still the world she initially began to draw. Others start to share what they added and why.
She absorbs it all.
What do you take away from this exercise?
She answers this question with a decision she has made: ‘I no longer want to make decisions alone; I want to involve others in the decisions I make. This can pertain to anything—from what the children want to wear that day to how a birthday is celebrated, etc. Instead of it being solely my decision, I want us to shape this together and build our world collectively.’
What a beautiful decision arising from a valuable experience!
The power of expressive therapy.
