Picture the Holidays -- Days 6 and 7

Theme for Day 6 was Every Little Thing.

On a table in my office at work are these two Hallmark ornaments.  They are miniature versions of the classic Fisher-Price toys that I remember playing with as a child.  The clock has a knob on the back that can actually turn so one can hear the familiar tune.  The school has a tiny bell at the top that one can ring.  Cute little reminders of play.

Theme for Day 7 was Express Yourself. 

Many who are doing Picture the Holidays right along with me have chosen to do a self-portrait for this prompt, but I just wasn't feeling up to it.  So I got the idea for this photo yesterday when this sweet book of poetry arrived in the mail.  The poems were written by Tara Sophia Mohr.  (You may recall that I joined in her Girl Effect blogging campaign last October with these two posts.)

Also, in the photo above is this original painting seen here by Danielle Daniel, of Her Painted Word.  She is called Hazel--she write one poem a day.  For now she sits right by my bedside as a reminder to not forget to express myself through writing.

(All photos taken with my iPhone and uploaded to Instagram.)

Out of the Box (More Musings on a Play Therapy Conference)

One of my favorite children's books about creativity is called Not a Box by Antoinette Portis.  This hard-cover book feels like a cardboard box.  It is a reminder of how easily children can take a simple box and turn it into a variety of objects through their play.  I'm sure that many of us have memories of taking old, large appliance boxes or the boxes our toys came in on Christmas morning and turning them into a house, a puppet theater, or a car.

This simple message was also clear to me at the APT play therapy conference last month.  Charlie Schaefer, Linda Homeyer, and Sueann Kenney-Noziska were the keynote speakers on "Directive or Nondirective: Is That Really the Question?"  In the field of play therapy we tend to put theories, techniques, and one another in boxes: nondirective or directive.  It's something we as human being naturally do.  Our brains are bombarded with so must information that we judge the information and categorize it as a way to get a handle on it and make sense of it given our own beliefs and experiences.  Are you Democrat or Republican?  Conservative or Liberal?  Gay or straight?  But there are many downsides to putting people and ideas in boxes.

I resist being categorized because I don't like to judged.  When I'm judged I might be judged negatively or found lacking in some way.  When you put me in a box you might make assumptions about me that aren't true based on your prior experiences of said box.  These misassumptions then prevent us from truly connecting on an authentic level where we value one another as human beings and can learn from each other's varied backgrounds.

This year's APT conference had a different vibe for me.  I'm not sure if it's because it seemed to be smaller and more intimate compared to past years.  Or was it the physical arrangement of having to walk through the bar and gathering area of the hotel in order to get to the workshops at the conference center across the street?  I found myself sitting and talking and laughing and networking with a wide variety of people.  Friends old and new.  I learned new things about other play therapists that changed how I view them.  I may not practice play therapy in the same way that they do and that is okay.  Who am I to say that I have THE one right way to believe?  And if I take the time to listen to their story and have an open-mind, how can I argue with their experiences?

When one is starting out as a play therapist or in any field, it helps to have "boxes" and categories to aid in understanding and grasping of a lot of information.  That is a good thing.  Our "boxes" provide a rationale for why we do what we do.  Yet, after awhile it can be helpful to have an open-mind, broaden our horizons and get out of the box.  For me, this is how I continue to grow as a play therapist and as a human being.  In fact, it's a big part of what creativity is all about.

A List of Children's Books with the Theme of Creativity

The following is a list of some of my favorite children's picture books that involve the topic of creativity.  I love, love, love them!  I shall be reading and rereading them until I am an old lady who will listen to my great-grandchildren read them to me.


The Dot and Ish by Peter Reynolds

Art by Patrick McDonnell

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg

Willow by Denise Brennan-Nelson

and the classics:

The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Incidentally, I'm not the only adult who is fond of children's books.  Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project and blog by the same name, also is a lover of "kidlit" as she calls it.  Here's a post with her suggested list.

If I've had a bad day, I can pull out just about any of the many, many children's picture books in my household, some as recent as my own kids' childhood and others as far back as mine, and read and smile.  And feel all warm and cozy inside, or as Gretchen would say, "happy."

Do you have a favorite children's book that makes you all happy inside?

The Beauty of Different

 

This blog post is inspired by Karen Walrond, photographer, blogger, and author of The Beauty of Different.  I am a big, big fan of hers and frequently read her tweets and beautiful Chookooloonks blog. A resident of Houston, Texas, she is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, married to an Englishman, and together they have a lovely young adopted daughter named Alex.  On her Beauty of Different blog she recently posted this:

I have come to believe that discrimination and bigotry will ONLY go away

when we realize there is beauty in difference.

                       Say it with me:

There is beauty in difference.

There is beauty in difference.

There is beauty in difference.

I couldn't agree with her more.  We are all the same and we are all different.  We must learn to accept and respect each other's differences.  How boring the world would be if everyone liked the same things, believed the same things, and even valued the same things!

Here is the beautiful video she made to promote her book.  Even if you never read her book, and you should see this; it is well worth watching.

The play therapist and children's book lover in me was reminded of the following books that share these views.  Oh, the wisdom of children's books!

It's Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
   Miles's favorite line: "It's okay to have a pet worm"

The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler and illustrated by David Lee Csicsko.

If we all respected one another's differences we just might find PEACE.  Which is the theme of these books:

The Peace Book by Todd Parr (anything by him is good)

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox and illustrated by Leslie Staub

Happy St. Patrick's Day especially to any of you who have Irish blood or wish you did!

P.S.  Yes, my dream is for Karen to photograph me some day.

When You are Happy

Hope this post finds you well. Everyone seems to dread Mondays so here's a little pick-me-up.

I can't say enough good things about When You Are Happy by Eileen Spinelli.  It's one of those books that if I were a millionare I'd purchase a copy for all my friends.  The illustrations by Geraldo Valerio are some of the most delightful, creative, playful illustrations I've ever seen.  He also, incidentally, teamed up with the same author for Do You Have a Hat?

It's not just a book about happiness but other emotions and physical states like sadness, sickness, loneliness, and fear.  Spinelli's words are pure poetry:

I will catch your tears

in a blue cup

and water the yellow flowers

and they will grow more beautiful.

In the end it's a book about being there for one another, in the good times and most definitely in the bad times.  Human connections--isn't that what life's all about?

How I Miss You

Miles at a water park July 2010

yours truly July 4, 2010

Oh summer how I miss you!

The warm weather

Sunshine

Water play

Sidewalk chalk

Reading outside

I must be patient

You'll come again.

P.S. The book I was reading on July 4 is The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  Very recommended as well as her blog.

Peace Crane

I love my last name (married name), because cranes are a symbol of peace.

I'm sure you've heard the true story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Sadako was a young girl who developed leukemia after the bombing of Hiroshima. While in the hospital she attempted to fold 1000 origami paper cranes due to the Japanese legend that said a crane would grant a wish to anyone who was able to accomplish this feat.  She died before reaching her goal, but her friends added to her 644 cranes so that 1000 were buried with her.

A statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 1958.  The statue is called the Children's Peace Monument; at its foot are the words:

This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.

And please check out Sandy and the 1000 Paper Cranes mission blog. Her cranes are beautiful, the words are inspiring, and it's so fun when someone finds one.

Amazing Peace

“If we wish to create a lasting peace

we must begin with the children.”

--Mahatma Gandhi

This is a beautiful book by Maya Angelou, Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem.  The book is illustrated with gorgeous paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.  Ms. Angelou read this poem at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 1, 2005.

Some of my favorite lines come near the end:

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian.

Implore you to stay awhile with us

So we may learn by your shimmering light

How to look beyond complexion and see community.





A Playful Weekend List

This morning as I ate my eggs and toast made by my darling hubby (DH), I was thinking of all the things I need to do this weekend and feeling a bit of dread. So in the spirit of artsyville's whimsical lists and Alisa Burke's beautiful sketches, I decided to create this list for the rest of my weekend only feeling partially guilty that my DH was cleaning the kitchen while I made it.

Please keep in mind that this is the first time I have attempted such a project. The finished product is definitely not as beautiful as artsville and Alisa's. Silly me. I know not to compare my work with others. It's one of the cardinal rules of creativity. But knowing that I would put the list on my blog and share with others, I am compelled to say that. Oh well.

Back to that dread: the first four items on my list involve some sort of play. And yet, I'm not sure if it's the sure amount of time I know these items will take me, but I'm not feeling that playful. I'm reminded of Stuart Brown explaining in his book, Play, that even play can involve work as I mentioned in this previous post. So I knew I needed a quick attitude change. I am forever wanting to do more art and be creative (for the sheer fun of it) so I put aside the look-at-all-the-things-I-need-to-do-this-weekend attitude and got to work playing by making the list. 

More specifics about each of the items on the list:
1. I loved Eat, Pray, Love the first time time I read it thanks to my Pilates instructor Pamela. (These days I'd rather refer to her as my friend Pamela knowing that I rarely have take the opportunity to attend her class on Mondays at the Y.) I have been suggesting the book for FORM (Fellowship Of the Red-hot Mamas), a group of ladies from my church who gather once a month to eat yummy desserts, chat, pray for others, and discuss a book. Well, be careful what you wish for. We've been reading it the past 3 months and I've been behind the whole time. I think I can post what FORM stands for. It hasn't been a secret for years. The funny thing is that in some ways I have enjoyed the book even more the second time around. Probably because I'm in a different place than I was 3 years ago when I first read it.

M & M, April 2006

2. We've had beautiful 70s-degree weather here in Kentucky this week. Today might very well be the last of this warm weather so I ought to take advantage of it. I absolutely love, love tulips. And as much as I enjoy the season of fall, my favorite time of year is definitely spring. Having spring flowers in my yard makes me insanely happy, not to mention my favorite place to take pictures of my kids is on Easter in front of those very same flowers.

3. Patti Digh's latest book is Creative is a Verb. I highly recommend all things Patti. Enough said.

4. We are a 3 computer family, 4 if you count the ipad, 5 if you count my laptop from work and 6 if you count my DH's work laptop. And there's only 4 of us. What's wrong with this picture? Miles has inherited my husband's old desktop computer. He's even set up his own "office." While I've been writing this blogpost, they've been buying and setting up a computer desk for his very own. Miles is insanely happy.

**I'll add pics of Miles's office later.**

5. My students write reflection papers over Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood in my Lifespan Development class at LWC. While I'm definitely not pleased with the actually grading of the papers, I do enjoy reading them. I particularly feel it is a privilege to read this Adolescence set, because many of the students share some very trying and inspirational stories in them.

6. Due to my strange work schedule that allows either my DH or myself to be home to greet Miles and Meredith at the bus each day, I often have to do work on weekends. Those Lifespan students are looking forward to dreading their scores. Oh look, I'm back to dread.

Meredith is away for most of the weekend for the first time ever at a church youth group event. That's a whole 'nother story. My baby is growing up.

What's on your list? Post in the comments below or post a link with your own blogpost.

Time get to those tulips.

Jodi and the Purple Crayon

You must remember Harold and the Purple Crayon. 

This year, in honor of all that is artsy and playful and my favorite color, I decided to get in on the Halloween action by wearing a purple crayon costume. The kindergarteners in Miles's class seemed to like my costume when I helped with their Halloween party. I even got some smiles when I handed out candy and went trick-or-treating with Miles, although he only wanted to go to two houses and then settled down to eat his "big" haul right in the middle of our sidewalk. That is one happy boy. This was also the first year Meredith went trick-or-treating without me ~sniff~ which just meant I could sit and snitch candy while waiting for trick-or-treaters. :)

For some reason Meredith is really into all things nerdy right now.

I admire her for not being afraid to be different.

And I LOVE her purple Converse!

(I can actually remember wearing those button-down oxford shirts
in the 80s and thinking I was cool.)

What would Halloween be like without kids?!

H A P P Y  H A L L O W E E N!!!!!!!

Why I'm Wearing Purple

Yes, it's my favorite color and the color of my alma mater, but there's a much more important reason for me to be wearing purple today. According to its facebook page, 

On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in honor of the 6 gay boys who committed suicide in recent weeks/months due to homophobic abuse in their homes and at their schools. Purple represents Spirit on the LGBTQ flag and that’s exactly what we’d like all of you to have with you: spirit. Please know that times will get better and that you will meet people who will love you and respect you for who you are, no matter your sexuality. Please wear purple on October 20th. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and schools. RIP Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase and Billy Lucas. You are loved.

Unfortunately, there are countless other LGBT youth who are hurting in major part due to not being accepted by their family, school, and society at large.

When I returned from the play therapy conference and caught up on my fb, twitter, and blog reading I came across this video you do not want to miss.



I have gay family members, friends, and coworkers. I've had gay clients. Having lived in Fort Worth for 3 years while attending college I know how brave Joel Burns is to make such a speech. I'm sure you can figure out what part he left out.

So what does this have to do with play and play therapy? As a humanistic play therapist I believe in the inherent worth of each and every person on this planet no matter age, race, gender, ethnicity, creed, and sexual orientation. It hurts me to know that there are so many that are needlessly hurting.

Two more things. I highly recommend the book, One by Kathryn Otoshi, a children's book about bullying that even we adults could learn something from. I recently purchased this author's latest book, Zero, as mentioned in my last post. Zero is about the value of each person and learning that you don't have to be like everyone else in order to fit in.

Mr. Burns relays what he would tell his 13-year-old self. I wasn't bullied, I'm not gay, but I did struggle and at times feel different as I described in this post as part of the I AM ENOUGH collaborative. I too would tell my 13-year-old self that it does get better. You are okay.

What would you tell your 13-year-old self? 

Reflections on a Play Therapy Conference--Part 2

my favorites--love the guy kickin' back
and the 2 mother/baby nuturing figures

Here is why attending the Association for Play Therapy annual conference is like Christmas for me as I mentioned in my last post. I come home with new sandtray figures from exhibitors such as Kentucky's own Toys of the Trade as seen above.

Then there's new books from the fabulous Dee Dee of the Self Esteem Shop

and this fun new instrument made in Peru.

And because play therapy is so creative I often get to make things like...

puzzle piece where the prompt was to
make something important to you
(I was missing my kids when I made this.)

a healing pouch

and a

derby hat (We were in Louisville after all!)

I received this little affirmation in one of my workshops.

Since returning from the conference I've been decompressing through a trip to the park with two of my favorite people and playtime in the fall leaves.

Meredith Rose

Miles Nelson

Meredith with neighborhood friend

BEAUTIFUL!

One more thing. I gave Miles a magnet of a feelings chart I got at the conference. He immediately taped it up in his room beneath his calendar he made. Notice the feeling he marked. How cute is that?!

HAPPY