THIS WEEK AT THE LIFE FORCE CANADA
EDUCATION THINK TANK MEETING
February 10, 2022
We were happy to welcome Wanita from the Parkland Community Planned Council and Education Committee to this week’s meeting. It’s so nice that we are connecting with Education Committee members from across the nation.
This week our Think Tank member, Jo-Ann Melman took us on a wonderful and therapeutic sketching journey to experience a sampling of what she offers in her nature journaling workshops.
This intuitive drawing workshop is intended as an educational and creative experience. The idea is to study nature with the purpose of developing a deeper curiosity and connection with what you are observing. Through this integration of thought with purpose we can restore the ability to self-heal – while allowing creativity to flow through us.
This night, while we listened to the melodious strumming of special guest and guitarist, David Akselrod, we all drew daisies. We used different modalities; pencils, felt and even crayons. We included words and phrases that the drawing represented to us and after about 20 minutes of drawing, silent except for the gentle refrains of the guitar, we shared our masterpieces. Each person received comments and questions about their drawing. We avoided comments like “that’s so good” or “beautiful” or “nice job” which can feel more like a judgment, and instead focused our responses with the following template:
I notice,
be specific, use words, pictures and numbers
I wonder
Who is, was, will it be?
What happened, is happening, happens next?
Where is, was, will it be?
When (did, will) it happen?
How does it work?
Why is it this way?
It reminds me of…
Things you have learned, seen or feel.
In using this template to guide our comments and questions, both the artist and the viewer were able to garner a deeper understanding and develop a better connection with nature. It really was quite a lovely process and reminded me that taking the quiet time to connect with nature through artistic expression is not only something that I enjoy but also something that is good for my soul. It really can help you to restore the ability to self-heal.
If you’d like to hear and see more of our soothing zoom call with Jo-Ann you can find the recording on our YouTube Channel – please subscribe while you’re there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGOIfIZh3gI
If you’d like to learn more about Jo-Ann Melman and an opportunity to connect with her through her intuitive drawing workshops or her outdoor drawing club, you can contact Jo-Ann through their website.
https://melmanslearning.blogspot.com/
Thank you to Jo-Ann for taking the lead at this week’s Think Tank. If you or someone you know would like to become involved in our Think Tank, as a guest, member, or presenter, please feel free to connect with me anytime at normajeanmaxwell@gmail.com
I love that I have the opportunity to meet new people and to see all those that make time each week to come back and take part in our Education Think Tank. You are all truly blessings to me.
Til’ we meet again,
Norma Jean Maxwell
Life Force Canada
Education Think Tank Facilitator