Perhaps you voiced the words aloud. Perhaps they trouble your soul: felt but unsaid. How do we face the day, knowing what is done cannot be undone? Children are dead. For no reason. Families devastated. For no reason. Students traumatized. For no reason.
The brutality of the Uvalde shooting shatters our hearts. But what can we do? What good are my tears: hot as they are with rage? What good are anyone’s?
I have no answers: just the story of a gift, an Easter gift, long delayed. The package, a present from our daughter, arrived the day of the Uvalde shooting. The creators of the gift, artists Oleg and Darina, included with the present a note, handwritten in English and adorned with hand-drawn hearts: “With love from Ukraine!” Due to the murders we’re calling “Putin’s War,” Oleg and Darina had been forced to relocate, hence the delay in shipping.
The package arrived resealed: my guess is it had been opened and searched. Inside the taped-up box lay six smaller boxes. Each housed an intricately painted fragile egg: in perfect condition. They are, each, a wonder. Staring at them, more tears came: tears of awe, gratitude, and sorrow.
I have no answers. But I think of Oleg and Darina and realize that we live in a world of brutality and beauty. And that which way we lean—toward or the brutal or the beautiful—makes a serious difference in our lives and in the lives of others. Oleg and Davina lean toward beauty in the midst of brutality. Their choice guides mine, between tears.
Children, like everyone, have a range of talents and abilities. One child is great with numbers; another has a knack for words and language. All kids learn differently and at different rates. Still, children with learning challenges often face more frustration in their regular classrooms. But there is one subject that most kids enjoy being on the same playing field as their peers. It’s art! Painting, drawing, sculpting, dance, music, and crafts benefit all children, including those with learning challenges — the following article presented by A Spacious Placeexplains the hows and whys.
A Boost in Self-Esteem
No one’s art has to be just like anyone else’s. Art teachers emphasize the point that “it’s your art, and it can be whatever you want it to be.” This statement is powerful and resonates with kids who have learning challenges. These children often feel a lower sense of self-worth or even like they are less intelligent than their classmates. But, with art, the pressure to perform like everyone else is off, allowing creativity to flow and boosting their self-esteem.
Expressing Thoughts Is Easier
Children who learn differently sometimes struggle with communication. Art allows kids to express themselves in a way that is comfortable for them. Children who learn differently often deal with strong emotions that are difficult to explain or control. Art gives them an outlet for these feelings.
Improves Concentration and Reduces Stress
When doing art, the brain is stimulated as more dopamine is produced. For children with ADHD, increased dopamine results in improved concentration. As a result, art is enjoyable, and serotonin levels increase too. This feel-good hormone, produced when being creative, reduces stress levels.
Physical Benefits
Dexterity and fine motor skills improve when kids paint, draw, mold clay, use scissors, or play an instrument. In addition, large muscle groups get an excellent workout when practicing a dance routine.
A Dedicated Space for Creativity
Art is sometimes messy, music is sometimes loud, and space is needed for dancing. So think about utilizing an unused room or area of your home as a “creativity” space. A spare bedroom or unfinished basement converted into a dance, art, music classroom, or studio has many advantages.
Spontaneity
Setting up a table, gathering supplies, and asking permission each time a child wants to do a craft or practice dancing stifles creativity. An area designated for artistry means supplies are readily available and easily accessible when the mood hits. In addition, a dedicated space means unfinished projects stay on the table or easel. There’s no need to rush to complete a masterpiece.
Living Areas Remain Tidy
Paint, glue, and glitter get everywhere. A room containing all supplies, instruments, and even a dance bar leaves the rest of the house paint- and glitter-free. Music noise is greatly decreased and kids have a space to practice dance without interfering with the activities of other family members.
Increase the Value of Your Home
Converting an unfinished space into a finished space increases the usable square footage of your home. This could help boost the appraisal value of your property should you decide to sell in the future or if you need to leverage the equity in your home to finance remodeling or college costs.
Share Your Teaching With Others
After teaching art to your child, you’ve seen the benefits it brings them, and you’ve enjoyed teaching too. Consider reaching out to other parents with kids who have learning disabilities. Turn your passion into a business and offer art classes in your home’s art room or studio.
Teaching platforms provide teachers, tutors, and performers a place to list online and in-person classes and activities in Washington, DC, and around the country, and owning and operating a small business from your home has many benefits. Flexibility and convenience rank at the top. Further, being your own boss means you make all the decisions and your creativity has no limits.
Benefits of Art for Learning Disabilities
Children with learning disabilities benefit from doing art. Improved concentration, decreased stress levels, and a judgment-free outlet to express themselves are just a few. Working together with parents and educators, children who learn differently are better served.
The worst thing I can do when I sit down to write, is to open the door for The Critic. You know the guy: he strides in, wearing a superior expression, a bad mustache, and chewing on a cigar. In tones at once bored and superior, he launches in.
“What drivel.” “Been done a thousand times. And better.” “You USED to be a writer. Too bad…” And the oldie but baddie: “Don’t you get it? You just can’t.”
In the sixteen years A Spacious Place has been providing creativity services, we’ve heard The Critic internalized and voiced by people we serve. Perhaps The Critic once spoke at them from an authority figure or someone they admired. Perhaps they just never got the chance to try, fail, and try again in a supportive environment. So, The Critic mouths off at them using their own voice.
“I’m not creative.” “Been there, done that.” “Creating’s for kids (or not for men, like me).” “Waste of time—I need to be working.” And the oldie but baddie: “I’m no good at this. I just can’t.”
We all can—and we need to—create. We’ve just been socialized by The Critic to believe we can’t. And that’s a tragedy, because creating, which feeds our souls, helps us reach our human potential, and connects us with our Creator, also boasts an abundance of fringe benefits. The risk-taking creating demands boosts our courage. Creating that doesn’t go to plan enhances our ability to deal with frustration, to problem solve, and to shift perspective. Creating opens our eyes to beauty and truth around us, which helps ease burnout and depression. And because, most of the time, we create to share a truth of ourselves with others, creating builds healthy community.
So, when The Critic strides on to our doorstep, we can silently point to the exit, press the door shut, and
plate an appetizing meal, or plant a colorful garden, or weave a basket, or sing a song, or embroider a pillow, or paint a still life, or…
…whatever silences The Critic so we can hear the truth and beauty of our own voice.
How do you respond to The Critic? How do you express your creativity? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
If you’re a creative person, you know just how rewarding artistic hobbies can be. From music to painting, these pursuits allow people to tap into their emotions and find new ways to express themselves. A Spacious Place is a nonprofit that provides underserved communities with the resources they need to get creative. Interested in starting a charitable organization with a similarly creative slant? The below resource guide is here to help.
Select a Business Model and Set Up the Basic Structure
If you want to benefit from the tax breaks awarded to charitable organizations, you must register your company as an official nonprofit business entity.
Conduct a needs assessment to determine what unmet need your creative nonprofit can serve in your community.
Figure out what kind of legal entity to register your nonprofit as. Generally, the process is the same as starting a business in Texas.
Write out a nonprofit business plan to clarify how your nonprofit will be organized.
Research your nonprofit tax requirements with the IRS.
Figure Out How to Fund Your Nonprofit
Nonprofits need financial resources to maintain operations.
Starting a nonprofit can be a deeply rewarding way to give back to your community while also pursuing your passion. By giving other people the tools and resources they need to tap into their inner creativity, you can help them live a more rewarding life.
It’s a fresh year. We’ve begun it here in Austin with a snapping chill in the air—and with flurries of snow. The days are shorter, the nights longer. Perfect for reflection and anticipation.
My new year’s reflections landed on a snippet of a psalm: “I will solve my riddle to the music of a harp (Ps. 49:2).” The line struck me like a gust of winter wind. “Yes!” I said through chattering teeth: “That’s why A Spacious Place exists. It’s our hope for each person!” So, with our best hopes for you in 2018, here are some ideas for your soul’s riddle solving.
Ask. What question presses on your soul as you begin 2018? You might have a whole fleet of questions. Flesh them out in the shape of written words. Look at what you’ve written: these are the riddles of your soul. They’re yours to solve—in tandem with your highest allegiance. Take a long, pondering look.
Create. Once you’ve fleshed out your riddles(s), apply a bracing dose of creativity. Harp music was the natural expression for our psalmist. Writing’s my native tongue: longhand with a pen whose ink flows onto the page. Yours might be sewing or painting or cooking or doodling. Find what works for you. Then paint or plant or plait your riddle. Let your creative work ask the hard questions. Honesty’s the only way to solve your soul riddle.
Wait. Last, give yourself some grace and your puzzling some time. Riddle solving’s a process: processes take a while. You may greet 2019 still puzzling this one out. But, once you’ve set your riddle to a tune uniquely yours, you’ll be attuned to its solving throughout the year: as the days grow longer and warmer, and then snap back to bracing cold.
The delight of a riddle is in the work of its solving. We, at A Spacious Place, wish for you in 2018 a year such challenge and eventual delight.
Hardship, aka tough times, aka One Big Mess. Whatever we call it, a time of trial can work like a crucible. We get tossed in the beaker with a variety of volatile ingredients, the fire’s laid on, and things start churning and bubbling. In time, the dross burns away, and we’re left with the precipitated amalgam: potentially stronger, cleaner, and clarified. In other words, hardship, blast it!, can show us who we are and what we value.
A recent leadership change in our daughter’s liberal arts college elicited a major policy change. Graduate students found themselves tossed into hardship’s crucible. It’s been a fiery trial, especially for young people living in near poverty and working/studying 24/7. Below is Arielle’s post, written in the crucible. I share it because 1) the piece reflects A Spacious Place’s values applied in a real-world situation; 2) the piece demonstrates the power of creative and reflective thought, thus demonstrating the importance of arts and soul education; and 3) I’m mighty proud of her.
Just one last word before Arielle’s piece. We have a single task in a crucible time: to remain in the beaker till the flame has done its work. A few screams are not only to be expected—they may well be efficacious.
From Arielle McKee’s Facebook Post
I have been struggling for some time with how to put words around recent events at my university, and have finally come to this (and it is the best I can do at this moment):
The liberal arts matter exactly as much as the other colleges at ours and other universities, just as each component discipline is just as necessary and valuable as the next. Education is not, it cannot be about dollar value, deliverables, or ambiguous innovations. Nor is education a business; indeed, to measure the “success” of an education in such terms is to not only fundamentally misunderstand education’s power and purpose, but to effectively hinder, and at times even to thwart, an educator or educational institution’s ability to challenge and nurture well-rounded, creative, and critical thinkers. Thinkers who can change the world for the better.
In CLA we are trained to ask questions and to critically examine the world; it is our duty as scholars and as humans to query received narratives and to use our training to imagine new, creative solutions. Not a single one of us should be a tradeoff; we are people with lives and dreams and voices, and we are stronger together. We are stronger because, if we value each other and each other’s work–refusing to accept that any one person is worth less than any other–then we will finally have between us a staggering force for radical change. As liberal arts scholars, our particular call is to imagine and create alternatives, rather than to accept the limits we are told to hold to–particularly when those limits harm or devalue another human life.
I find myself lucky enough to work alongside friends and colleagues who believe in and will bravely fight for our education and for the education of our students and fellows. I am continually in awe of the bright and compassionate hearts and minds I see around me. To me you truly embody what the Liberal Arts are and should be, and I am proud to know you.
Our “Crazy Dreams” Creativity Camp has me thinking… We’ll explore the lives of folks who changed the world in myriad ways: politics, visual arts, music, literature, computing. Some of these crazy dreamers had harsh life experiences. All made their fair share of foul ups.
So before I encourage our campers to accept themselves, warts and all, I’ll try to do the same. I’ll remind myself that I was not put here to fly serenely above all life’s messiness. I’m here to dig in, which means I’ll get messy, and sometimes I’ll make a mess.
Cornell West calls the messiness of life “funk.” I’m covered in funk most of the time. And messy as it is, painful as it is, I’ll take it to soaring unscathed above the funk. Funk is primordial ooze of creativity; funk is life. So I’ll challenge our campers to dream crazy big, and then then to dig in and live their dreams. ‘Cause that’s what crazy dreamers do.
What are your thoughts on funk and foul ups? Share your insights.
We’ve seen the word, heard the word, said the word, felt the word so much that our natural defense mechanisms seek to sap us of feeling. After all, we can only feel horrified for so long before we go numb. Unless we act. And that’s our invitation to you this month.
Whether it’s someone elbowing in front of us in the check-out lane, giving us the one-finger salute, or opening fire on a crowd, violence tears at the fabric of creation. Some acts make small rips, others open gaping gashes. Each one destroys. Each one matters.
What can we do to make a difference—for ourselves or for others? We can take violence seriously, ponder its consequences—potential or real—and then roll up our sleeves and get busy creating. With creativity as our needle and love as our thread, we can stitch beauty into the tears made by violence. We won’t erase them—Jesus still bears His scars—but we will transform them. The smallest act of love and creativity bears more power than any act of violence.
So whether it’s penning a loving letter or email to a friend, planting flowers for others to enjoy, singing in the shower, or baking some cookies, the creative act bears meaning and merit, centering us and restoring our hope. Share your thoughts about violence, love, and creativity .
