Personal Stories | Sheila Collins

Art As Medicine – Consider Poetry

by Sheila Collins | Aug 11, 2022 | Art & Life, Book Excerpts, Duality, Family, Good Will Come, Grieving, Improvisation, Past Events, Personal Stories, Resilience, Self-Care, Self-Care for Caregivers, The Art of Grieving

I’m not a poet though I’ve often wished I were one. To say profound things succinctly, to be able to express the musicality of images, to highlight the rhythm and tone of words. And now as I’m learning, to be able to create what J. S. Mill claimed of Wordsworth’s...

A Return to Celebrating Life or Why attend a funeral if you don’t have to?

by Sheila Collins | Aug 4, 2022 | Art & Life, Celebrations, Community, Duality, Family, Gatherings, Good Will Come, Grieving, Personal Stories, Rituals, The Art of Grieving

This August seems to be funeral season for many members of my community. We’ve all been through a long moratorium on in- person funerals, and in-person weddings too for that matter. Respecting the danger of Covid we’d not wanted to wipe out entire families or...

The Art of Grieving and the Art of Loving

by Sheila Collins | Jul 28, 2022 | Art & Life, Duality, Family, Good Will Come, Grieving, Our Children, Personal Stories, Spirtuality, The Art of Grieving

“What’s love got to do with it (grief)?” Tina Turner sang the answer to this question in this song from her 1984 album, “Private Dancer.” “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?” It’s said that grief is the price we pay for love, but my friend Wai Chin Matsuoka...

How Art Helps Us Grieve

by Sheila Collins | Jul 21, 2022 | Duality, Environment, Family, Grieving, Past Events, Personal Stories, Resilience, The Art of Grieving

“Will this ever be over?” It’s a question we ask ourselves, each other, and the universe, when challenges and unpleasant situations persist, way beyond our patience to deal with them. In recent weeks, two different friends, in different parts of the country traveled...

Rituals to Celebrate Birth Days

by Sheila Collins | Jul 14, 2022 | Celebrations, Duality, Family, Gatherings, Our Children, Personal Stories, Self-Care, The Art of Grieving, Women, Girls & the Feminine

Today’s the day I’m supposed to celebrate my birth. This practice, this ritual, is not universal in all cultures, but in mine, it’s consistent from the first icing-covered baby face toddler sitting in a highchair, to the swimming pool and bounce room back yard...

Grieving Personal Losses and Those in our Cultural Body

by Sheila Collins | Jun 30, 2022 | Community, Duality, Environment, Grieving, Health, Health and Wellness, History, Personal Stories, social justice, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body, Women, Girls & the Feminine

The 8 x 8 ft POD was dropped off in my Pittsburgh driveway early Friday morning. Filled to the brim with what I had deemed essential “treasures,” from the California house we were selling, I knew the drill. We had till Monday to empty the container and find a place...

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Learn the Many, Magical Ways Art Transforms Grieving!

(No art skills required.)

Loss is inevitable, yet too often we bury our grief, pretending we're OK when we're not.

In my new book (COMING SOON), I'll share some uncommon notions about grief and how the arts, and art-making, have transformative powers that take us to the heart of the matter.

A Return to Celebrating Life or Why attend a funeral if you don’t have to?

The Art of Grieving and the Art of Loving

How Art Helps Us Grieve

Rituals to Celebrate Birth Days

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