social justice | Sheila Collins

Transforming Grief and Rage into Courage and Action

by Sheila Collins | Sep 12, 2024 | Art & Life, Book Excerpts, Community, Environment, Gatherings, Good Will Come, Publications, Resilience, Rituals, social justice

It’s been 23 years since four Islamist terrorists, members of al-Qaeda, engaged in coordinated suicide attacks against the United States in 2001. At 8:14 am EDT on that morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the East Coast...

The Art of Storytelling and Grief in the Body Politic

by Sheila Collins | Sep 5, 2024 | Community, History, Personal Stories, social justice

The national election in the US is happening in 60 days. It’s no secret, we are a divided nation, and no one can be sure how this will all turn out. In fact, the presidential race is so close, uncertainty and fear may be the primary emotions of most citizens. This...

Memory and Meaning at The Election Time

by Sheila Collins | Aug 22, 2024 | Community, Environment, Gatherings, History, Personal Stories, social justice, the Big Body

Election Day 2024 in the United States is just a little more than 2 months away. Unfortunately, this fact is not of equal importance to all our citizens. Many people want no part of the hyperactive every four years campaigns to influence election outcomes. Despite the...

The Art of Dancing on Behalf of Peace Part 2

by Sheila Collins | Feb 29, 2024 | Celebrations, Dances, Duality, Environment, Family, Gatherings, Grieving, Health and Wellness, Self-Care, social justice, Songs, The Art of Grieving

“What is she doing? My 3-year-old grandson William’s voice echoed throughout the large meeting space at my 31-year-old son Kenneth’s memorial service. Hearing that voice, and the question that I imaged many other people were asking themselves, I stopped what I was...

Are we willing to mourn?

by Sheila Collins | Apr 27, 2023 | Community, Dances, Duality, Family, Gatherings, Grieving, History, School Shootings, social justice, Songs, The Art of Grieving

Seven-year-old Daniel Barden’s father Mark came on ahead of the video I was trying to pull up this morning. I’ve seen him often though these past 11 years since his son was one of the 20 children killed when a 20-year-old with an assault-style weapon began shooting at...

Celebrating Democracy and Communities

by Sheila Collins | Nov 10, 2022 | Art & Life, Celebrations, Community, Duality, Environment, Gatherings, Personal Stories, social justice, the Big Body

It’s the morning after the midterm election and we don’t know yet who won and who lost in some races. But we celebrate anyway with several neighbors on this morning’s dog walk. The turnout at our polling place is worth celebrating–over 90 percent of eligible voters...

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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.

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