the Big Body | Sheila Collins

Lessons for the Art of Grieving from a Queen’s Funeral

by Sheila Collins | Sep 15, 2022 | Art & Life, Celebrations, Community, Environment, Family, Gatherings, Grieving, Songs, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body, Women, Girls & the Feminine

Queen Elizabeth’s four adult children walk slowly behind her casket as it moves through the main street of Edinburgh Scotland. Throngs of British subjects and their guests stand in respectful silence. The only audible sound–the clomping horses’ hooves on the street’s...

The Art of Grieving for Children of any Age

by Sheila Collins | Sep 7, 2022 | Art & Life, Celebrations, Family, Gatherings, Grieving, Our Children, pets, Rituals, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

As I was walking my dog Cody one morning this summer, he started to pay attention to something underneath one of the bushes that line a communal driveway in our neighborhood. Looking over at the spot I identified a small rock and a feather, and moving closer,...

Anticipatory Grief and the need for Sanctuary and Belonging

by Sheila Collins | Aug 17, 2022 | Family, Gatherings, Grieving, Health and Wellness, History, Our Children, Past Events, Self-Care, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body, Women, Girls & the Feminine

There is advice we give one another, in InterPlay classes and practices – “Never underestimate the body’s need for reassurance.” When I’m directing the physical warmup, I like to time this comment to accompany a movement we’re doing which I’d describe as a self-hug....

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...

Finding Something to Do

by Sheila Collins | Jun 2, 2022 | Art & Life, Community, Environment, Gatherings, Grieving, Institutional Loss, Our Children, School Shootings, social justice, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

We’re at the grocery store, we’re on our way to pick the kids up at school, we’re at the doctor’s office waiting for an appointment– and because we carry a device that keeps us up-to-the-minute on whatever is happening anywhere in the country, we get the news. “Not...

Grief by the Numbers

by Sheila Collins | May 26, 2022 | Community, Environment, Family, Grieving, History, Past Events, Personal Stories, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

Visiting family in our nation’s capital over the weekend, we took some time to visit the Vietnam Memorial. We walked the concrete path alongside the black granite wall that honors the United States men and women who served in that 20-year war and lost their...

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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.

Lessons for the Art of Grieving from a Queen’s Funeral

The Art of Grieving for Children of any Age

Anticipatory Grief and the need for Sanctuary and Belonging

Grief by the Numbers

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