the Big Body | Sheila Collins

When Grief is Normal and when it’s Not

by Sheila Collins | Mar 31, 2022 | Grieving, Health, Health and Wellness, Past Events, Personal Stories, Self-Care, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

Grief’s normal, right? It’s a natural response to losing someone or something that we love. Yet these days, we often question ourselves and one another. Are we doing it right? “I still haven’t cried,” or “I can’t seem to get through a day without crying.” “My brother...

War and Peace

by Sheila Collins | Mar 3, 2022 | Art & Life, Christianity, Community, Environment, Gatherings, Grieving, History, Rituals, Science, Technology and the Environment, Technology, the Big Body

On the road for six hours, I’d finally come to rest on a feather soft bed in a fancy New York hotel room a half a mile above the city streets. A hotel porter brings something my husband asked for and smiles when he sees me resting there. He looks out the broad windows...

We and Our Shadows

by Sheila Collins | Jan 6, 2022 | Art & Life, Celebrations, Community, Dances, Duality, Family, Grieving, History, Personal Stories, Resilience, Science, Technology and the Environment, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body, Uncategorized

Today I am visiting what I wrote last year. I was curious to see where we are now in comparison to when the calendar turned from 2020 to 2021. Cleaning my workspace the other morning a line from a song kept playing on a loop in my inner ear, “Me and my shadow, all...

The Installation – Reckoning: Grief and Light

by Sheila Collins | Dec 16, 2021 | Art & Life, Community, Duality, Environment, History, Personal Stories, Science, Technology and the Environment, the Big Body, Women, Girls & the Feminine

I missed the announcement of the spring opening, or maybe there wasn’t one given Covid restrictions, so it took me awhile to get myself to the Frick Museum to experience Vanessa German’s installation, Reckoning; Grief and Light. I was drawn first by the artist, an...

Grief, Trauma and My Sense of Humor

by Sheila Collins | Oct 2, 2019 | Art & Life, Environment, Grieving, Institutional Loss, Our Children, Personal Stories, Resilience, Self-Care, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

My husband is a light-hearted fellow at times and this morning was one of those times. He tried to tell me a joke and, hearing just the first part of it, (it had to do with politics) I told him I didn’t want to hear it. He persisted and so did I, so separating...

Looking back, Moving Forward

by Sheila Collins | Sep 18, 2019 | Art & Life, Past Events, Resilience, Self-Care for Caregivers, Stillpoint, The Art of Grieving, the Big Body

It’s often said, “We live life looking forward but we understand it looking back.” That’s what we did last Sunday, members of my improv troupe Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players and me. Many of us have meet regularly, often weekly, since 2005 to rehearse upcoming...

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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.

When Grief is Normal and when it’s Not

War and Peace

We and Our Shadows

The Installation – Reckoning: Grief and Light

Grief, Trauma and My Sense of Humor

Looking back, Moving Forward

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