Thanks for the May 22nd Protest!

over 250,000 people came out to show support for the students and to say no to draconian laws restricting freedom to demonstrate!

I have been in Québec for only 5 months now, but already I’ve seen history being made! Today I was one of the 250,000 + who walked in the streets of Montreal to stand up for the right to universal access to education and to oppose law 78 which drastically restricts people’s rights to organize against injustice.  Since this is a complicated issue I will leave it up to someone more versed in legal issues to explain it to you.  This is just an excerpt – to read more, please check out: an open letter to my English-Canadian friends.  But let me finish by saying that in these days of extreme individualism it sincerely does my heart good to see so many people united in a cause and coming together for justice!! Love you, Québec!!

The government has met the very reasonable request that this issue, and broader issues of University governance, be at least addressed in some suitably open and democratic manner with silence, then derision, then injunctions, and now, with the most odious “law” that I have seen voted by the Quebec National Assembly in my adult memory. It places the right of all Quebec citizens to assemble, but also to talk and discuss about these issues, under severe limitations. It includes that most odious of categories: crimes of omission, as in, you can get fined for omitting to attempt to prevent someone from taking part in an act judged illegal by the law. In principle, the simple wearing of the by-now iconic red square can be subject to a fine. The government has also made the student leaders absurdly and ruinously responsible for any action that is ostensibly carried out under the banners of their organizations. The students groups can be fined $125000 whenever someone claiming to be “part” of the movement throws a rock through a window. And so on. It is truly a thing to behold.

The government is clearly aware that this “law” would not withstand a millisecond of Charter scrutiny. It actually expires in July 2013, well before challenges could actually wind their way through the Courts. The intention is thus clearly just to bring down the hammer on this particular movement by using methods that the government knows to be contrary to basic liberal-democratic rule-of-law principles. The cynicism is jaw-dropping. It is beneath contempt for the government to play fast and loose with our civil rights and liberties in order to deal with the results of its own abject failure to govern.

“Our history is unravelling”

 

Thank You Backwards

BE THANKFUL

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.

                                                                                —Author Unknown

via Thank You Backwards.

The Power of Images

Today I’m thankful for the blissful summer-like weather and for the power of IMAGES!  Here’s a little paper I wrote on the subject for my Introduction to Art Therapy course. Enjoy the deep thoughts!

My drawing for Intro to Art Therapy Workshop 3

Images are very powerful and play an important part in art therapy.  The image can convey emotions as well as symbolic meaning. Therefore, it is important that the therapist understand the significance of the image and respect the inherent messages it contains for its creator.  This understanding will enable the therapist to aid his or her client in deciphering the personal meaning of his or her image.  Art therapist Bruce Moon goes so far as to say that the image needs to be regarded as a living entity (2003, p. 4).

In our third workshop for ATRP 301, we were invited to learn firsthand from our images the capacity they have to communicate with us.  There was a table covered with a sparkly purple cloth and we were invited to choose a key (or to let it choose us), and once we’d chosen one, we were also invited to choose a few more if we so desired.  At first I chose a skeleton key, but as soon as I heard the option of choosing more, I grabbed a silver key with an unusual flat tooth area and a diamond-shaped top.  Then we were invited to reflect on our key and proceed to make art inspired by it. The first things that came to me were words in the form of clichés:  “The key to my heart” and “piano keys”.  From there, in my mind’s eye I started to see piano keys extending out from the teeth of the key and the lines from the keys becoming a heart that surrounded the whole key image.  I saw that image all at once, so I began drawing it in ink and from there I let the image and the symbols take over.  Whatever the image called for visually, I gave it.  This process was freeing for me because it became about honoring my inner voice, my universal mind or collective unconscious, which, according to Carl Jung, “expresses itself through the personal unconscious”(Edwards, 2001, p.83).  As I drew the piano keys, they became bars – prison bars. My logical mind wanted to question why, but I tried to keep in mind what I had read by Michael Edwards: “whatever happens is right” when making an image, and if this idea is trusted, “the individual becomes interested in the unpredictable; the ego learns to watch and relate to the process, rather than seeking to gain control over it” (2001, p.86).  I then knew I had to draw a person behind the prison bars.  On the left side of the key I didn’t know what to draw so I drew circles because they always ground and reconnect me.  I drew them in white crayon so that they would come through the red ink I painted overtop of them.  The red ink looked like blood as I painted it.  One image led to another and every time I got to a blank space on the page, I listened for what needed to be added there.  The hole in the top of the key needed to be dark and deep so I painted its border black with a dark green centre.  The metal framing this hole needed to be sparkly and fancy like something from my childhood so I dotted it with pink, purple, peach and light blue dots.  These colours then needed to have a wash over them that made them drip purple down the key shaft.  I started to feel sad, intense emotions as something from my childhood, something about safety and sexuality was evoked by these images.  I decided to stop there – partly because the image felt complete and partly because I didn’t feel the workshop was the appropriate place to deeply explore what was coming up for me through this process.  I sat looking at my image and wrote what I have written here.  It was enlightening to then go around the room and hear what the symbol of the key evoked for each person and how they chose to convey that in their artwork.  Almost everyone harkened back to their childhood, or to a sense of home, or to secrets.

This workshop made me ponder the idea of the connection between art making and the collective unconscious (if it does in fact exist) and what our visual symbols can reveal to us about “hidden feelings, fears or fantasies”(Wilson, 2001, p.47). It is interesting to reflect upon Jung’s insistence (1966) that “the effort to give visible form to the image enforces a study of it in all its parts, so that in this way its effects can be completely experienced” (as cited in Edwards, 2001, p.82). To me, this means that the image starts somewhere within me, and calls to be made visible, and once made visible, it can be examined and understood.  Art therapy can facilitate this examination of symbols alongside a trained professional who is ideally steeped in respect for the image and all that it has to teach us.

References

Edwards, M. (2001). Jungian analytic art therapy. In J. Rubin (Ed.) Approaches to Art Therapy: Theory & Technique (pp.81-94)(2^nd ED). NY: Brunner-Routledge.

Moon, B.L.(2003). Essentials of art therapy education and practice. Springfield, Illinois:Charles C. Thomas (pp.3-10).

Wilson, L. (2001). Symbolism and art therapy. In J. Rubin (Ed.) Approaches to Art Therapy: Theory & Technique (pp. 40-53)(2^nd ED) NY: Brunner-Routledge.

A Reminder to Be Grateful!

I don’t usually post things from mainstream t.v., but this one is special.  This person’s story will give you many reasons to be grateful for all that you have, and I doubt you’ll be able to watch this without being very touched.

201 views & Connecting the Dots!

Carlos smiling big! This was the first time he’d played with plasticine since he was a little boy and he loved it! What I loved the most was the looks on people’s faces when they realized that blind people can make art too! So inspiring! I love this picture a lot!

I’m so thankful to be sharing inspiration with so many readers!  Today my blog had 201 views!! This is a huge record, as the most I’d ever had before this was 120.  This whole blogging thing and how to get more views is a mystery to me, but I’m sure this had something to do with my popular friend Josette Leblanc reposting it on facebook and twitter.  Check out Josette’s blog on teaching – it’s deeply insightful and written by someone who is very honest and excited about her passion – teaching English as a Second Language!

Today I got to thinking about connecting the dots and how it’s always so hard to trust looking forward that when something “bad” happens to us it is somehow going to lead to better things (and at the very least, GROWTH!).  Yet when we look back at our lives, we can often see the events that lead to other events that lead to where we are today – a metaphorical “connecting of the dots”, if you will.

Today I was thinking about how back in August of last year I felt devastated about my decision to stay on in London instead of moving to Montreal in September 2011.  I kept beating myself up feeling sure I’d made a mistake staying longer and not following my plan to move on and pursue my Master’s degree in Art Therapy.  I didn’t trust that it happened for a reason.  Even upon moving to Montreal, I didn’t trust that I would make good friends or find my place in this foreign province.  Then when I didn’t get accepted into the Master’s in Art Therapy program at Concordia, I really felt lost and unsure.

Looking back I can connect the dots and see that if I had not moved here when I did (January 2012) I wouldn’t have met my new amazing friend Carlos, and therefore he wouldn’t have been able to show me the Resto Plateau, the soup kitchen where I have recently founded an open art studio. In addition, if I’d been accepted to the master’s program, I wouldn’t have time to keep running the open studio at the Resto in the fall.  This reminded me I have to trust that since life has brought me to where I am today and because so far everything I’ve ever needed has been provided for me, that the future will also bring me what I need.  It’s about time I started trusting in abundance!  Thanks for so many views of my blog and for connecting the dots into the past and the future!

The Beginnings of Something Great

It’s happening!  All at once creativity and life are flowing again, and all feels very right in my world! For once my lack of blog updates is due to busy-ness, and not out of feeling low-lying depravity.  The sun is shining in abundance and that certainly helps put a spring in my step too!  So ART is happening at le Resto Plateau, a soup kitchen in my Montreal neighbourhood that feeds the poor and provides community to the lonely!  New School of Colour, you’ve got a brother from another mother here in MONTREAL!! Sandra has dubbed me the founder/co-facilitator and she is extending her role as resident social worker to include being my co-facilitator to help me get this program off the ground.

Allow me to post some photos – keep in mind it is tricky to take these as I want/need to ask everyone’s permission to be photographed, let alone not wanting to scare any participants off by making them feel like they are being documented.  Especially when they are taking brave steps to try out making art in a public place with folks they hardly know.  Here are our humble, yet brave, new beginnings – DAY 1, Monday, May 7th, and some amazing art that was made today, our SECOND art program at Resto Plateau on May 14th.  There is so much meaning and expression in these images!  I’m honored that the participants trusted Sandra and I enough to leave their artwork with us, to put it up on display and to allow me to photograph it. Comments are much appreciated!

All art supplies are donated from people’s personal supplies and local art stores. WE HAVE NO BUDGET! If you feel so inclined, send some art supplies to hailey 31-1060 Rue Gilford, Montreal, QC, H2J 1P6

*I have removed all of the pictures of participants or their artwork, as I did not ask their permission to post them on my blog and I thereby unintentionally caused some people to be upset.  I am sorry to those who feel I did not respect them and I can only say that I was so very excited to share your beautiful images with the world that got carried away.  From now on I will be asking participants to sign a release form before I take it upon myself to post any photos of them or their artwork.  More than anything I sincerely hope this does not dissuade anyone from participating in our wonderful art group at Resto Plateau!  Long live art!!*

*J’ai enlevé toutes les photos des participants ou leurs oeuvres d’art, comme je n’ai pas demandé la permission de les publier sur mon blog et je ainsi involontairement amené certaines personnes à être en colère. Je suis désolé pour ceux qui pensent que je n’ai pas les respecter et je ne peux dire que j’ai été tellement heureux de partager vos belles images avec le monde qui me suis laissé emporter. A partir de maintenant je vais demander aux participants de signer une décharge avant que je prends sur moi pour poster des photos d’eux ou de leur art. Plus que tout J’espère sincèrement que ce n’est pas dissuader quiconque de participer à notre groupe art merveilleux au Resto Plateau!*

Thanks for Quebec

Quebec is the Canada We Should Want.

…..in a time when newspapers and much of the rest of the country are condemning students for standing up for their “entitlements,” shouldn’t the rest of us be doing the same?

Wow! What a title!  The above blog post flies in the face of what the Canadian media is saying about (my new province of) Quebec these days. I highly recommend reading it. Living here is fascinating, because even though I know I am still in Canada and I get to enjoy the benefits of living in my home country, I truly feel the difference between Quebec and Ontario each day.  The difference, for me, is not only in the politics mentioned in this well-written blog post, but also in the overall JOIE DE VIVRE found in the people here!  This is a place where most people work to LIVE, not live to work!!  Take for example how on a Saturday afternoon, Ontarians like me will be surprised to find that stores close at 5 PM because people want to enjoy their weekends!! Or the fact that you see groups of friends and families having loud, delicious-smelling BBQ’s outside in public parks with open bottles of wine and beer – which is perfectly legal (alcohol + food) because they are not puritans here, trying to stamp out the slightest sign of a good time!

I am so thankful for this chance to live in and experience this truly unique place in Canada and on EARTH!  Please, before you believe the garbage the media is feeding you – that the student strike is just a bunch of violent (but whining) kids and that we should just sit back and take whatever is handed to us (or taken from us, as the case may be) – remember that there is a big corporate agenda behind most media and really, education is a basic right.  Here is just one great paragraph from the post, which is about one reason I am thankful for Quebec: SOCIALISM!

“There is progression in Quebec, both socially and culturally, that is noticeably absent in the rest of Canada. Not that I don’t love the rest of this country, but in the past decade it seems to have assimilated, gentrified, and not just in adding Starbucks and Timmy’s everywhere. I believe a lot of it has to do with the ideological shift to the right, an affection for capitalism over socialism. Perhaps it’s simply the mix of French and English that give Quebec a false notion of progress. Either way, Canada was built on a foundation of social programs and nationalism, and it’s odd to me that Quebec is the one province that continues to aspire to those ideals.”

Intro to Art Therapy

I just started a class called “Introduction to Art Therapy.”  It is AMAZING because after one class I have already learning so much.  We are making art in class as well as doing incredibly informative readings on the importance of setting up a strong framework and clear boundaries when doing art therapy – something that I can immediately put to use with the art project I am concurrently starting up at my local soup kitchen.  More to come about that! So my first assignment was to write one page about why I am taking this course.  I thought I would share what I wrote with you:

Hailey Tallman’s Introductory Paper

        My interest in art therapy developed at a young age when I learned that I could combine my passion for social justice with my love of fine art, though at the time, I did not know this was called “art therapy”.  Art was my first love and I have been painting and creating for as long as I can remember.  I was raised in a family that had compassion for the mentally-ill, lent money to single mothers on welfare and was steeped in the Mennonite Christianity of living simply and helping the downtrodden.  In addition, self-exploration and introspection were both modeled and encouraged by my parents.  When I was sixteen I came across a book entitled “Life, Paint and Passion” by Michelle Cassou and Stewart Cubley, which taught the importance of painting and creating for self-expression, and putting process over product.  For me, this was a revolutionary way of looking at art, as I’d been taking private art lessons and attending various art schools from a young age.  I’d never thought of the inherent healing properties in the materials and in art making itself.  However, my painting teacher dissuaded me from further exploring this, and I went on to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NSCAD.  Upon graduation I felt disillusioned with the focus on the product and the seemingly arbitrary value put on some artwork and not on others.  I took a year off to volunteer in a refugee resettlement community in Toronto, where I offered art lessons and art play to the children living there, and collaborated on some murals with the adult residents.  I knew that I loved art and that I loved social justice and working with sustainable, healing communities, but I did not yet know that there was a profession through which I could combine these loves.

Once I discovered the profession of art therapy in 2007, I started to pursue it and slowly acquire the prerequisite psychology courses I would need to do the masters at Concordia while simultaneously teaching English as a Second Language full-time.  Professionally, teaching has been a wonderful way to grow my people skills and learn how to understand people’s needs as a group as well as individually.  I have volunteered extensively with refugees doing settlement work and teaching ESL, and have volunteered with veterans in a veteran’s hospital, doing art projects in various mediums.  I more recently sat on the board of an open studio for adults with mental health challenges, and co-facilitated an open art studio for the homeless and impoverished.  In all of these volunteer opportunities, I have found that without a doubt, the act of creating art and offering people a chance to express themselves in a visual medium has a healing effect.  I have seen it give people confidence, strength, healthy vulnerability in community, hope for the future and a new found joie de vivre.

I am now ready to learn the theory and science behind these powerful effects that I have witnessed in art making.  I am hoping to learn some of the basic reasons why art has this effect on people – neurologically and psychologically.  I already believe in art therapy and know that it works.  Mainly I want to learn how and why.

Thanks for Best Friends

I am blessed to have a best friend.  I am especially blessed to have a best friend like Corinne!  She is such a loving, kindhearted person who will give you the shirt off her back and a listening ear.  We’ve been best friends since we were 16 – so that’s 17 years now! This weekend she has been visiting me here in Montreal for three nights and two days, and heads back to her family in London tomorrow.  We have had such an amazing time biking all over the plateau, talking, laughing, making art and listening to good tunes.  I wish that everyone could have as good of a friend as I do in Corinne.  It makes life so much more meaningful when you have a real friend to accompany you along the journey.

The Power of a Name

Dear WordPress:

It has been 3 days since my last blogpost. Ha! I’m such a Catholic at heart as I actually feel guilty when I don’t post!  This might be a long one as the story is hilarious and also involved, but I guarantee, worth reading to discover the reason for the title! So here goes:

The hilarious effect I seem to have on the men at Resto Plateau

Every day that I eat at this lovely soup kitchen in the plateau of Montreal, I seem to add a new crush to my repertoire – them crushing on me, and maybe me just a little bit on them, just for how ridiculous they act around me!  Let me say, as a disclaimer, that I am not bragging, I don’t think I’m “all that”, and I do have respect for MOST of these men As my second disclaimer, let me say that this is a place where the working-class and “impoverished” eat, 85% of them being men, and men who are 40+ years old!  As my third disclaimer, let me say that I am one of the younger women who eats there.  Okay – I shall now proceed with my story STORIES.  Person by person. Um, yeah, this is going to be too long, so I’ll share a few stories for now and tell some more later.  I’m sure there will be developments. Ha!

Yvan*: this guy makes me the most uncomfortable of the bunch, as he has a wildness in his eyes and a temper under his skin.  I sat at his table one day and had Carlos across the table from me, and young Eric** beside me. We were having a light-hearted discussion about how most francophones have no problem with a stranger getting in their face – as in to kiss them on the cheeks as a greeting. Young Eric was saying how even though he’s a francophone, he really doesn’t like the double-kiss thing. Then Giles came up behind me and joined the conversation, mainly looking at me, and suddenly Yvan interrupted him and said something very seriously in French that I didn’t catch.  Suddenly Giles leaned in and started SHOUTING swear words at the top of his lungs at Yvan: Tabernack! Calise! Merde! etc…. but much more colourful than that. At the time I had no idea what happened but I was later informed that Yvan didn’t like that Giles was suddenly talking to me or joining in the conversation and told him to stop talking to me and to butt out!  I tried to avoid both Giles and Yvan after this but Yvan always seeks me out and tries to sit near me.  He barely lets me eat my food as he’s peppering me with personal questions about myself trying to flirt by asking about my astrological sign etc.  I answer him very simply making as little eye-contact as possible and continuing to eat. On Tuesday, Yvan, once again, sat next to me and was trying to get my attention, but I was already engaged in a conversation with four other men, all vying for my attention.  Let me continue this story with…

*Names bolded are the men who’ve made moves on me in various hilarious ways.

**There are many Erics at Resto Plateau so I must distinguish between them somehow

…..Big Eric: I am learning that I need to be careful who I sit with, so I sat at this particular table  because of Jules – an older man with muscular dystrophy.  He shakes a lot and needs help eating sometimes.  Since learning that Jules used to be an art critic in Montreal and is still very intelligent, and since I am somehow able to understand him when he speaks (with a lot of patience) and he often has something wise to say if you listen (and don’t mind getting spittle on your face), I decided to sit beside him.  The conversation was interesting and in French, which I love, about the student strike, with mainly Mario, another dude, and Big Eric doing most of the talking, but all of them waiting until I was listening before continuing with their points. Between mopping up Jules’ spilled soup (on my right) and trying to ignore Yvan’s pokes on my arm (on my left) I was trying my best to be attentive to the discussion in FRENCH about the student strike, but it was quite distracting and the men started talking louder and leaning in more towards me to hold my attention.  Not liking not having all of my attention, Yvan got up in disgust and moved to sit with Young Eric at a different table, while continuing to shoot angry looks at the men at my table throughout the mealtime.  Eventually Mario and the other dude left and Big Eric moved over to sit directly across from me.  At this point he revealed he speaks English, and we continued talking and having a nice, lighthearted conversation UNTIL…. he asked me my name.  seriously.  I have NEVER had a reaction like this, and please believe me, I am not exaggerating.

I said “Hailey” and he said “Hailey?” and I said “Oui, Hailey, comme la comète” and his head jerked back like he’d been hit in the face. He then got tears in his eyes and started breathing heavily and said “Sorry, sorry, I need a minute to absorb this – wow…wow…WOW! Your..your name…your name is HAILEY?!” He actually had tears in his eyes and it was like he’d seen a ghost or something very amazing and I was uncomfortable and asking him – “uh, are you okay? What’s wrong?  Did you know someone named Hailey who passed away or something?” and he was like “sorry, uh, I’m still trying to process this…” so I got up to put my tray and Jules’ tray away and when I came back, Big Eric was still reeling and finally managed to say: “I am just so blown away by your name! It’s like – wow! It’s like a shooting star just hit me and I can’t imagine how you’ve lived your whole life with such a name and having to live up to such a name and what kind of a person you must be to carry a name like Hailey-Hailey- HAILEY!!” and he was being quite loud and people were looking and I just started to giggle because I had no idea what the shit was going on!! He went on like this for quite a while, and both young Eric and Yvan were looking at us strangely and I didn’t know what to do and I asked Eric if he’d never heard my name before and he was just shaking his head saying “your parents must be enlightened or really spiritual or something! Wow, wow, Hailey, Hailey……etc…..” So I just left!  I didn’t know what else to do – I was like “Bonne Journée!” and took off – like a comet

There are several other stories but those are the two more memorable ones for now.  My question is: HOW am I going to facilitate an art program with this group if so many of them are this hungry for my attention?  It’s not like I’m dressing sexy, folks!  I am on a mission to buy an artist’s smok/apron and hopefully the lustier ones will stick to their food and the calmer ones will come to make art. Whew! Thoughts?? Sheesh!!