These hands are maker hands. A former architect and now a found object sculptor, my dad sustains himself with creativity. It’s what keeps him going despite the almost 4 decades he’s been living with a serious head injury. My dad lives with a roommate and has the support of caregivers who are still allowed to visit, but he lives in another state and I worry about him a lot, especially at this moment.
One of my dad’s caregivers sent me this picture of him coloring one of the coloring pages I made. When I opened the text I inhaled a deep emotional breath. Art has always been a powerful means of communication for us, and this image brought this right to the forefront of my mind. It felt like the closest thing to making something in person together. Creativity is going to keep us connected to each another now more than ever.
The coloring page my dad was working on is part of the series I put together with messages for this moment called Coloring for Resilience. I have been sending out a new original downloadable page every day for 9 days. All of them will be sent at the end so if you sign up late you won’t miss out on the pages that have already been sent out. It’s my offering to you.
I’ve heard of folks posting the coloring pages on their windows for neighbors who walk by, preachers emailing them out to their congregations, therapists sending the coloring pages to incarcerated women feeling a lot of fear right now, and a health care worker at SF General who is providing markers to her overwhelmed and exhausted staff for them to color and alleviate stress. I am so moved by the ways people are using these messages in their communities. Please continue to share these stories and your beautiful pages – they lift me up.