Creative Journaling – A Quest for All Ages

I am just beginning an interesting and probably erratic or perhaps sporadic journey into creative journaling.  In truth I am still trying to come up with a definition of what this process is.  It seems to me that it means different things to different people…. for example, some seem to liken it to just letting your “crayons” flow out onto blank paper and seeing what happens.  Others, like Dr.Lucia Capacchione, see it as a tool for self-reflection, growth, and/or healing.   And still others see it as a fun, inspirational and colorful way to journal – using illustration, collage, and painting to enhance journal entries of a variety of sorts (example).  I took a workshop in Creative Journaling through the Thinkwell Center in Hartford, CT recently with a small group of women and found the experience of drawing and sharing and analyzing quite a lovely and very fun experience; so much so, that I am trying to enter into a more committed practice with my beautiful leather-bound journal. 

So you may be wondering what this practice has to do with simply Jewish parenting and practice!  Well I think self-reflection and nurturing self-awareness can beautifully support one's parenting by grounding and centering oneself.  I think getting out the crayons, markers, paints, cray-pas (and more - be creative!) can surely endear oneself to their child(ren), fill them with wonder, and encourage them to explore and express their “inner artist” as well.  What is so Jewish about this?  Delighting in others, in yourself, and in the world you inhabit can also nourish our sense of awe, love, appreciation and gratitude.  It’s spiritual guidance, it's holy work, it is certainly approaching your life and your family’s life through a Jewish lens.  Of course you may also find that you wish to journal about specifically Jewish themes as I did this past week meditating on the periodic coincidence that Tu B’Shvat (see earlier blog post) fell on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) this year. 









 

Two for Tu B'Shvat

Well in Hebrew, Tu does not mean 'Two'.  Instead it is the combination of two Hebrew letters, tet and vav which are equivalent to the number 15, which is not, as you probably realize, the number two!!! Fifteen, is the 15th of the month of Shvat, when fruit trees were tithed in ancient Israel. (See more about holiday in my last blog post.) However, I decided that I will provide TWO for TU which is not numerically equivalent but does have a nice ring to it, right?  So,as we approach Tu B'Shvat this coming Friday, I have offered two possibilities for different tastes, a recent poem from my own tool kit and of course a Tu B'Shvat recipe!

1)  Gentle Giants

It’s a gray day

In my hair that is

The wind whispered something

Between the white wisps

I could only hear faintly between the

Cries of delighted children

In the forest wielding

Twigs and crispy leaf litter



by Marie Brennen "The Chronicle" newspaper

It is true that the dew remains thick

Blocking the sun’s warmth
Magnifying the magical play
A gray day

A gray day filled with promise

Gentle giants watching over us
In silent serenity
Musing at the possibilities, for
“Trees do not scream for attention”^*
Merely smile, watch, wait
Anticipation, delight
These things too
Small children are made of
Free in this wild place
Mud-crusted snow, deer droppings, pine tar
A winter day overflowing

A winter day overflowing with gifts

Sinuous snakes in a children’s parade
Hissing exuberantly
Or hopping one foot then the other
A bunny’s brood
Barreling towards the final stretch
Mud streaks on the bathroom floor
Tell a story or maybe the segue to
Sweet luscious dates, figs, pomegranates
Born of ancient trees
Tethered to time
A different story about
Honor tradition holiness
Hugging these children firmly
With love and love and love and love

* From Cederic Wright’s “Consider the life of Trees”. Words of the Earth, 1960

I checked this cookbook, The Jewish Vegetarian Year Cookbook by Roberta Kalechofsky and Rosa Rasiel, out of our synagogue's library as our family is vegetarian.  There are lots of details about the various holidays as an added bonus.  Try this delicious recipe using lots of foods connected to this Jewish Holiday.

2)  Couscous with Dried Fruit

2 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons oil
2 cups couscous
1/4 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups dried mixed fruit, finely chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint

I bet that the addition of chopped nuts would be fantastic too!! 

In 2 quart pot, bring water and oil to boil. Remove from heat and stir in couscous. Cover, and let stand 20 minutes.  Add raisins, chopped fruit, honey, juice and mint.  Fluff up with 2 forks and serve.  Serves 8.

How Often Does Nature Call?

Several years ago, when I was working at a local Montessori School, one of the Head teachers and I were discussing some exciting ideas about outdoor education and plans for a nature trail behind the school. At one point she placed in my hand the book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving OurChildren From Nature-Deficit Disorder”.  Living in a relatively rural area of New England, this book reminded me, that so many children in our country are missing opportunities to play, organically and spontaneously, in the outdoor world.  This world needn’t be the most isolated, remote mountain tops or streams but nearby parks with trees and ponds, or backyard woods and grassy lots.  There is so much to discover if you just kneel down and look at things crawling, hopping, flying; or spend time digging, climbing, catching; or squising your hands and feet in the mud, lifting a leaf or even lying down in a snow bank for several minutes and looking at the sky or tree limbs above.  There is even more to discover if you do these things different times of the day and in different seasons. 

These thoughts come as I anticipate the small, favorite, lesser known Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for trees.  Some liken it to the Jewish Arbor Day but with interesting historical links to ancient agricultural taxation, Jewish mysticism, early Zionism, and environmentalism.  New England is an exceptionally interesting location for celebrating Tu B'Shvat partially because its climate differs so much from Israel's!!  In Israel the sap is flowing, the almond trees are soon to blossom and the rains are nudging others to follow suit.  Here in northeastern Connecticut, our lumbering giants are still sleepy from the cold and have a couple of months to go before that sap begins to flow!  HOWEVER, there is still much to see and do around these wonderful friends here in our backyard woods even if there is snow on the ground.  Some things that I plan to be doing with several young children, will be following snowprints, hugging trees (literally), eating of their fruit (store bought I’m afraid), sledding (I hope), and renewing my commitment to our natural world and conservation.  HAPPY TU B’SHVAT!!