Maggie creating her heart

A Path with Heart and a Different Kind of Valentine

were themes for February's WII Potluck/Program. Twenty six women came out on this cold February evening, first for a pot-luck feast, and then together we transformed our three large round dining tables, bedecked with roses and red cloths, into altars. Expressive Art Therapist, Eileen Mahoney guided us with poetry and guided imagery. She placed on each altar-to-be a wide variety of pink/ red and pastel tissue paper and an assortment of paper napkins with roses, and flowers, and other nature images. Her simple instruction: let your hearts become your hands. Voila: within 15 minutes we created collages, and each table indeed became a sacred altar. As one woman said: "we all had the same materials, and each creation was totally unique: tiny hearts, big open hearts, wings with hearts." At my table, before she began to work, Maggie shared that she had heavy and sad heart. She told us that driving to our gathering she heard a report on NPR about a woman who died in the recent Buffalo plane crash. This woman had lost her husband on Sept 11. She was in Buffalo to honor what would have been his 58th birthday. Moreover, she had been a leader among the families who had lost loved ones. As Maggie talked she found herself using the tissue paper to create a heart with wings. Her Creative Source led her hands to create a perfect symbol to honor the woman who died in the crash - a heart with wings. Susan Jameson summed up the evening: "magic was in the air; the divine in our hearts."

"Heart with Wings" by Maggie