Childish things and a video tour of phase 1!

I love that the day after I received the beautiful bottles in my last post, a box arrived from a teacher in South Carolina. The contrast in craftsmanship makes me smile and reminds me of the range of communities that are participating in this project.

Today, I visited United Cerebral Palsy and did a mini workshop. I had forgotten how chaotic teaching art is for me, my teaching style matching my random thinking patterns.  The students loved the project, especially my signature glitter. It was all over the floor when I left, like a cartoon 'poof' left behind when I disapeared. (My apologies to the cleaning crew.) 

A friend stopped by last week with her sister, who, even though she suffers from Alzheimer's, enjoys cutting bottles for me. They dropped off a big bag of cut bottles and took home a supply to work on. Another friend whose husband was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, sat and cut bottles with me as we processed out loud our husbands shared complicated disease. I enjoyed yet another visit, a friend brought her adult disabled son to contribute their efforts to my crazy idea. They both took to the work like a duck takes to water, or like glitter takes to ... pretty much everything.

I've been reading I Corinthians 12 and 13, thinking about the different parts of the body having different functions to create the whole, a picture of community in collaboration. I've also thinking about slowing down and calling upon the higher power to help me to work in a spirit of love. I pondered the author of Corinthians saying he 'thought like a child, then put away childish things' using the idea as a metaphor for the limits of what we know now, like looking in a dim mirror, compared to when all things pass away and only love is left. Then, we will see clearly. I am puzzled and all metaphors have their limits. Surely putting away childish things can't equal seeing clearly. I'm thinking it's quite the opposite.

Below is a tour of the first of four panels. Enjoy!