Today I decided to take the idea of collaboration a step further. I brought in a piece of bulletin board paper about seven feet long with the intention of creating a mural. Once again, I figured that if the participants worked together on one piece of work, they would find it easier to "let go" and not be worried about the end result.
Other than the size of the paper, the rest of the activity was almost the same as last week. I gave them the opportunity to choose the music they wanted to listen to and they very quickly chose jazz again. Once the music was on, they all started painting away. Some of them closed their eyes and swayed to the music as last time, and every one of them was smiling. The paintings led to some interesting conversation, "Oh your painting looks like an owl at a party!" I remember hearing.
The only remote sign of reservation came from a woman who was painting something that looked like a sunset. "I don't know what I'm doing," she said a few times. Despite her comments, she went right along painting, smiling the entire time.
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