One of my 'old hospice patients came to mind recently - she's probably been gone about 8 years now, but she lived remarkably well over 102 years and always seemed to have a smile on her face. She'd been a wife and mother, but also painter in her younger years. Her loving family often visited and they'd decorated her room with some of her own oils and watercolors. The paintings were realistic portrayals of the natural world, and really very beautiful. Though she had this upbeat demeanor, she appeared to remember nothing of her days or her life. She appeared to live each moment and let it go in the next. She had dementia. As our hospice volunteers worked with her, they began bringing papers and watercolors for her and she began painting again. Her paintings were totally different than those of her 'youth' - abstract, the colors and brushstrokes were bold. I found them actually more beautiful than her realistic paintings and I know that creating them brought her some connection and satisfaction, which I could see from the look on her face rather than anything she was able to articulate.
As a poet and writer, I want to share my enthusiasm for the healing power of art of any kind. I recently became aware of The Alzheimer's Poetry Project http://www.alzpoetry.com/index.php , which connects people with Alzheimer's to young writers, to art, and to some kind of meaning through poetry spoken aloud. I also want to mention my friend and colleague, Anna Lehrke who offers a number of creative services to help organizations and individuals work in holistic ways with the elderly and people with memory impairment. She's at Care Beyond Words http://www.carebeyondwords.com/CareBeyondWords.html . Not to mention music therapists and art therapists who are lending their immense talents to helping all different kinds of people. Or the way listening to a song on the radio can help us get in touch with feelings we didn't even know we had. One of my friends from high school recently shared how much music helped her in dealing with the loss of her much loved cat. Not to put myself out of business, but sometimes art can leave talk therapy in the dust in its ability to quickly get us to a place of greater understanding of ourselves, feeling our feelings, and then feeling connected with the whole history of humankind who have had similar experiences.
As I was thinking about how to sum this up, the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to my mind and the scene near the end when we humans connect with the aliens through tone, music and light. It is really a tingly scene - the hope we have of connecting, communicating. What art and music and poetry offer is a way to say, I am like you. I come in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment