If you are grieving the loss of someone you love or are creating your own life new, this is a process you may want to peruse and begin. The Life Colla ge (SM) invites you to reflect upon the life of the subject --- whether that subject is you or one of your loves --- and to illustrate through collage an indepth understanding of the essence of the individual. The value of the final piece might be magnified if you share it with someone else, and I will provide opportunities via this site to do so for those who wish.

All original contents of this site, including original photos and art, are copyrighted by Sharon Juliahna Grace Westman and may not be reproduced without her knowledge and consent. If you wish to use some of the thoughts expressed here, please email her or call 1-877-298-0639. She will be so delighted to know of your interest.

col-lage n. 1.a. An artistic composition of materials and objects...often with unifying lines and color. b. The art of creating such compositions. American Heritage Dictionary

Do you remember making collages in school? I remember collages as a fun and thoughtful quest, a chance to look at the whole wide world and pick out the words, the pictures, the colors, the objects and the arrangements which offered the finest illustration of my inner visions. The process of gathering and choosing the elements that will become your collage is an intriguing one. The created collage informs the viewer about its creator.

Collages are often created around a theme. The theme of a Life Collage (SM) is a person's life, or a time in a person's life. You can create a Life Collage which honors the life of someone who has been an intricate part of your life and has died. You can create a collage which honors and reflects your grief experience. You can also create a Life Collage to reflect upon the intricacies, gifts and visions of your own life. If you begin with this process of creating a Life Collage, jotting notes to yourself of images and insights which come will capture some of the depth of your experience.

If you are creating a collage which honors the life of another, some questions you might ask yourself are: Who was this individual, essentially? Or, what was the essence (the basic nature, the essential quality, the core, the sum and substance, the spirit) of this person? What of this individual lives on in others, in places or attainments realized by the subject in his or her lifetime?

If you are creating a collage which honors and reflects your grief experience, you might ask: What of the person who has died lives on in me? Is the person I am today essentially the same as the person I was before coming to know the person who has died? Am I essentially the same person as I was before my loved one died? Who am I in my grief? Who do I see myself becoming?

If you are creating a collage which reflects upon your own life and who you are, then inquire similarily about yourself. Who am I, essentially? What is my essence (my basic nature, the essential quality of who I am, what is at my core, what is the sum and substance of me, what are the attributes of my spirit)? What do I enjoy? What attracts me? What do I feel compelled to do? What do I want my life to look like?

Some words that migh help you think about these questions and the elements of your collage or collages are...

passions relationships friends personality character hopes dreams

hobbies professions vocations attitudes beliefs focus time child

children favorites preferences holidays rituals dislikes mission

1. Consider those questions above which are helpful to you and begin to imagine the elements you might gather which will be visual symbols of your responses to these questions.

2. Gather the elements you would like to include in your collage. You can be completely free in the design of your collage, so you needn't limit your choices to only flat pieces (such as photographs, writings, cuts from mags or newspapers, certificates, etc.). Include also, if you like, objects (jewelry, tools of a trade or art, favorite anythings, etc.).

3. Giving form to your collage may be pasting the elements to a rightly sized piece of tagboard, putting them inside a simple or decorative bag or box, or perhaps assembling them around another object or into a form of their own. Be as creative as you like, as your energies allow. If your finished collage is a flat piece, you will preserve it well by laminating it.

4. Now that your collage is complete, reflect if you like upon thoughts, feelings, insights which may have emerged during your creative work. What does your collage say about its subject? Hopefully your collage is a source of joy for having come to know the essence of another this well, of comfort in having honored a life and seeing what lives on, of encouragement for stepping into a life envisioned.

When you wish to share your collage, if you wish, I will love to see it and will provide what opportunity I can for you to share it with others online. This would be done by you taking a photograph of your piece and sending it to me either online or via mail, along with whatever notes you might want to add about the story behind the piece.

You needn't ever share your collage with anyone, if this suits you. It's value is greatest when you follow your own wisdom in what to do with it once it's done. Perhaps it's something only for you for now or for always. Or maybe you know someone(s) who would have a great appreciation for seeing your piece and hearing your story.

Questions about creating your collage? In the process and wanting support? Email or call me at 1-877-298-0639.

COACHING AND RESOURCES FOR OPEN HEARTS AND BELOVED LIVES