ReImagine

When:
Monday, April 05, 2010 at 7:00 PM - Monday, May 10, 2010 at 9:00 PM (PT)

Where:
The Highway Community
2050 Miramonte Ave
Mountain View, CA 94040

Hosted By:
ReIMAGINE

ReIMAGINE is a center for life integration. Fueled by the life and teachings of Christ we aspire to revolutionize how people live their lives and empower leaders who will revolutionize their communities. www.reimagine.org

Register for this event now at :
http://creativitysouthbay-rss.eventbrite.com

Event Details:

AWAKENING CREATIVITY: Exploring the Hidden Story of Your Life

Mondays, April 5- May 10, 7-9:00 P.M.

Final public performance/art event, Friday May 14th 7-10 P.M. 


$60-$150 Sliding Scale (Scholarships available upon request)


DESCRIPTION: Do you aspire to be more creative? Since ancient times spiritual seekers have expressed their questions and longings through poetry, art and song. Jesus invited his listeners to repent, reimagine, or dream up their whole lives again.  Many have observed the vital link between imagination, creativity and spiritual transformation. This six-week Learning Lab will help participants integrate creativity, personal narrative, and theology through individual and group exercises.



Participants will:

• Learn to use daily journal keeping, a weekly walk and creative adventure as tools for transformation
• Study the life and teachings of Christ as an archetype for creative living.
• Explore personal narrative through artistic mediums (including poetry, dance, prose, music, sculpture, photography, drawing and painting).
• Discuss process and discoveries through small group encounter.
• Create a compilation of art pieces from weekly exercises for display at an art event on May 14th, 2010.

The culmination of participants' weekly exercises will be shown at the closing art
show, Sacraments of the Natural; Marking Life Waypoints with Wood,
Water, Earth, and Stone. 

COST:  $60-$150 sliding scale (Includes curriculum, art materials, facility use and final reception costs) Scholarships available upon request. Contact info@reimagine.org.

PAYMENT OPTIONS: Google check-out, or with check or cash the first night of course. Cancellations are required 3 days prior to Learning Lab. Partial refunds will be given to those who cancel participation after the Learning Lab has begun.

Reminders:
We start promptly at 7 P.M. Please plan to arrive each night between 6:45 and 7 P.M.

"Created to be creative


We enact our destiny


Embracing the energy of the Spirit


To risk making beauty


With our whole lives"

Welcome to Awakening Creativity, a six-week exploration into the integration of imagination and Christ-conscious spirituality. We are glad that you’ve joined us for this adventure! As a participant you will:

Learn to use daily journal keeping, a weekly walk and creative adventure as tools for transformation.
   
Study the life and teachings of Christ as an archetype for creative living.
   
Explore your personal narrative through artistic mediums (including poetry, dance, prose, music, sculpture, drawing and film-making).
   
Discuss your process and discoveries in a small group encounter setting. 
   
Create a compilation of art pieces from weekly exercises for display at an art event called: “Sacraments of the Natural” on May 14, 2010.

A few things you should know as we begin this journey together:

1. We believe we were made to be creative. We fulfill our essence as people created in the image of a creator by naming our experiences and speaking new things into existence. Art making is an important way we process what it means to be human and live conscious of God. Our “way of seeing” matters deeply.  

2. We believe that there is a vital link between creativity and integrative spirituality. To live in conscious awareness of the creator requires imagination-- to see yourself as part of an unfolding divine drama. The history of religion, in a sense, is the history of people who have sought continuity between the larger story of the creator’s dreams and the details of their personal stories.  Creativity allows us to imagine how the details of our lives are connected to the enduring reign of the kingdom of love.  Artistic mediums and creative practices function as conduits for holistic spiritual integration.  It comes as no surprise that we are more easily moved by a film, song or story than by cold propositions—artistic mediums involve more of our senses and consequently more of ourselves.  Creative practices and processes serve to integrate the mind, body and spirit-- connecting theology and mystery with what is tangible.

3. We believe that imagination shapes who you are becoming. We anticipate the future through our ability to imagine. You live up to the story you live under. You are liberated or imprisoned by your vision of yourself and the future. Thus, one of the keys to personal transformation is learning to renew the imagination.

4. We are choosing not to make a clear delineation between art-making and artful living. Some of us are called to a life in the arts as a vocation or profession, but all of us are invited to live artfully and aesthetically aware of the drama of our existence. 

5. We are using the life of Christ as an archetype for the journey to awakening creativity. Whether or not Jesus Christ figures large in your personal spirituality, we believe there are significant lessons that can be learned from his life and teachings. We see Jesus as a model for a creative life that was fully open to the Spirit and engaged in the needs and opportunities of his time.

6. This is a practice-based learning experience. What this means is that you will only reap the benefits of this process if you complete a healthy amount of the suggested exercises and projects. Much of our time together will involve processing the exercises—so your group experience will be deeply enriched by the work you do on your own.

PRACTICES:   
   
JOURNAL KEEPING: Keep a daily journal for the next six weeks. Try not to skip any days. Spend 30-45 minutes writing in a stream of consciousness style without stopping or fussing over what you have written. We recommend that you do this as early in the day as possible. Keeping a daily journal will help you notice your current patterns of thought, get clarity about various issues and challenge you to change unhealthy patterns of imagination. For many people in the Western mindset, journal keeping is a form of meditation. If you run out of things to write, you can use this time to do suggested writing exercises (included in the weekly handout). The benefit of this practice will be found in its consistency—and it will gradually help you order your thoughts, feelings and priorities—and even hear the voice of God speaking from within.
   
WRITING EXERCISES: For each week a series of short writing/ natural art exercises are provided that will serve as a catalyst for personal reflection.
   
HOMEWORK: These are writing or other creative assignments that you will be asked to share with your small group and will become part of your contribution to the final show.
   
CLASS EXERCISES: These are art-making projects that we will do together during our six sessions that can be included in your contribution to the final show.
   
WEEKLY WALK: You open yourself differently to God and to new insights when you are moving. Take 30-50 minutes at least once a week to go for a solitary walk. Use this time to notice your surroundings, to reflect and pray.
   
CREATIVE ADVENTURE: Once a week, spend 1-2 hours doing something new that feeds your aesthetic imagination. Visit a museum or botanical garden. Spend some time at a fabric or art store. Go dancing. Watch a beautiful film. Sit in a garden. Buy and prepare a food ingredient you’ve never cooked before. The key is to do something novel to expand the palette of your imagination.
   
ART SHOW PIECES:  During the next six weeks you will produce art pieces that together will make up your contribution to the final art show.  Each week you will need to spend some time preparing your pieces. We will give gentle instructions each week to keep pace so that you won’t feel rushed at the end. The theme for the art show is: “Sacraments of the Natural” To produce consistency for the show we are aiming to make our pieces from natural and found objects.

Expectations:
   
Arrive on time (sessions will begin at 7 P.M. Please plan to arrive by 6:45 to get settled in)
Try to make it to every class & contact info@reimagine.org if know you will not be able to attend.
Complete homework assignments and exercises.

Lab Activities:
   
Centering reflection
Small group check-in on personal practices (journal-keeping, walk, creative adventure)
Homework project show and tell
Art-making Exercises

Lab Overview:   
   
April 5            Identifying Context: The Boy Jesus at
        the Temple
   
April 12            Experiencing Union: Jesus abiding in
        the Father and promising the Spirit
   
April 19                Confronting Shadows: The temptation
         of Jesus in the wilderness
   
April 26                                Enacting Destiny: The symbolic
        performances and stories of Jesus .
   
May 3    Navigating Resistance: Jesus rejected
        and criticized by his community.
   
May 10                  Embracing Community: Jesus eats
        with his friends and washes their feet.
   
May 14                    Art Show: “Sacraments of the natural”