Before our drawing exercise today with my youth group, I asked them to write stream of consciousness around barriers– barriers that come up in life, that make us “stuck” etc.  TEN MINUTES.  10 minutes of writing can be very liberating as it gives us a private place in which to problem solve and release.

Here’s what flowed out of my pen [unedited]…

Journaling exercise with Intake 5.  Write for 10 minutes on your barriers.  What is it you repeatedly come across in your life that apparently blocks you?  What is it that is seemingly to blame for you seemingly being unsuccessful in your pursuits of schooling, employment, love etc.?  Is there a way for you to look those things in a new way with a new eye?  To see those barriers as allies?  As a means of embracing imperfections to build structure… wings?  To actually be ourselves with all that shit we carry and be free within those limitations?

Can we truly let go in order to fly?  

Is it OK to hold on in order to build roots?  

When are external forces to blame and when are we becoming slaves to our own hold on those forces?  We build a cocoon with the collection we gather of experiences, successes, struggles, suffering.  We build a cocoon so tight— at times too tight.  Are we at risk for not being able to break through in order to unfold those wings?  Is the addressing of our barriers a way of peeling away in order to reveal our splendid selves underneath?   

Here are the extraordinary drawings by my students that came out afterwards:

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Victor Frankl