A lovely lady called Allison Day emailed me a few weeks ago with an idea. She had been to Hebden Bridge some time back and bought a copy of my Tiny Treasures book for her husband for Christmas and some Tiny Treasures decorations to go with it. She wrote a poem in his Christmas card inspired by the treasures.
'Walk newly with me,~
Be unlearned in the wild
And let the tiny treasures teach us'.
As she put it 'What began as a very personal exchange between myself & my husband has, in the last 2-3 weeks, evolved into a rather wonderful arts project at the hospital where I work. I changed the poem very slightly to make it more inclusive & shared it with a few friends & colleagues for Easter...
'Walk newly together,
Be unlearned in the wild
And let the tiny treasures teach us'.
It resonated with many of them & got me thinking about how we might use the poem as something uplifting & hopeful for staff during the coronavirus pandemic'.
And so she teamed up with 'Art for Life' their trusts art and design team and the Wellbeing Team to begin the project 'Our Hands in the Time of Corona' (the name inspired by 'Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez).
From the project web page..
'Our hands have never been needed more. Whether being used to gently turn and prone a patient in ICU, forensically clean a clinical environment or deliver a clap of gratitude for frontline workers our hands are, more than ever, a universal symbol of unity, connectedness and care. Whilst some of their purpose is, through necessity, being denied during the global coronavirus pandemic, we are re- learning to use them to express our love and togetherness – a wave given, a kiss blown, a thumbs up now joined by fresh ways to touch without touching those we care about most, be it through a window, across cyberspace or via a myriad of wonderfully creative gestures. We are also using our hands in ways that may be new to us – baking a cake, growing plants from seed, playing an instrument. A new language of care – and self-care – grows amongst us.'
They are asking all the staff in the hospital what Tiny Treasures they have discovered during lockdown. Maybe it's a passion they have reacquainted themselves with or have more time for or perhaps something completely new. Then using the gathered contributions (I love that they used the word 'gathered'...as that is what we do with Tiny Treasures right?) they will make a virtual paper chain of hands in celebration of our common humanity and to look forward to the day when we can hold each others hands again.
Ah sigh. You can imagine I was crying at this point of the email. Just such a lovely idea that started with a tiny seed of inspiration in my little book and is now blossoming into something beautiful. I was very touched.
Allison's Tiny Treasure is 'growing plants from seed'.
(One of) mine is having time to make a slow wholesome lunch for me and Dean. He is a courier who's workload has tripled since corona so he's working super long hours. He said that coming home for lunch makes him feel steady and nourished and supported. That's enough motivation for me. I will miss this when I'm back working in the studio full time again.
What is your Tiny Treasure? We would love to hear x
