November 2017 Giving Tuesday Newsletter
From:
Vicki Mackie, Executive Director Sites and Insights, Inc.
It is true, there is an overwhelming number of charities and organizations that need your help this holiday season. So, your question of why donate to Sites and Insights is very valid.
We serve the cancer patients, survivors and caregivers in Colorado. Providing healing arts at no charge to the cancer population. Sites and Insights, Inc. offers 4-week workshops and retreats providing emotional support and skills using art, color and other healing art modalities.
If you, or if you know someone who has been touched by cancer, please donate to help them through this life-changing journey.
Thank You for your generosity.
For more information or to donate please go to sitesandinsights.org/donate
Fighting●Cancer●Creatively
I am a cancer survivor who had the great opportunity to attend a Healing Art workshop during my cancer journey. I heard about Healing Art the first time I received chemotherapy. There was a flyer announcing the next class and although the flyer said you did not need to be an artist to attend it sounded rather artsy to me. Therefore, I did not think this workshop was for me.
As my journey progressed, I found myself going through the motions of life but not experiencing it. Knowing that I needed to do something I took the step and signed up for the workshop. The first class I attended I was very nervous about being able to create beautiful pictures. The Coaches, quickly assured everyone that this was not about creating pictures, but about painting your feelings.
It was in these classes that I realized that I was numb and not really paying attention to my various feelings. As they walked us through each exercise, I began to express with art the feelings that I had been burying to keep from feeling them or to keep my family from seeing. Through each exercise, my feelings were then validated by sharing them with others in the class. As others shared their feelings I realized that I was not the only one going through this cancer journey. As I took a deep breath I was able to say, Yes, I would survive.
Jane O
“When I took the Healing Art Workshop I was in the middle of chemotherapy and dealing with the loss of my husband four months prior. After taking the class I felt I could move forward in my life with more focus, balance, positive energy and actual joy. The facilitators had a way of helping me to look inside of myself to feelings that needed to be recognized and released. This happened through art. It saved me.”
Jane E
Insights from Vicki Mackie
It has been an awakening, a challenge, a joy, a learning experience, a pleasure and truly one of the best experiences of my life. I’m talking about our Sights and Insights, Inc. journey. Through the years that we have been doing this, we have heard so many stories of courage, hope and inspiration. They are our motivators and our models of living life to the fullest. If you read Jane O.’s and Jane E’s story in this newsletter, it is an example of the bravery that Deb and I have the privilege to witness each and every workshop. To hear and to see how our workshops have helped them through their journey is a blessing that has been bestowed upon both of us.
As a cancer survivor myself, I empathize and relate to the value that I found in art and creativity. It helped me on so many levels endure and defy the prognosis that I was given. Facilitating and coaching others that are going through similar experiences is my way of paying forward the lessons that I learned not only through my education but also my experiences.