Day One: Discovering The Artist Within

Well I'm finally going to attempt to write about the amazing time I had in San Francisco at the beginning of the month. I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Discovery Workshop held at the beautiful Cavallo Point Lodge by Me Ra Koh, Brian Tausend, Garrett Burdick, Rick Chapman and his wife Lesley Ehrenfeld. We were also helped out by Genie Ohashi ("Touchpoint" for Me Ra Koh Photography and all-around phenomenal woman!), and Matt & Laura Reoch (an amazing couple who have to be some of the most beautiful people I've ever met). I have to say one of the most amazing things about the workshop was witnessing each of these people open themselves up to us on such a personal level. They were truly on a journey of self-discovery with us...

This was the first workshop I have ever attended. As most of you know, I'm just getting into photography and it has quickly become an obsession! I can (and have) spent all day browsing sites and looking at hundreds of articles to try and absorb as much as I can. I like to call myself a recovering perfectionist and I have always shied away from things where I'm NOT the best. It's a work in progress :) So this workshop was a HUGE step for me. To put myself out there with a group of people I had never met was crazy to even think about. It was a rather last minute decision to attend (see here!) and I was so caught up in all the details I didn't really let myself think about what was to come. In fact it was SO last minute, I had to pick up my passport THE MORNING I flew out! Yikes. Talk about cutting it close!

One of my fellow workshop attendees, Teri, had offered for me to stay with her at her home and I still can't believe her amazing generosity. I love you Teri! Those of you who know me, know that this was a massive step for me. But this workshop was all about stepping out of your comfort zone, so I let myself be taken wherever it would lead me...

The first day was focused on discovering the artist within. Me an artist... ha!! I was pretty uneasy going into this day. Before the workshop, Rick had assigned us to take and bring a self-portrait with us. I have to admit I dreaded this. I don't enjoy having my picture taken at all, never mind having to show others and share my feelings about it! It did not necessarily have to be a picture of us, but it had to somehow represent where we were in our lives at this moment. Rick and Lesley led us through some "landing" exercises to aid each of us in being present and feeling safe in our surroundings. Each instructor began by displaying their self-portraits and the other four, in turn, responded to the portraits by using three statements that Lesley had taught us.

"When I look at your portrait...
I see...
I feel...
I imagine..."

That was indescribably powerful. We had barely been together for an hour and we were already laughing and crying together. This truly created a safe and welcoming environment. There was no judgement here. We could open ourselves up to something new and we would be supported the entire way. I still get goosebumps when I think about it!

We then split everybody into small groups of about 5 or 6 people, with 1 instructor per group. We began to go through the same process that they had just modelled for us. My group was made up of Sharon, Elizabeth, Genie, and Brian and it was an awesome group! I won't go into detail what was said there, but it truly opened my eyes. It is amazing what someone else can see in a photo that you don't see yourself! Try it with friends... or strangers... you won't be disappointed!

Next, Lesley led us in a exercise in movement to push us even further in opening ourselves up. Following this we were all given crayons and paper and told to create a new portrait that would show how we were feeling. I have to admit I hesitated at this, because I'm TERRIBLE at drawing. But we were told to just put the crayons to the paper and go with wherever they took us. So we did, and the results were pretty amazing. It was interesting how similar these drawings were to our self-portraits. Using the three phrases from before ("I see, I feel, I imagine"), Lesley guided us into creating three "I am" statements that described our drawings. I don't have a picture of my drawing but my statements were...

I am a blur of unseen struggle.
I am clouded in comfortable isolation.
I am swirling in scared suppression.

Yikes. As Rick said about his... "this is some dark [stuff]!" We had an amazing share about what we had discovered so far and our next assignment was to go outside and create an image that reflected these statements.
Here's the self-portrait I took before the workshop...

And here's the new one I created that day...

We ended the evening with dinner at a great little Italian restaurant. The company was amazing and the food was delicious (at least the little bit I got to eat before my allergic reaction!) But that's a whole different story! Stay tuned for days 2 and 3....