SUSAN WARREN WARSHOW, MSW
During the Coronavirus shutdown, I immersed myself in a photographic project, creating a gallery retreat room and various arrangements throughout the house. Decisions about photo selections, editing, printing, framing and matting devoured my time. Sometimes this investment seemed foolish, but the end result provides incredible nourishment to my soul. Each photo brings up vivid memories and intense emotions. I believe this type of personal and creative endeavor is immensely healing. I told one of my clients about this project. She had been going through an agonizing divorce, and my idea inspired her. She hauled out her boxes of old photographs and created gorgeous albums during the pandemic. She proudly showed me a huge, stunning triptych of her photography that she had hung on her living room wall. She made her home her own. Creativity is consummately curative.
Beyond Barriers
(Photograph)
Handling cultural differences with sensitivity is foremost in our minds today. When I came upon this beautiful woman sitting by her dwelling, I felt those differences sharply, feeling much like a Western intruder. She was a member of a pastoral, colorful, nomadic Masai tribe that had inhabited Kenya and Tanzania for hundreds of years. They lived within a circular thornbush fence with their livestock around a ring of mud-dung huts. Would she resent my privilege, I wondered? Reading her body language and responses, I believe this idea was more in my mind than hers. I wanted to communicate with her but had no idea how to begin. So we simply smiled at each other for some unforgettable moments, our eyes connecting. She put me at ease with her spirit of welcome. Feeling her warmth, I gestured to my camera and raised my hands in a questioning way to ask permission to photograph her. She nodded that it was ok. I’d never encountered anyone like her, and her timeless grace remains with me forever. Her photograph hangs in our home, and I smile back at her daily.