Old Photos - Three

It's Sunday here.... I am sitting on the desk at the Red House Gallery, greeting visitors for most of the day, but when there aren't any, I can look at laptop stuff.

It's women's history month, and I'm enjoying learning about more wonderful women who were somehow lost to my education. Going to grade school and high school in the 50s, and with an interrupted college education, I missed things that hopefully are now being taught.

My second stint in college gave me a wonderful opportunity to work with a woman Assistant Dean who was part of a 5 department coalition to form Women in Agriculture as a program focus. There were representatives from the Latin American faculty, something about farming sciences, food and nutrition, African studies, Women Studies and anthropology. My supervisor (this was my paid internship, not my area of study) had me compiling a bibliography of holdings that were in each department, so they could be used as a resource for the new area of study. I could type on an Apple II computer, and that was how I got that assistant-ship.

 

My graduate work was focused on Art Therapy, another blend from two colleges. The degrees were in Counselor Education, but I spent many hours researching and attending classes in Art Education. This was mid-1980s, and Art Therapy hadn't really become a topic of education yet, so there were no classes specifically for me. When I graduated, I found there were few jobs that were interested in art therapy either. So I became a counselor, and a counseling educator for school systems that were interested in teaching substance abuse prevention. This hot topic was federally funded for K-12, and different school systems chose different curricula, and I helped them begin to teach them.

 

I finally got to do some counseling with addicted people, and the co-dependents in their lives. More direct mental health counseling was available when, strangely enough, mental health counseling had to shift to "Faith Based Programs" thanks to George W. Bush...and I worked with seniors in nursing homes for a few years. That led me to eventually becoming an Activities Director with seniors. And I did volunteer once a week at the Moffitt Cancer Center's Arts in Medicine program in Tampa for a few years. It was great to finally see art connecting with people who wanted to "de-stress."

Goodness gracious, I never intended to say all of that. I do appreciate when my fellow bloggers give a bit of their backgrounds. Guess I should just list this as part of my bio.

I just wanted to celebrate women's history month.

Today's Quote:

 ''Reclaiming the Feminine is about reclaiming our intuition, the voice that speaks in the dark. About reconnecting with the one who reveals herself in the moonlight, in the whispers of dead leaves crackling under our feet. She, the impermanent One, shining in the eyes of a newborn child and in the creases of an old man’s hands. She, the force of change. Powerful beyond measure. Forever untamed. We must accept her in the fullness of her glory, fierce and gentle, soft and wild. Only thus will we be showered with the grace of Her presence.'' -Nicole Schwab, The Heart of the Labyrinth