Spirituality and Looking Within

Yesterday, Reverend David Shire and I were guest speakers at the Palliative care Pharmacy class at the University of Rhode Island, URI.  The 3-hour class engaged in thoughtful discussion around the meaning of spirituality and the importance of looking within.

I began the class by asking students to define inspired thought, exploring the emotions around inspired thought and understanding where it begins. We then transitioned to what the students would put into their REVEALED box after they had a few minutes to share their ideas with one another about what they'd put into their box.

Starting with my own example of an inspired thought (REVEALED), I encouraged the students to quickly go within and see what came from putting yourself on the spot to think about what represents your beliefs.  Sometimes our best ideas come to us in an instant when we were thinking about something completely different.

We then viewed the REVEALED film and expanded our conversation, now that everyone had some time to truly contemplate what they would put in their box. One student felt their life experience wasn't long enough to find something of deep meaning to put into the box. I found this to be a very interesting comment ... one I had not heard before. I shared that REVEALED includes children from the fourth grade ... and those children have insightful revelations, even after only being alive for a decade.

Reverend David Shire then spoke about Spiritual issues in Palliative Care. By examining the Body/Mind/Spirit Triangle we can understand how mental illness may disconnect us from our deeper self, and how spirituality and religion can be used in the healing process. The questions and discussions around our topic were energizing and really brought inspiration and joy to me...I always enjoy the thoughts and discussions that stem from people going within.

Since this experience, I find myself searching to define my spirituality and evaluate my life experiences that are defining who I am and what I believe in.

M.C.C. Discussion & Film Screening - 03/01/12

March 1, 2012 - Middlesex Community College event in Bedford and Lowell, MA. Film Screening of REVEALED: Portraits from Beneath One’s Surface Film and Discussion with Photographer Scott Indermaur.

“THIS I BELIEVE REVEALED” is a collaborative project between Photographer Scott Indermaur and RIPR (Rhode Island National Public Radio) that involves print, radio, photography, and film that create a unique and multi-dimensional experience. Photographer Scott Indermaur will be on hand for a discussion immediately following the film presentations.

Sponsored by WAC & the Art and Design Department.

This event will be held on both campuses:

Thursday, March 1st at 10:30, Lowell Federal Building-Assembly Room (Lowell, MA)

Thursday, March 1st at 1:30, Bedford Campus Center-Cafe East (Bedford, MA)

Campus address and directions

REVEALED Class - The 4th Grade Experience

2011 fly by with a tremendous amount of REVEALED news and activity. A book is now in production, art exhibits, and REVEALED additions...which happen to only be REVEALED Class subjects. This is a branch of REVEALED  that I am very excited to see grow. In 2011 I photographed a class of 5th graders in the Spring and then a class of 4th graders in the Fall. The project begins by me visiting the class and meeting these eager students that are excited about a new art project... And maybe even having a guest artist. :)  I return to the class two weeks later to photograph the children with their self designed REVEALED boxes that they get to keep.

I just posted the latest addition of 30 fourth graders and two of their teachers. More about the process and experience is available here.

You can also read what SouthCoast Today wrote about this latest addition of fourth graders.

Spring has been a Whirlwind!

The past 2 months has been a whirlwind of news with REVEALED. It has been exciting and I'm spending about 100% of my time on taking it to a new level! Recently we had 2 film screenings of the short film REVEALED: Portraits from Beneath One's Surface and it was a huge success. The Q&A sessions were very informative. It made me realize whenever I speak with people about this project, I am given more insights into REVEALED. In addition, we are submitting the film to a bunch of film festivals and looking for additional places to screen the film. Please contact me if you would like to see this film in your area.

Amanda Grosvenor of Newport Seen wrote a very nice article for the World Premier of the film.

I'm very excited about introducing the Elementary REVEALED project. Children's imagination and insight into their life experience amazes me. The children at Paul Cuffee School embraced this project and the discussions were very insightful and exciting.

In addition, I am now speaking with a few other schools about introducing this art project to their elementary class. I'm very honored and excited about this.

Upcoming news: The REVEALED book is now in production and will be on the bookshelves in September. It is published by Little Red Tree Publishing. 5-years and over 120 subjects will be included in this book. In addition, a separate book for the This I Believe REVEALED project will hopefully become a book by March 2012.

Also, I am currently exploring taking REVEALED to Iceland where I will photograph another group of REVEALED subjects and students for the Elementary project. Please contact me if you have any insights or contacts in Iceland. We will be creating a kickstarter project to help fund this in July.

We also broke the 170 REVEALED subject mark this year with now 3 projects under the REVEALED umbrella. There is REVEALED, This I Believe REVEALED and Elementary REVEALED.