a little over a month ago, a small group of us gathered at georgia vintage on the lower east side and made art for a cause (projectart). that night, happiness was simply a pair of scissors, a stick of glue and some good friends and strangers collaging on the floor. while the collage for a cause event was the smallest cultureisland turn out yet, it was still so special. size simply didn't matter. if anything, it was more intimate than my past events and it allowed for a stronger bond between those who came out that night. the evening started off with a meditation session led by margo, who shared these insightful thoughts:

"we are used to thinking of making decisions as the hard part. but the truth is that often the more difficult thing is realizing that there is a decision to be made, that we have a choice." - tal ben shahar.

power lies in realizing we have a choice.

margo continued: #projectgoodness is an example, where one chooses to focus on what's going well -- on the goodness in and around them. another is project art, its founder adarsh noticed a lack or what was missing in education, and choose to do something about it -- to start project art and give many more kids access to arts education.

collaging is all about choice...

tal ben shahar also says, "choice is creation. to choose is to create. through my choices i create my reality. at every moment in my life i have a choice. moments add up to a lifetime, choices add up to a life. what kind of life do i want for myself? what kind of choices will create this kind of life?"

after that, everyone had the opportunity to cut, paste and truly connect with themselves and one another. together we created a safe space for relaxing and creating without inhibitions or worries from our busy, everyday lives. as margo shared, "the room was filled with ease." one guest was a teacher in town from west africa where she teaches young girls. she had found our class somewhere on the internet and wanted to try it out so she could do a similar activity with her students. it was super special to hear this, that she had plans to take inspiration from our workshop back to her students living in such a different place, half way across the world. collaborating with margo continues to feels easy, natural, flawless and magical -- a rare, seldom and special feeling when collaborating with others. we hope to do another workshop together in the coming months, so stay tuned! thank you to georgia for hosting us again, we are eternally grateful.