Morning Altars

The book "Morning Altars" by Day Schildkret is the inspiration behind this activity.

In his beautifully crafted book, artist Day Schildkret finds beauty in the everyday and creates awe-inspiring works out of things that many of us would simply pass by.

For an example of his work, watch this short video created by the artist.

Part of the beauty of Schildkret's work is that it is made from the everyday and is completely impermanent. He arranges found objects into beautiful mandalas, then leaves them to return to nature. Doing an exercise like this in a virtual setting might seem more difficult, but with a little creativity is completely achievable. There are a few ways you can go about creating an altar with a class-- you can prepare them by asking them to bring some items (natural or not) to class, you can have the simply arrange things that are currently available to them, or you can even have them draw a mandala, using items that they can see. All of these options ask the participants to use their imagination and creativity, while immersing them in their environment in a way they most likely weren't already. It's amazing how creating a beautiful star pattern on your desk, using spare pens in my cup holder, grounds me and allows me to get into a more inspired state. Opening this activity up to the items you have at your disposal in an entire room makes the exercise even more fun. At the end of the allotted time, have each of the participants share what they created and maybe ask what some of the feelings they experienced while in the exercise. Any sort of creative process that is shared amongst a group acts as a bonding experience and will help bring your group into a more cohesive state.