Wednesday May 10th, the Violence Intervention Program hosted a self-care art workshop here at Rio Hondo. Guest speakers Daniela Herrera and Madeline Melara led the workshop in creating Personal Need Flowers. 

The purpose of creating this project is to have a window of time where you acknowledge and honor all your personal needs. We tend to spend a lot of time on other people’s needs. We spend plenty of time tending to others’ needs and may forget to tend to our own. These needs can be emotional, physical, and even spiritual. Regardless of what these needs may be, fill your personal needs flower with representations of these needs. It can be anything from drawings to words, colors, shapes, etc. The creation of this flower will hopefully serve as a reminder to take some time and nurture these needs that may be overlooked. 

For those who missed the workshop and would like to create a personal needs flower, this is all you need to know. Firstly, to create the flower tear paper into the desired shape and then using those to piece the flower together. The tearing of the paper allowed for  a sense of freedom in the way we express ourselves and our needs. The speakers encouraged to write or draw a representation of each of those needs onto the petals of the flower. The speakers encouraged you to follow your instincts and emphasized that there are no rules. 

All in all, art is a great way to not only express yourself, but also relieve stress. There are many forms of art and a great way to take some time for yourself is to explore these different forms and find one you enjoy.