Climbing into the Blob Tree I first drew the Blob Tree years before I climbed into it. At first it was just a picture with characters displaying their feelings. Pip had told me what he would like it to look like and I got on with the job. For years it remained a job. It took me another decade before I began to use the Blob Tree, experience the Tree and eventually climb into its branches. It’s funny now to think that I had something so dynamic in my hands and was so blissfully unaware. In the meantime Pip was using it in his work, enabling others to open up, to grow and to become. As a youth worker I rarely used the Blob Tree. I tended to favour words and phrases linked to expressions, films and adverts. It was only when I revisited the books and considered how I could expand the range of images that I began to consider where I was in the Tree. As I climbed onto its branches I discovered more about myself and the world of others around me. My journey is endless. I’m on the way, never there. The exciting thing is that I’ve begun and I’m changing. By climbing into the Tree I am more aware of how others feel because I am more aware of my own. By listening to the thoughts of others as they reflect upon the Blobs I am always growing in my understanding. Pip has an expression to describe his work – ‘Disturbing the comfortable and comforting the disturbed’. I am challenged to love others more and to love myself more too. When I first met Pip I had grown in many ways: intellectually (I had begun my degree); physically (I was in an adult body) and spiritually (I had chosen to serve Jesus). I believed that my mission in life required my time and energies. What I also needed to grasp was that I still needed to love more. Entering the world of the Blobs I found many characters whose feelings and actions I was reacting to both critically and harshly. I was able to draw these situations because I could see how others behaved and had reflected upon my own life. I found that I had no sympathy for the Blobs who attacked other Blobs, who bullied or teased. I recognised their problems but found liking them a problem. Working with Pip threw up many of these issues. He kept saying that I was ‘A beautiful human person’ which annoyed me intensely. I wanted him to recognise that they were broken, fallible people. I saw the flaws whilst he saw their potential. Years later Pip began to use the phrase ‘Beautiful imperfection’ which is closer to my heart. We’re chipped diamonds. That’s a close approximate to the world of Blobs. They are humanity in all its fullness – flawed replicas of what we might be, like panes of dirty glass which sometimes let the light through. They are like me, like us all. As you climb into the picture, allow yourself to respond with your heart and mind. Allow yourself to change from a human being or a human doing into a human becoming. The Blob Tree – reflection exercises
One As you stand at the foot of the Tree, consider which Blob you would like to be with the most. Do this and then carry on. The Blob you have chosen is an important place to begin. It probably represents your comfort zone, someone we feel safe and secure in. That place of safety may extend beyond one Blob. Ask yourself why you want to sit on that branch with that Blob. What makes them so attractive? Some people choose a branch with many Blobs, others choose to sit with a sad, quiet Blob. Our choice is our choice. It is not better or worse than anyone else’s choice, there is no right choice, no wrong choice and no unacceptable choice. All we have to do is choose. When I made my first choice I discovered that I began to think about why I had decided to sit with the Blob. I discovered that my choice was different to that my friends had chosen. I discovered that I was different to others. Pip often asks people to look at their fingerprints. He invites people to touch someone else’s fingerprints with theirs. Our uniqueness encounters the uniqueness of others. It is a moment to appreciate our difference. Two As you stand at the foot of the Blob Tree today, consider which Blob you would least like to sit next to. Do this and then carry on. It may be a different Blob to the one you chose yesterday, it may be the same. Our feelings change from day to day. As we experience new events, different people who force us to rethink our actions, our choices change. Sit with that Blob and ask yourself why you find them so difficult to be with? Are they like someone you try to avoid in your life? Are they like someone in your family? Do they remind you of yourself? When we find a feeling that maks us uncomfortable it would be easier to move away, back to the cosy branch. In order to grow we need to explore why we feel that way.By Ian Long
Artiste/Friend/L5/Beauty-full
- with permission.
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