When the Mirrors Change

Seeing ourselves through the lens of art...

Today, as you’re reading this, I’m hosting my first in-person group coaching session for immigrants. Last year, this was a dream. Today, I am doing it.

Am I nervous? Yes. I don’t know exactly how it is going to go. I don’t know what will come up in the room, what people will share, or how the conversation will unfold. But I trust my intention. I trust the power of people gathering honestly and I trust human beings.

And I also know that stepping out of our comfort zone is hard, even when we are stepping toward something meaningful. There is something about doing it for the first time, mixed emotions at the same time.

We’ll be exploring identity through the lens of art. Sometimes colors, shapes, and images can express things that are difficult to put into words. Sometimes we understand ourselves differently when we stop trying to explain and simply create. We let the hands move before our thoughts.

Nobody told me that immigration would make me question so many things I thought I already knew about myself. Not because I changed overnight. But because so many of the things I used to rely on suddenly disappeared.

There were things I had to leave behind. There were things that were added to my life and there were parts of myself I never expected to change. Some changes happened quickly. Others took years.

I think that is why reflection matters so much during times of transition.

Life moves quickly. There is always another form to fill out, another problem to solve, another thing to learn. We become busy adapting. Busy surviving.

But if we never pause to reflect, we can miss the quiet ways we are changing. We can miss the strengths we are developing. We can miss the grief we haven’t fully acknowledged. We can miss the parts of ourselves that are asking for attention.

And sometimes we can forget that identity is not something we leave behind and replace. It is something that continues to evolve.

Today, a group of immigrants will sit together and explore these questions through art.

We’re not trying to find the right answers. Not to define ourselves once and for all. We’re here to notice, remember and reconnect with ourselves in the middle of change. Maybe that’s something all of us need from time to time, whether we’ve crossed an ocean or not.

A question I’m sitting with:

How have life’s transitions changed the way you see yourself?

With heart,

Bahar