Thoughts on the Heart Project

The truth is that anyone and his dog can do the Heart Project. All you need is a piece of wood, the shape of a heart sketched out in pencil, a pair of scissors, a magazine you're comfortable cutting to shreds, a brush and some Hodge Podge. Oh, you also need the patience of Job and about 30 or 40 hours of time. There is little to no skill required, just a commitment to see the vision through to the end.

I've been thinking of the Harvest of Hope as I've been scaling up the outside of the heart with shades of red, orange, brown and yellow-thinking of the symbolism between this familiar shape and the fight against cancer.

The Heart Project, as I imagine what it will look like when it's done, represents:

Thousands of individual stories, each with their unique shape, texture, colour, people, circumstance.

The random acts of kindness and cruelty that weave through the quilt of a journey with cancer.

Every story is different, filled with nuance, hope, despair, longing and most importantly, love. Heart.

The outside of the Heart Project is a montage of patterns, letters, words, images, colours that represent the autumn-the harvest, the harvest of hope that happens when people come together in solidarity with a common purpose.

The heart itself will be bathed in blues, representing the cold cruelty of those who suffer with cancer, and those who suffer alongside the suffering.

The warmth of the harvest surrounded by the harsh reality of the perilous journey, together creating a beautiful montage of compassion and a whole lot of heart. Or, something like that.

I'm still trying to figure out how to use the Heart Project at the Harvest of Hope to raise money for the fight against cancer, assuming I get it done in time. Some may wonder why I'd spend hours hunched over this kind of an art project during arguably the busiest time of year, and probably the busiest autumn of my life. I would say to them, that we all need time for reflection and silence, and for me, the Heart Project provides a mechanism for both-pause that refreshes and quiet that calms my soul.

September 5, 2010 - 198.2 pounds, 28.9% body fat