The woman on the tightrope: making a "boat" bag for survival strategies

I found it useful, in the Women's Support Group, to intersperse creative sessions with structured discussion as this helped to build confidence and widen thinking. In this session the creativity was used to reinforce the last session on navigating through the "storm".

Making the bag

The bag was a small simple drawstring bag and a fabric boat was glued onto it for decoration. The boat could also be appliquéd. For the bag, cut a fabric rectangle 22cm x 15 cm, fold this in half along the 22 cm side and glue or sew the boat pieces onto the front. Fold it with right sides together and sew down the 15 cm side (leaving a 2cm gap about 2 cm from the top) and across the bottom. Form a 2 cm casing along the top and sew it in place. Thread thin ribbon, wool or cord through the gap in the side seam to act as a draw-string. Purchased bags could also be used.

The boat appliqué below can be downloaded free from this link:

http://files.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/applique/applique-pattern-boat.pdf

Adding survival strategies

A list of survival strategies, based on ideas shared in the previous sessions and grouped under headings, was provided and then symbols for each strategy were brainstormed and listed next to that strategy. To acknowledge the diversity of meanings for individuals , more than one symbol was chosen for each strategy, and we kept brainstorming until everyone had a symbol that they could relate to.

The survival strategies were cut out and glued onto an appropriately sized piece of cardboard and then, during the following session,  the women were encouraged to glue a picture of their chosen symbol onto the other side of the cardboard (googled pictures were provided).

These were the strategies and symbols:

Survival strategy	Symbols
Hope	Rainbow     Dove     Sunrise
Energy List of things to do Being active	Light bulb     Lightning strike
Adventure Trying new experiences	Dora the explorer     Sky diver     Explorer     Bushwalking     Canoeing rapids
Joy Doing things we enjoy	Sunrise     Rainbow     Music     Ocean waves
Love Being around those we trust	Hug     Kiss     Rose     Dove     Heart
Assertiveness Standing up for ourselves	Figure with hands on hips     Hands up to “stop”      Stop sign
Insight	X-ray     Eye     Looking inwards through a window
Courage Offload writing Crying	Lassie     Skippy the bush kangaroo     Lion Tear     Super hero Standing on top of a mountain
Encouragement Confidence and self-esteem Being positive	Thumbs up     Pat on back     Julie Andrews “I have confidence in me”
Respect Self-care Nutritious food Exercise/ walking Taking care of physical conditions	Walking     Make-over/ facial     Pamper Before and after pictures
Patience One step at a time	Bird on eggs     Phone calls to queue lines     Solitaire     Fishing     Clock     Slow cooker     Stepping stones     Fruit cake cooking
Resistance Challenge self-blame and guilt	Sail against the wind     Windmill     Walking up a hill
Protection Giving ourselves space from unhelpful people Not listening to unhelpful voices	Chain mail     Police     Tent     Hooded parka     Crucifix     Screen     Castle with moat
Comfort Relaxation Hot shower or bath Spend time with pets	Crochet rug     Candles     Cat     Fountain     Pamper     Harp     Hot water bottle
Safe spaces/ rest ports Places we can drop our guard and be free to be ourselves Our own comfortable spaces	Lounge with blanket and cat     Park     Head phones     Fishing fleet in harbour
Skills to stay afloat Realistic expectations	Award ribbon     Knitting     “How to” book     Certificate     Graduation mortar board     Glass of champagne