Sand Tray Therapy- Student #5

by Patty
(Decatur, GA)

I was excited about doing this project. I love sand, especially at the beach, and I have a lot of Asian types of articles around my house.

Finding a small amount of sand, however, was hard. I first went to the pet store and got reptile sand. It turns out that it was actually calcium carbonate, I believe. Though it was pretty, I hated the way it felt.

Then I went to Michael's. I bought a couple of bags of sand for flower arranging. In one bag, the sand smelled like nail polish remover; I am taking it back. The coarse sand actually worked, though I find that I cannot make interesting patterns in it.

Everything else came from around the house--from defunct lucky bamboo gardens to items picked up in my travels. I thought about what I wanted my container to be. Then I remembered a favorite dish that has the most beautiful blue glazing in the center. I had packed it away when I moved, but now I found it again.

The air plant above Buddha came from my driftwood arrangement. The purple heart came from a glass shop in Ogunquit, Maine. The makeshift rake came from Lullwater at Emory.

I did not really have a plan in arranging my Zen tray. I thought that the Buddha would benefit from shade; after all he sat under a Bodhi tree when he was seeking enlightenment. I placed a milagro, a folk charm from Mexico, that depicts a broken heart next to Buddha. Upon reflection, that probably could symbolize my mixture of religions--Catholicism for the saints and Buddhism for the peacefulness.

My bridge, from a fish tank, leads to another broken heart, the one that is purple. It always looked like a sad heart to me, and when I bought it in Ogunquit, I had a broken heart.

In another corner, there are crystals and stones. I have four in one corner, and two in another. Maybe in the corner with four, those stones could symbolize my two sons, my dog, and me. The green stone reminds me of my oldest son--stalwart and a realist.

So, this has been a sand tray therapy lesson in sensory appeal for me. It takes the right kind of sand to feel, smell, and "act" right. Otherwise, it is no fun to play with. It also kind of made me sad. I wish I had not had a broken heart, and at times, I wish my kids were young again.