We are excited to see, and read about, what strength you are connecting with. We welcome you to return to this page over time to see what other participants have shared.

If you’d like to create more puzzle pieces, you can download our connection worksheet or purchase a puzzle like the one we used for the event. In your journey of connection, you might even use this activity to create connection among friends, family, and/or colleagues.

Hear what strengths our 2022 “Home Is Where the Art Is” Honorees, Sally Stevens and Stacia Kato, are connecting to and sharing with their communities. In this special video, they also share their connection with A Window Between Worlds.

Our pieces represent the universe of our friendship. We’ve been friends for so long and want to carry that forward.

Courage in pain: this too shall pass. Fortitude, literally living with pain, loss of mother, loss of brother, family in sadness, in loss of what was and understanding it is part of a cycle. And never losing sight of light.

My partner and I made these puzzle pieces. We are both undergoing career transitions and these are the qualities we want to cultivate to help us navigate through new, exciting, and scary times.

Flowers grow and die, but then grow back again. Some days you feel bad, but then other days are better and you feel good. It’s like a phoenix, but I can’t draw a phoenix so I drew a vine with flowers instead.

When I’m anxious, even remembering this puzzle piece, this intention, makes me giggle. I created it as I facilitated this workshop with our honorees. The word that came to mind was “calm”. Moments when I need this most, are when it feels impossible, but creating this puzzle piece feels like a support, a crack in the impossible. And, along with “calm” I wrote on my puzzle piece “Stop when needed. Stopping is a creative action.”

I choose the word confidence as my strength word because it is a reminder that I have all of the tools I need to be successful, I just have to believe in myself. Back in 2020 my dream was to one day start my own private practice, but I was unable to do so at that time. Although it is still not the right time now, and it may not happen the way I originally envisioned it to happen, my dream is still alive. I am confident in that.

Using my voice and saying things that have previously been difficult for me is where I really want to grow. I work with people experiencing domestic violence. In a management role now, I’m using my voice to advocate for our clients’ and my staff’s needs. Also in my personal life, I wasn’t always able to vocalize my feelings and needs: either I didn’t know how or didn’t feel safe. But when I find ways to be direct, it helps me connect to others.

I love AWBW and everything about the organization! I love how art heals and that everyone can benefit from the workshops! I want to remember always how art heals and how important healing is. I want to tap into my passion for leading workshops and sharing my ideas to assist people at any age to hear through art including myself! My intention to the Universe is to keep on learning and growing my passion and sharing it!

Among the hustle and bustle of the Smithsonian, this nondescript sign spoke to me and gently reminded me that we’re always growing and changing. It prompted me to listen to my gut for direction. Times of transition are also opportunities for growth. I’ve struggled recently to find my path both personally and professionally and maintain balance between the two. My gut tells me that my struggle is not about what direction to take, but who I am and who I want to be.

After taking some time to think about what I’ll need in the days and months ahead, courage came to mind. When I’ve needed it the most, my courage has never failed me. With it, I’ve been able to meet life’s twists and turns head on. My puzzle piece will be a reflection of this inner strength and a reminder that I will get to the other side of whatever comes next.

The strength that I am connecting to is courage. This is my puzzle piece that I created to remember the courage that’s been softly purring inside of me from a very young age. I will keep my art creation close because I am adulting more fiercely than ever, and surely, I am bound to make mistakes, many mistakes. My art piece, however, will remind that this is indeed how I will continue to learn and grow, and to have the courage to keep going no matter what.

The heart puzzle is all the goodness inside of me that is sometimes hidden or has been hurt and does not want to come out. The sharing puzzle is trying to share even through the pain, confusion, regret, self-doubt, etc. By sharing through all of this I become stronger knowing that this sharing is helping someone else.