8
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
DIEZ: Project has taken
on a life of its own for
Sisters woman
Continued from page 3
ILLUSTRATION BY MANDA SEVERIN
the museum and made sure
she9d really won. <They said
it was real!= The museum
launched last summer, with
her seeds on display.
<The museum looks really
neat 4 it9s a small place in
downtown Copenhagen,=
said Diez. <Simple, clean
lines, very tastefully
done. Someday
we9ll get
to go.=
Comfort Seeds began with
the tiniest impetus: a tomato
seed, dried out and cling-
ing to one of her father9s old
shirts. He had passed away
from cancer ten years before,
and Diez was ironing the
shirts, intending to make a
quilt. The stuck seed caught
her eye. She planted it and,
astonishingly, grew a healthy
tomato plant in her laundry
room.
She saved seeds from the
plant, and gave some away
to people who were griev-
ing. Now Diez replants the
seeds every year 4 together
with her students. Many of
the kids she works with are
in behavior-intervention pro-
grams and have experienced
trauma and grief in their
young lives.
<These kids are all in their
own processes of healing,=
she said. <There9s something
so magical about their little
hands planting the seeds.
Two years ago, every single
plant came up. Like 50 seeds
4 and every plant germi-
nated. There9s something
behind that.=
Diez doesn9t consider
herself an artist. A gen-
erator of ideas,
she enjoys col-
laborating with
Severin, whose
colorful, earthy
illustrations give
Diez9s concepts new
dimension. Together
they are work-
ing on a book and
have launched
a
website,
comfortseeds.
com.
On the web-
site, visitors
of all ages are
invited to share memories
of loved ones passed. People
can download a beautiful
page to color and decorate in
their memory. Grief stories
and resources sit alongside
friendly paintings.
<We want this website to
be a place where multi-gen-
erations can come and submit
stuff. Grief, beauty, healing,
art, and poetry,= said Diez.
Punchy, garden-bright
tomatoes and cool nighttime
owls are among the site9s
recurring illustrations. Some
are available as merchandise,
ILLUSTRATION BY MANDA SEVERIN
Katie Diez combines art and healing with the Comfort Seeds project,
which recently won an international prize.
such as shower curtains and
coin purses.
Seed requests come from
people who have lost loved
ones themselves, and from
their friends and families.
Diez wanted to make some-
thing that would be appropri-
ate to give a grieving person:
a little story with a packet of
seeds, something meaningful
a friend could easily slip into
a greeting card.
<When my dad died I was
relatively young, and people
just didn9t know what to
do,= Diez said. <They were
afraid of saying or doing the
wrong thing, so they didn9t
do anything.=
Sometimes people are shy
about asking for the seeds,
which do not cost money.
Diez noted that accepting an
item that is free of charge
benefits the person giving.
<By receiving,= she said,
<you9re giving a gift as well.=
Diez is very observant and
takes time to be in the pres-
ent. <Through this whole pro-
cess, it9s been about noticing
and paying attention to the lit-
tle things, and being curious,=
Diez said.
She came to hone her pow-
ers of observation and appre-
ciation through the practice of
mindful meditation. Reading
the words of Buddhist monk
Thich Nhat Hanh inspired her
to take a class on teaching
mindfulness for children.
Diez figured she would
learn the practice in order
help her students. The prac-
tice changed her life and
outlook, and enhanced her
students9 experience and
education. The practice can
be difficult, though. <I still
struggle,= she said.
Giving away the seeds
continues to be rewarding for
Diez.
<It9s been a wild ride, not
anything I expected when I
planted the tomato seed!= she
exclaimed. <It9s taken on a
life of its own.=
That wild ride connects
her to one she loves. Said
Diez, <It feels like my dad9s
behind it.=
Read about how Katie
Diez copes with grief in
<Grief in Tough Times,= on
page 9.
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