Production Supervisor, KidZone TV Patient Media Patient Gaming and Technology Administrator
Thanks to Russell Mindich and family.
Thanks to the staff of the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital
Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital 1184 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10029 212-241-6797 mountsinai.org/childlife
*Publication template by Melissa Alvey, former Art Therapy Intern
Interested in contributing to our next issue of REFLECTIONS? Send creative writing, art, and audio submissions to Kyla Ohayon, Creative Arts Therapy Coordinator: kyla.ohayon@mountsinai.org
Scan here to view the entire issue online and to view past issues!
Be sure to check out the multimedia files featured in this issue!
Throughout this issue you’ll hear contributors play music, listen to interviews, and watch videos!
How? There are 2 ways!
1. Use your smart phone’s camera to scan the QR codes featured on a page.
2. Download any QR code reading app and scan the QR codes by using your phone’s camera.
Scan this QR code to explore this issue’s entire multimedia playlist!
27 Mindfulness Activity: Emotional Agility
28 “I Just Want to Go Home” by Diego Magdaleno
28 QR Code featuring original song by Diego Magdaleno
29 Artwork by Abdullah Nasher and Daniel Lopez Castillo
30 “Morning Madness” by Kate Komaroff
32 Artwork by Eilise Van Raadshooven
33 Artwork by Erik Reyez Muñoz
33 “Frank Ocean” by Chelsea Tavarez
34 Group Songwriting Project by Pediatric Hematology Oncology Patients
36 “Why I Love...” Series by Grace Webber
36 QR Code featuring “Why I Love The Zone” by Sara
37 Guest Feature: Giuliana Cannizzo
Dear Readers,
Welcome to the Spring 2025 edition of REFLECTIONS magazine, the Zone’s teen art and literary magazine at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital.
REFLECTIONS magazine serves as a creative platform for teens and young adults within the Mount Sinai community, and the community at large, to speak their minds, share their stories, and bring their visions to life. This publication, centered on the theme of “Patience through the Storm,” invites readers on an emotional journey through heartfelt stories, captivating visual artworks, created characters, and meaningful songs.
Inspired by the practice of meditation, this issue explores how slowing down, breathing deeply, and focusing on the present moment can help us through even the most challenging “storms” in life. As you turn these pages, you will be transported through the mind and body, above the clouds, and beneath the waves, showcasing the strength and resiliency that lies within us all.
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Jacob Lieser, Guest Teen Editor, and Archimedes Bibiano, Awareness Training Facilitator and Coach, for their time and dedication to the production of this edition of REFLECTIONS. From all of us in the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department we extend a heartfelt thank you to all the artists and writers whose contributions made this publication possible.
Special thanks to Diane Rode and Morgan Stojanowski, Executive Editors, for their continued support and guidance in producing REFLECTIONS.
Kyla Ohayon Creative Arts Therapy Coordinator
Artwork by Amelie Hegmann, 12
Welcome to the Spring 2025 Edition of Reflections
Patience Through the Storm
I wanted to pick “Patience through the Storm” as the theme for this edition as it really resonated through me not only in times of hardship like being at a hospital, but in life I truly believe patience is one of the greatest virtues out there.
Everything that is truly meaningful and important at least to me in my life has required an immense amount of patience. It may be getting through my time in the hospital while sick, studying throughout school and doing well, meditating to feel well throughout the day, or working out and appreciating every little milestone of progress along the way.
However, especially while in the hospital, I wanted anyone reading this to know that this storm will pass. It may seem hopeless and never ending with the constant beeps and lack of sleep, or whatever you are going through. I promise though if you are patient, and use this as an experience to grow, I promise that this rough patch will not only appear to go by more quickly, but you will emerge as a stronger person.
Keep thinking about things you love to do, and know they will always be there for you in the future. I used to not have the patience to read any books, however during my time being sick, it was finally then that I developed a love for reading. Throughout this year I have read at least 15 books, and can’t wait to read more in the future. This is all because of patience.
Stay strong always!
Jacob I. Lieser Guest Teen Editor
Listen to Jacob’s interview about mindfulness meditation with Archimedes Bibiano here!
See interview excerpt on page 18
Jacob’s Mindfulness Practice Suggestion
“I do a 10-minute meditation every morning to wake up. I love how it really gets my heart rate going with the “breath-of-fire” to get me ready for the day, while at the same time containing slow and controlled breaths at the end of the practice to really let everything settle in. I love starting my day like this because I feel if I can do this in the morning, every other task during the day that may seem daunting or boring becomes a fun obstacle rather than a burden.”
Artwork by, Caroline Leon, 15
Artwork by Amelie Hegmann, 12
Blackout Poetry by
Art Response
Kohei Kurihana, 22
My work depicts an everyday snapshot of a crowd of Japanese workers attending and leaving from work. In Japan, it is common to see a large number of people walking in crowds or in the train to attend work. I decided to depict the movement of that crowd impatiently or patiently waiting to cross the highway-railroad grade crossing to not be late for work.
Medium: oil paint on canvas 24 x 18 inches
“Crowded Crossing” by Kohei Kurihana, 22
Let’s Talk About It
Jacob I. Lieser, 18
Over the past summer, I experienced hardship, and it was often difficult to have a positive outlook on life. For the first time in my life, I was admitted to a hospital for a period of one whole week. I was previously on a trip in Costa Rica, but had to quickly fly back to the US to meet my mother and go to the hospital where I was shivering, and had a heart rate below 30. I also had lost around 20 pounds, of which was mostly muscle that I had worked really hard for during the previous year. Not only was I feeling great physical pain and fatigue, but the worst loss was actually the hard work that had been seemingly robbed. Also, the doctors were perplexed by a very complicated combination of symptoms that did not seem to fit into one diagnosis which further fueled my anxiety. I felt like I was literally a Dr. House Patient. I would look in the mirror, and not recognize the person that I saw. The days and nights in the hospital were restless with constant beeping, noise, and poking at 3:00 AM. I thought you were supposed to feel better in the hospital, not worse!
However, there were moments of hope in this dark period of time in the hospital. My parents were always there to support me, but a turning point was a very welcoming warm face. His name was Archimedes. Not only was he kind and easy to talk to, but he came in several days after I was admitted, and led me through guided meditations. It was during these brief periods of time where I really felt like my old self, and I was actually happy. I was not sure about my future, or when everything would be resolved, but I did know that breathwork and meditation was a nice outlet to escape. Upon discharge from the hospital, while my pulse was stable, I had no weight gain, and we still have yet to reach the core problems of my health issues. My days were long, and seemingly boring, and I literally felt like I could not think or be like myself both physically and mentally.
It was there that I learned incredible tools related to perseverance and mindfulness that will last a lifetime. This includes the definition of mindfulness itself, which according to Jon Kabat-Zinn means paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. I started putting my life back together; I continued the meditations by myself with the knowledge that Archimedes instilled in me. I started going to the gym again, determined to get back my progress. School was also around the corner, which I was extremely nervous about considering I have not used my brain in that way for a long time. However, once school started, everything started to slowly improve. For one, I think using my brain again at a higher level really motivated me to be more engaged with life overall, and we started to get more medical explanations and treatments for my condition. Also, rather than looking at the past at everything I lost, I tried my absolute best to use this as motivation to continue to move forward, connect with others, and always do my best.
Fast forward to today, mid-March of the school year, and I have gained all of the weight I lost and then some, and am very committed to my practices of gratitude and mindfulness on a daily basis. Not only do I believe I restored what I lost mentally and physically before what seemed to be a tragedy, but I gained something that I would never trade back, which is the ability to use breathwork and mindfulness as a tool to deal with stress and anxiety. I learned that one can view adversity as his or hers worst enemy, or as an opportunity to gain new skills, and learn and grow as a human being.
Writing by Melissa R.
Artwork by Star, 15
Jacob’s Interview with Archimedes Bibiano
Awareness Training
Facilitator and Coach
AB: Hello, everyone and welcome, Jacob! Is mindfulness as popular as we think it is, what’s your take?
JL: I think a lot of people my age might, due to social media and the way society is at the moment, sadly do not want to give mindfulness a chance. They think it takes too much time, even ten minutes is too much of an investment, even though it really isn’t. That was at first my point of view, but if you really just take ten minutes to start to engage with it, you see it is really not that big a deal, and that just a little bit can go a long way.
AB: I was really impressed by your discipline in actually using the mindfulness tools we worked on, it’s about inner work, so why did you take this practice seriously?
JL: I think part of it is, in general, I have a lot of discipline, for example in school I like working hard and consistently. It is good to see when hard work pays off, and you know when you have put in the work. I think one time you shared with me a meditation for athletes, and I don’t know if I consider myself an athlete, but I really love going to the gym, and I think the discipline from that can spring into other aspects in life. That kind of sets me up on the right track with other things. Actually, you’re taking your stress out, and it’s fun, and it doesn’t feel like work. It’s just if you’re consistent with it over just a little bit of time it becomes engraved in your routine and it feels really good.
AB: Please tell us about the theme you’ve chosen for REFLECTIONS Spring 2025 issue.
JL: Yeah, the theme is “Patience through the Storm.” I thought about anybody in the hospital who is going through a tough time. I know for me, it is kind of like “oh, I just want to get out of here, I just want to go back to my life,” but you just have to have some patience and know that it will be okay. And it’s a good metaphor, that of a storm, just whatever you’re going through in life, just be patient and it is going to be okay.
AB: Did I hear you say that you are engaging your family with mindfulness practices?
JL: I took the self-reflection journaling idea from you, but then my dad told me that when he was younger he used to always write three things he was looking forward to. That’s what he used to do, so I kind of borrowed that technique from him and got him to start doing that again. My mom also influenced me a lot with those things. She has done her yoga teacher training like you and she loves mindfulness and meditation as well. We often do it together in the morning, whenever we can. I have an older brother and he also likes meditation. We just did a jiu-jitsu class together and at the end the teacher sat us down for meditation and we did that together. I am grateful I have them in my life!
JL: Alright, so now I am going to ask you, Archimedes, some questions. What was your first experience with mindfulness and meditation?
AB: My first mindfulness meditation experience was actually with my mother who was a physician. I was about 9 years old with a very type-A personality, already feeling the stress of taking exams at school. I asked her for some “stress pill” because I realized that she could prescribe medication, but she sat me down and said, “Look, I don’t think you really need to take anything, but here is what I do.” That was intriguing, she was sharing with me something very personal, something that she herself practiced. “If you want to try,” she said, “place one hand on your chest, the other one on your belly, and you can close your eyes for a moment. Through the palms of your hands start to notice the movement of breath in your body. Chest, rib cage, belly expanding and contracting. Just feel the movement, the rhythm of each breath.” To this day I’m very grateful because my mom shared something very accessible, that the breath is calming and available. That was my first practice: awareness of breathing.
JL: In your experience, what are some of the benefits of practicing meditation and mindfulness in the hospital?
AB: As you know, the hospital can be a very stressful environment, whether you’re working as a provider or you’re here receiving treatment. Sometimes, it’s very noisy and there are tons of things happening all at once, and when you’re here as a patient you are dealing with a crisis in your life, often times discomfort and physical pain and also the mental and emotional stress that goes with it. One of the benefits of practicing mindfulness in the hospital is to recognize all aspects of who we are, having a holistic experience, knowing that it’s not just the physi- cal body receiving medical treatment as patients but that one’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions are integral parts of a whole and deserve our quality of attention as well. Mindfulness practices have a way to integrate all these aspects of who we are. Thank you for that question, Jacob. I hope our readers will take time to reflect on how they can manage crisis in life. Your journey in this last year alone can be an inspiration for all of us, so thank you for joining us here today to talk about “Patience through the Storm!”
Artwork by Quinberli Flores, 18
Artwork by Renee Proeta, 19
Art Response
Renee Proeta, 19
Hey everyone! My name is Renee and I have Crohn’s Disease. I was diagnosed when I was 16 years old and let me tell you, my case has been quite a journey. To put it short, I’m originally from New York but now live in North Carolina. A year prior to my diagnosis, I was terribly sick and none of the doctors I saw knew what was wrong with me; it wasn’t until I came to Mount Sinai that I finally got my answer. I soon met Dr. David Dunkin, who has been my doctor for about four years now. I cannot express enough how grateful I am for him, he not only found the answer to my ongoing sickness; but has also gone above and beyond for me. I truly do not know where I’d be without him, he saved my life. On my most recent visit to Mount Sinai, I had surgery which resulted in 9 inches of my small intestine being removed due to massive inflammation and a growing obstruction caused by Crohn’s. Dr. Sergey Khaitiov was my surgeon, he’s an absolute icon. This whole experience inspired me to create my artwork for the reflections magazine. I came up with the idea for a comic book cover that features me as a superhero fighting off my intestines, it represents my overall battle with Crohn’s. I have been able to overcome a whole lot with everything that Crohn’s has thrown my way, I am a fighter and I believe that every kid who comes through this hospital is also a fighter. I hope that my art inspires or helps any of you in some way. If I can leave off with anything, please keep fighting and push on through, you’re stronger than your illness and don’t ever forget that.
Artwork by Noah Montalvo, 17
Emotional Agility Mindfulness Practice
with Matthew (M), Yevonne (Y) and Archimedes (A)
Scan this to hear more!
A: This MINDFULNESS ACTIVITY is called EMOTIONAL AGILITY, which is the ability to recognize feelings and emotions that are universally human, but oftentimes we find it difficult to feel and connect with them, and then to put into words whatever feelings we have. By doing so, we develop a form of intelligence, which is not intellectual, we call it EQ, or “emotional intelligence.” Through developing emotional agility and awareness we develop greater capacity for connection.
M: Yep, and for empathy!
A: Yes, and for empathy!
M: Yeah, for example, when I listen and play the guitar I focus on what I’m feeling, what I’m listening to, and it is so relieving to know that all my worries, all the nostalgia, all the hopelessness, goes away. And I am not just saying it to make it sound like a fairy tale, but truly, it truly feels like all the burden I have been carrying has been lifted from me.
A: Thank you for saying that, because we all aspire to have those moments when, whatever is weighing us down feels like it gets lifted. That is in this work, which is the goal in exercising emotional agility. We have a worksheet here with the three colors of traffic lights: red symbolizes unpleasant experiences; green represents pleasant experiences; and yellow to signify neutrality. Let’s list feelings and emotions, first pleasant ones, then unpleasant and then neither pleasant nor unpleasant, the ones we might be aware of even before we name them precisely.
Dear Reader: Now It Is Your Turn. Take This Time to a) Connect with Your Moments and Experiences and b) List Your Emotions and Feelings Under Green (Pleasant), Yellow (Neutral) or Red (Unpleasant) Columns. Challenge Yourself to Find Specific Words for Each “Flavor” of Emotion You Notice.
M: What makes us stronger is being able to let go of those emotions by writing them down on a piece of paper. I really feel that by doing this activity I feel stronger. Just because I might not be feeling fine doesn’t mean I get to stop living my life, and stop feeling all those emotions.
A: It’s about time for us to wrap up, so Yevonne can you close our activity with whatever reflections, as an observer, you would like to offer?
Y: Yeah, my first thought was triggered by how you Matthew were describing your five year anniversary here, because obviously that is a happy moment, but I was also struck by the fact that you can feel happy and sad at the same time, for different reasons. That is probably why it is so hard to understand our feelings and why mindfulness activities and exercises like this can be so helpful. My second observation is that I really liked how you listed out the flavors of a specific emotion, I really liked that terminology “flavors,” because I feel like that is so accurate. There are so many emotions that can be difficult to try and pinpoint what they are, but by listing them out and allowing them, you know, kind of try on each flavor, I feel like is such a great way to really figure out what kind of sadness or happiness you might be feeling. Then my final comment is actually a testament to your character Matthew. Sometimes feeling lost, feeling clueless is something I felt when I was going through college, just feeling uncertain about the future. And that’s OK!
A: Thank you Matthew for engaging with this mindfulness practice with an open mind and an open heart, and thank you, Yevonne, for providing an objective point of view as the observer and video recorder. It’s our hope that our readers of the Reflections magazine will give it a try and find new meaning in their ability to recognize and articulate their own emotions and feelings!
I Just Want To Go Home
Diego Magdaleno, 14
Lyrics:
In the morning, everything‘s OK
But by the afternoon someone gets in trouble
Oh Miss Lee, she tries to keep us in line
She’s doing her best and she understands us kids
She found out I got stuck here again
Just like last time, she’s checking in, asking how I’m doing
She asked me if I’d like any snacks
And if there are toys that I’d like to have
Sometimes I like the teachers to know
Sometimes I’d rather just keep it to myself
I only wanna go home, it’s hard to wait
I play with stuff inside my room, it sometimes helps with waiting
Sometimes I do things I don’t want to do
I’d rather get out of my room, and never have to have procedures I just wanna go home I just wanna go home
Diego on the drums
Todd on the guitar and vocals
Scan here to listen to Diego’s original song!
Artwork by Abdullah Nasher, 12 and Daniel Lopez Castillo, 13
Morning Madness
Kate Komaroff, 19
Every morning, my alarm starts to sound
First it buzzes, then it beeps
Until finally it switches to a ding…ding…ding…
And with these noises surrounding me, I sink my head deeper into my pillow.
“Get out, get out,” I yell at my Mom.
“I need 5 more minutes,” I mumble but the request is muffled and I bury my head in my silky pillowcase and begin to doze off again
Anything to delay truly waking
I need 5 more minutes until I am ready
5 more minutes until I can muster up the courage to face the day
5 more minutes until my dreams come to an end, and TIME wins the game.
My problem with getting out of bed isn’t your common snooze situation I don’t just snooze my multiple alarms for days on end, putting off the inevitable
Rather, I simply cannot bring myself to get out of bed.
In fact, my mom and I have created a new system where she literally has to take my legs out from their warm spot under my cozy covers and drag me onto the floor.
“Wow, this is humbling” I whine but she simply moves past my remark and continues to pull on my ankles.
“Well,” she replies, “this might be the first time I’ve had to pull you out of bed, but I’m fairly confident it won’t be the last.”
So there you have it, plain and simple.
That is truly the only way I can get up and out of bed.
But, surprisingly, once I’m up, I’m up and I have no desire to crawl back into my bed
Because my dreaming has stopped, my haven of fluffy pillows no longer holds power and if the only thing I’m getting is 5 more minutes of sleep, well, I don’t want it!
I don’t want those 5 minutes so I can feel well-rested
Instead, I want those 5 minutes so I can postpone the inevitable cycle of the Earth rotating around its axis, calling me to breakfast once again
This task is impossible and I know it’s a fool’s errand.
As much as we wish to stop the days from beginning, to deter our inner storms from raging and miraculously, meteorologically alter the course of our futures, all we can do is prepare for the unavoidable.
We must rip off the covers, put our feet firmly on the floor and brace ourselves to face the waiting world. Getting me up in the morning is not without its challenges, and as I’ve explained.
It’s always a little stormy until the sun shines through; that is, when my mom lends me a helping hand.
I anxiously dread the time when I have to escape my imaginary world, Or maybe I fear what will happen in my day, what I can’t control and what lies ahead
The uncertainty of the good and the bad things that will undoubtedly happen Perhaps these are the true realities that fuel my storm.
But everyone’s storm is different so I ask you: What is your storm?
Who helps you get out of bed every morning?
We all have angry storms brewing inside, they will act as they please, not asking for advice or opinions
How inconsiderate!
But we will brave these storms nonetheless
We will tell them who we are and show them our resilience!
We will fortify ourselves and we will take the day head on. Even if we require some extra help sometimes
We will put one foot on the ground, then the other And this pattern continues until
You and I…we Are one day able to STAND.
Group Songwriting Project
Pediatric Hematology Oncology Patients
For the past two months, pediatric hematology-oncology patients and their families have participated in a collaborative songwriting project facilitated by one of the team’s board-certified music therapists, Joseph Cooper. The goals of this creative process are to support emotional expression, identify coping mechanisms, and support community and connection between young patients. Patients and family members in both inpatient and outpatient settings have composed original lyrics to express their experiences with their treatment. These lyrics express both the difficulties of treatment and the supports that patients have found to be helpful.
After patients submitted their original lyrics for the song, they sorted lyrics into groups with similar themes as a way to begin organizing them into the structure of a song. As this project continues, patients will finalize the order of the lyrics, create original melodies, and select harmonies to support the lyrics that they have written.
Lyrics
It can be a little exhausting Everybody gets in a bad mood so don’t feel bad
Did you accidentally fall into the world of uncertainty, but wish and hope for
Be Here,positive it’s like music to our ears
Never give up
Making mistakes can make your brain grow
Creativity helps us make something new
Creativity helps us get through
You look at the world now with all new hues
Looking at the world in a new color
There’s beauty in everything you’re going through
Always continue even when things don’t look like they’ll ever look up
Creativity helps make something to look forward to
Sometimes you might need a little bit of support
You will always be supported
You’ll always have people there for you
Friends can always help you out if no one is there for you
Family will always stand by you.
You can overcome your fears with support
I let people know when I’m going through something, when I feel like I’m close to giving up.
I let people know when I’m going through something, when I’m close to breaking
You will find help
Don’t be afraid to open the door of support
You’ll always have people reaching out
Friends can be a shoulder to cry on
Family will comfort you
You hope people will be patient
You need time to think, time to decompress, be by yourself
Sometimes people just need time
Hearing kind words can help you overcome your fears
No matter how weak you feel, always push through
Have faith, have hope
You hope the world you encounter will be empathetic
No matter how frustrated you feel, always hope and pray for a sunny day
I Atchanged the finish line, when you’re through and through, these memories you hold will always be true
You open a new chapter full of doom and gloom, but your story doesn’t end here, so flip the page and continue
Why I Love...
The “Why I Love...” series provides patients the opportunity to share their positive hospital experiences. In collaboration with KidZone TV producers, patients can create a video highlighting their favorite experiences with the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department.
Sara, a teenage patient, made a point to visit the Zone whenever possible! During her time in the Zone, she engaged in art projects, learned new video games, and participated in open studios with KidZone TV. Through this video, Sara had the chance to reflect on the positive impact the Zone had during her hospital stay and share her experience with others.
If you’d like to share your story, please reach out to the KidZone TV team or your Child Life Specialist / Creative Arts Therapist.
Grace Webber
KidZone TV Patient Media Production Assistant
Scan here to listen to Sara share why she loves The Zone!
Guest Feature: Giuliana Cannizzo has been a teen contributor to REFLECTIONS magazine for the past six editions. We thank Giuliana for her dedication to the REFLECTIONS community and for continuing to share her creativity with our readers. Thank you Giuliana!
“Finding
the calm when life is dripping.” - Arianna Ramirez
