When last this humble missive
went out I was in my Therapeutic Arts training. I'd like to share some bits of it with you. The tl;dr: there is power and healing by taking some time to connect with yourself, there is power and healing in creative practice.
Here are some ways it looked for me. I hope you find your ways of connecting and creating,
1. I've learned to hold my mistakes and shortcomings with a bit more kindness and space. That red spiky mass, while not one of my biggest failings or mistakes, it is still something that would have derailed me for weeks in the past. This simple little drawing that came from a somatic process showed me I have more grace for myself than I realized. Certainly more than I use to. It helped me me get current with myself
and acknowledge growth.
Are there some places where you are not as hard on yourself as you use to be? If not, is there a place you wish you were? Start here and imagine just holding what ever it is. No need to fix or change it, just holding. Is there a place where you can let yourself off the hook? It is a nice feeling to show up for yourself in what ever place you are.
2. While I have a fair amount of experience in a lot of different arts and crafts, I have never painted on canvas. Just buying them for this workshop made me nervous. I realized I had an inner rule made up about how stretched canvas was for "real" artists and I wasn't a "real" enough to paint on them. For all my talk and belief that we are all creative and art is for all of us, I had no idea I had this rule for
myself made up.
No matter what our experience,
our mastery, our confidence, when we try something different we will likely run into rules we didn't know we had. This may be uncomfortable, maybe discouraging, but it is actually really great. Once we know, once we bring out those hidden rules and beliefs up to the surface we can choose better what supports us.
Also, no one gets to gate keep what
creative ways we choose, hopefully that includes ourselves.
3.
Magenta has something to say.
It is not one of my go to colors so it was surprise to see it
show up several times over the course of the training. I don't know exactly what that something it has to say is, but I am listening for it.
Let yourself be pulled to draws you. Ha! See what I did there? "Draws" you, in an arts training? It's true. What interests us, fascinates us, shows up as a pattern, "draws" us, shapes us, informs us. It is how the world and our psyche talk and express themselves to each other. I may take minute to cognitively understand but the meaning is all ready known deep with in us.
4. My breath holds rivers of softness, shimmer, and gold.
I bet yours does too.
5.
A blessing for your week:
(The Wild Unknown Archetypes by Kim Krans)
May your desires and curiosities lead you to new understandings and acceptance.
