What do you discover when you are still and use your creativity? This weekend was filled with discoveries on many levels around friendships, vulnerability, healing, and upsets. The art brings me back to listening to the part of me that desires to be expressed and in the process I am learning to sit with the fullness of my emotions-sometimes, messy, sometimes in spurts of fits, sometimes without grace, sometimes cutting and angry, sometimes sad and broken- all with an honesty, compassion, and willingness to hear what needs to be expressed.
Posts Tagged ‘art process’
Mandala Mondays
January 25th, 2010Mandala Mondays
January 18th, 2010
Often we don’t take the time to acknowledge the good in our lives and rush forward into the next thing. What gets our attention are those things that are not working well, or things that could be better, or things that are not how we would like them to be. There also a tendency to focus on the negative feelings we are experiencing, rather than relishing the lightness and joy in our lives. This weekend was a reminder of the joys in my life, of relationships that make my heart open wider, and fun activities that just feel so good and joyful! So I savor a delight filled weekend and set an intention to have a week filled with moments where I focus on the joy in my life and celebrate it!
Mandala Mondays
January 11th, 2010
As my mind becomes still and I respect my need to silently listen to my heart the mandala images become more clear and crisp. After 42 days of making daily mandalas (with a few days missed) I feel a need to center with the artwork. I know when I am not creating I feel a bit off, like my energies are flying around and I cannot fully focus. Yes, there are days when I do the art and I still feel distracted and pulled after making art, but I feel centered in the process.
Today’s Mandala reminds me of what I’ve been hiding from and how I have made excuses out of fear. I allow myself to acknowledge and accept what I am discovering and choose to accept with love the deeper layers I’m discovering.
Using Art Therapy to create what you desire 2010
December 31st, 2009I just so love and adore the new year. If you know me then you have heard me say, ” you get a do-over”. A do-over is a word we used as a kid. If you missed the ball while trying to hit it you got another chance. It didn’t count, you get to call a do-over, and you get to do it again. I love kids because they really understand do-overs. You could spend half an hour pitching the ball and they call do-overs until they get it. That’s pretty smart, asking for what you need. So I adore the new year, because it’s like a natural do-over.
However, do we practice do-overs in our lives? Many of us practice “do-agains” instead. I looked back at my yearly journal entries and see many of the same goals, be more compassionate with my family, loose 10 lbs, etc. The resolutions are great until someone in my family does something and I get so frustrated or I sign-up to get 8 boxes of girl scout cookies, then I’m face with rewriting the same things next year. Does this sound familiar?
So I began to wonder why some really big things I set out to accomplish, like writing my book, happen and why other less difficult things don’t happen. What I found was I needed some concrete outcomes, steps to take to get there, and supports around me to help me make the changes. Even bigger than action steps is the commitment I made to the change and how I decided to feel about it.
If there is specific area in your life that you are longing to transform allow yourself to focus on that one thing. Here’s where the do-over comes in handy. You can change the way you think and feel about this by using your creative possibilities thinking. So identify the problem (one is enough), be very specific and clear what it is. Now go grab some art supplies, magazines, chalks, oil paster, markers, paint, whatever you have on hand. Sit with this problem and ask how would I be different if this problem was resolved, what would I be doing, thinking, or feeling? Allow yourself to use the art materials to express how different your life would feel and be if this was no longer an issue. This is your do-over. This is your map to make changes.
My collage hangs over my fireplace as a reminder of what I am choosing to create.
Mandalas and Healing, Day 18
December 18th, 2009
It is interesting to see the unfolding of your feelings and thoughts over weeks through the art making process. On day 17 I make this image. There’s lots happening right now in my business, with the holidays, and in my personal life. I find that the 10-15 minutes I take each time I do a mandala centers me for the day. I did not make one a few days ago and felt really off- overwhelmed and stressed out. I find that even though I am really busy, and it could be easy to not make art each day, that the connection with myself and the art grounds me for what happens during that day. This image is about entering into a new period of growth and development (personal and business). There is excitement and the unknown. However, the seeds of growth are being planted and I honor where I’m at in the process.
Today’s Mandala
is very clear. Last night I affirmed a big decision I am making in my life and the feeling of clarity and power of my choice feels so vibrant. The image celebrates the progression of the flame transmuting into growth and budding into new aspects of myself. I can feel the shift within me as I consciously make choices in a new direction. It feels powerful and affirming.
Mandala a Day Keeps the Art Therapist Away?
December 3rd, 2009I’ve been inspired by my students in the Professional Creative Solutions Certification Program and a recent workshop on Mandalas at The Art Therapy Conference in Dallas. So I was thinking about what it would be like to create a Mandala a day as a way to express what I am feeling and use as a centering tool. I’ve heard others talk of this process as a journey into self healing and discovery and would like to explore the process. I’ll be posting Mandalas and offering some thoughts on my experience.
If you would like to join me please feel free to offer your insights and links to you images. If a daily dose of Mandala making seems overwhelming I ask you to join me for Mandala Mondays- as a way to center yourself for the week ahead.
In case you are wondering what a Mandala is, Wikipedia describes it as “Mandala Sanskrit maṇḍala “essence” + “having” or “containing”, also translates as “circle-circumference” or “completion”, is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance…”
Or in simple language, a circle image you create.
My image above has the words on the bottom reflect the feeling of the image, ” I let go of what does not serve me to create a space for healing”.
