Monkey Business: Happy New Year! by ArtfulAlchemist on Polyvore.com
With the monkey around, 2009 is sure to go out with a BANG! Monkey Business aside, may 2010 hold blessings and abundance for you and yours. Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year!
Monkey Business: Happy New Year! by ArtfulAlchemist on Polyvore.com
With the monkey around, 2009 is sure to go out with a BANG! Monkey Business aside, may 2010 hold blessings and abundance for you and yours. Happy New Year!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Art Therapy and Terrorism
There's been a lot of bashing against art therapy in the wake of the failed Christmas day terrorist attempt - trying to twist the fact that because part of the rehab program for some jihadists in Saudi Arabia includes art therapy, that is somehow to blame for this latest terrorist attempt. Here is a good response from Cathy Malchiodi in Psychology Today:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-healing-arts/200912/did-art-therapy-fail-rehab-terrorists-oh-come
When I first read about the program using art therapy with jihadists I was impressed. I know from personal experience the power of art therapy to heal trauma and create fundamental shifts within one's psyche. Can art therapy "heal" a terrorist? I don't know. As Malchiodi indicates in her article there is a lot of anecdotal evidence about the power of art therapy and very little scientifically supportable research. The more common alternatives - prison, torture, etc. - will certainly NOT change a jihadist's mind, but will rather create martyrs for the cause and fuel the fire for more and more violence. I am not saying that the perpetrators of terrorist violence should not be held accountable and incarcerated. But if there are any tools that can shift the desire for this violence within a man's (or woman's) heart, by all means let's use them! Certainly, the use of art therapy did not CAUSE the terrorist act and maybe - just maybe - it prevented one or more other similar acts.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-healing-arts/200912/did-art-therapy-fail-rehab-terrorists-oh-come
When I first read about the program using art therapy with jihadists I was impressed. I know from personal experience the power of art therapy to heal trauma and create fundamental shifts within one's psyche. Can art therapy "heal" a terrorist? I don't know. As Malchiodi indicates in her article there is a lot of anecdotal evidence about the power of art therapy and very little scientifically supportable research. The more common alternatives - prison, torture, etc. - will certainly NOT change a jihadist's mind, but will rather create martyrs for the cause and fuel the fire for more and more violence. I am not saying that the perpetrators of terrorist violence should not be held accountable and incarcerated. But if there are any tools that can shift the desire for this violence within a man's (or woman's) heart, by all means let's use them! Certainly, the use of art therapy did not CAUSE the terrorist act and maybe - just maybe - it prevented one or more other similar acts.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
May Your Blessings Blossom!
Happy Thanksgiving! This is the time of year when we shift our focus to all we are grateful for in our lives. It's actually something we would benefit from practicing every day as whatever we praise in our lives will increase.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a fun and simple expressive arts practice you might like to try.
Blessings Blossom
Allow about 60 to 90 minutes for this activity
Materials:
4 or more sheets of colored paper
magazines
scissors
glue
other embellishments (optional)
1. Cut a circle shape from one colored paper
2. Cut 8 petals from different colored papers
3. Assemble a flower by gluing the petals to the back of the circle
4. Close your eyes and think of all the people and things you are grateful for
5. Go through the magazines and select images and phrases to represent the things you are grateful for
6. Arrange and glue your magazine clippings on the flower petals
7. Embellish with stickers, glitter, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, or anything else you wish to use
8. Hang your "Blessings Blossom" where you can look at it daily and fill yourself with gratitude for all the blessings your life holds
May your blessings continue to blossom!
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here is a fun and simple expressive arts practice you might like to try.
Allow about 60 to 90 minutes for this activity
Materials:
4 or more sheets of colored paper
magazines
scissors
glue
other embellishments (optional)
1. Cut a circle shape from one colored paper
2. Cut 8 petals from different colored papers
3. Assemble a flower by gluing the petals to the back of the circle
4. Close your eyes and think of all the people and things you are grateful for
5. Go through the magazines and select images and phrases to represent the things you are grateful for
6. Arrange and glue your magazine clippings on the flower petals
7. Embellish with stickers, glitter, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, or anything else you wish to use
8. Hang your "Blessings Blossom" where you can look at it daily and fill yourself with gratitude for all the blessings your life holds
May your blessings continue to blossom!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
ART PEACE SUSTAINABILITY
Can art therapy be done online with digital images? I say, "You bet!"
After reading this article on the ART PEACE SUSTAINABILITY global digital art (therapy) event, I took the challenge, set up my Polyvore account, and created this entry for the project, entitled "This is what you shall do":
It was an amazingly therapeutic exercise for me, stretching me into a new kind of media I'd never explored before. I found it a bit confusing at the outset, as Polyvore is primarily a fashionista kind of site, but once I figured out where to import some backgrounds and other kinds of images, it came together pretty easily.
Why don't you try your hand at it? I'd love to see the results!
After reading this article on the ART PEACE SUSTAINABILITY global digital art (therapy) event, I took the challenge, set up my Polyvore account, and created this entry for the project, entitled "This is what you shall do":
It was an amazingly therapeutic exercise for me, stretching me into a new kind of media I'd never explored before. I found it a bit confusing at the outset, as Polyvore is primarily a fashionista kind of site, but once I figured out where to import some backgrounds and other kinds of images, it came together pretty easily.
Why don't you try your hand at it? I'd love to see the results!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
The Art of Attraction
Art can provide a powerful and visceral experience of the dynamics at play in the Law of Attraction. Last week, in my Law of Attraction Study Group, we explored how our focus shifts what we attract. The Law of Attraction is always at work – a quick look at our thoughts can show us what we’re really attracting.
I had the group do a quick vision board collage of just a few things they’d like more of in their lives. Here is what mine looks like:
Now, if I’m truly focusing my INTEREST, ATTENTION and EXPECTATION on those desires for easy, smart money, chill-out weekends, travel and a buff “very real power” body, then why have they not manifested for me up until now?
Taking just one of my desires as an example: If I am honest with myself, it is probably because I’m a lot more INTERESTED in paying ATTENTION to the chocolate cake on the counter than to running several miles a day. And my EXPECTATION is that losing weight and getting in shape will be difficult, time-consuming and boring.
The main thing that gets in the way of manifesting whatever we desire is our habit of tacking “buts” onto the end of every wish. I’d love to have easy, smart money BUT making money is hard. I desire relaxing weekends BUT if I want money, I’ll have to trade all my free time for it. I would love to travel more BUT in this economy, there’s just no way I can swing it. I’d love to run and bike more BUT I just don’t have time for exercise. I’d love to have a powerful lean body BUT I don’t believe my body could ever look like that.
Guess what we’re doing with all those “buts?”
When you look at it graphically, it’s easy to see that we are putting up bars and building a prison between ourselves and our desires.
Mary Manin Morrissey tells a wonderful story about Nelson Mandela that illustrates how we can shift our perspective about all those “buts.” She says that when Mandela was first arrested he despaired. He thought, “My dream of the end of apartheid can never happen now.” That thought played over and over in his head. “It’ll never happen now. It’ll never happen now.” One day, a new thought came into his mind: “Maybe it could still happen.” It was just a glimmer, not at all a certainty. Yet he grabbed on to that thought like a drowning man grabs a life preserver. “Maybe it could still happen.” He trained his mind to focus on that thought and after a little more time he thought with wonder, “Maybe this is what it looks like while it’s happening!” From that moment on, he had a new zest for doing whatever he could, even though he was still imprisoned. He began a letter writing campaign and soon gained the attention and support of the U.S. Eventually, he did realize his dream. So, no bars are too strong if the mind is stronger!
If you have built a prison of “buts” around your dreams and desires, I challenge you to shift your perspective. How might it be that “this is what it looks like while it’s happening?” Does it seem like a sluggish economy is stopping you from being successful? Maybe a sluggish economy is exactly what your road to success looks like. How can you turn it to your advantage? Do you want to travel but feel like there’s no money or time for it? Maybe that longing for travel is exactly what could bring you more money and time through a travel-related career.
Take all those buts and turn them around. Turn them into assets rather than liabilities. Look at them from a different perspective. Or tear them down and get rid of them.
We ended our program last week by removing those bars from our vision boards and burning them. Whatever it takes.
I had the group do a quick vision board collage of just a few things they’d like more of in their lives. Here is what mine looks like:
Now, if I’m truly focusing my INTEREST, ATTENTION and EXPECTATION on those desires for easy, smart money, chill-out weekends, travel and a buff “very real power” body, then why have they not manifested for me up until now?
Taking just one of my desires as an example: If I am honest with myself, it is probably because I’m a lot more INTERESTED in paying ATTENTION to the chocolate cake on the counter than to running several miles a day. And my EXPECTATION is that losing weight and getting in shape will be difficult, time-consuming and boring.
The main thing that gets in the way of manifesting whatever we desire is our habit of tacking “buts” onto the end of every wish. I’d love to have easy, smart money BUT making money is hard. I desire relaxing weekends BUT if I want money, I’ll have to trade all my free time for it. I would love to travel more BUT in this economy, there’s just no way I can swing it. I’d love to run and bike more BUT I just don’t have time for exercise. I’d love to have a powerful lean body BUT I don’t believe my body could ever look like that.
Guess what we’re doing with all those “buts?”
When you look at it graphically, it’s easy to see that we are putting up bars and building a prison between ourselves and our desires.
Mary Manin Morrissey tells a wonderful story about Nelson Mandela that illustrates how we can shift our perspective about all those “buts.” She says that when Mandela was first arrested he despaired. He thought, “My dream of the end of apartheid can never happen now.” That thought played over and over in his head. “It’ll never happen now. It’ll never happen now.” One day, a new thought came into his mind: “Maybe it could still happen.” It was just a glimmer, not at all a certainty. Yet he grabbed on to that thought like a drowning man grabs a life preserver. “Maybe it could still happen.” He trained his mind to focus on that thought and after a little more time he thought with wonder, “Maybe this is what it looks like while it’s happening!” From that moment on, he had a new zest for doing whatever he could, even though he was still imprisoned. He began a letter writing campaign and soon gained the attention and support of the U.S. Eventually, he did realize his dream. So, no bars are too strong if the mind is stronger!
If you have built a prison of “buts” around your dreams and desires, I challenge you to shift your perspective. How might it be that “this is what it looks like while it’s happening?” Does it seem like a sluggish economy is stopping you from being successful? Maybe a sluggish economy is exactly what your road to success looks like. How can you turn it to your advantage? Do you want to travel but feel like there’s no money or time for it? Maybe that longing for travel is exactly what could bring you more money and time through a travel-related career.
Take all those buts and turn them around. Turn them into assets rather than liabilities. Look at them from a different perspective. Or tear them down and get rid of them.
We ended our program last week by removing those bars from our vision boards and burning them. Whatever it takes.
Monday, October 19, 2009
You'll See it when You Believe It
I came across this wonderful video and wanted to share it with you. It is about 20 minutes long and well worth the time. Dewitt Jones, National Geographic photographer, shares his philosophy and shows us how to Celebrate What's Right with the World. Here is a man who's artistic vision led him to a fuller vision of himself and of the world of possibilities. May we all find our own vision and possibilities through our creativity and imagination. You will see it when you believe it . . .
Sunday, October 11, 2009
The 5 Rhythms of Creation
Last week’s Wonderful Wednesday event was terrific! I had a fabulous and diverse group of creative individuals in attendance. We experienced Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms (using music from her Initiation album) through dancing on paper, journaling and collage.
Essentially, the 5 Rhythms musically mirror the rhythmic cycle of creation.
In the FLOWING rhythm, you are receptive, ideas are bubbling up, you are feeling an urge for change and new creation, you are drawing new experiences and manifestations into your life.
In the STACCATO rhythm, it is time to begin to pick and choose between all the possibilities, to focus, to mentally map out the creative path you choose to follow.
In the CHAOS rhythm, the old forms are falling away but the new forms are not yet here, there is a feeling of being lost in mystery, overwhelmed, as though there is no solid ground on which to stand. You may feel that everything is falling apart and wonder how anything will ever come together again.
In the LYRICAL rhythm, the death of the old has passed and the birth of the new has arrived. Everything comes together and there is a joyful flow.
In the STILLNESS rhythm, there is time to rest and reflect, time to go inward and connect to the whole, time to be at peace.
We see this cycle repeat endlessly in our own lives and in the world around us. When we can become aware of the rhythms, embody them, recognize what each of them feels like within us we are less likely to be overwhelmed by any of them. When we learn that none of the rhythms are good or bad, that none is better or more desirable than the others, we can find comfort and peace wherever we may be in our own cycle of creative evolution.
It’s always interesting to see the difference in color, shape and structure in the drawings that emerge from the 5 Rhythms. I’d like to share my own recent drawings and a powerful insight that came to me as I experienced these rhythms once again for myself.
Essentially, the 5 Rhythms musically mirror the rhythmic cycle of creation.
In the FLOWING rhythm, you are receptive, ideas are bubbling up, you are feeling an urge for change and new creation, you are drawing new experiences and manifestations into your life.
In the STACCATO rhythm, it is time to begin to pick and choose between all the possibilities, to focus, to mentally map out the creative path you choose to follow.
In the CHAOS rhythm, the old forms are falling away but the new forms are not yet here, there is a feeling of being lost in mystery, overwhelmed, as though there is no solid ground on which to stand. You may feel that everything is falling apart and wonder how anything will ever come together again.
In the LYRICAL rhythm, the death of the old has passed and the birth of the new has arrived. Everything comes together and there is a joyful flow.
In the STILLNESS rhythm, there is time to rest and reflect, time to go inward and connect to the whole, time to be at peace.
We see this cycle repeat endlessly in our own lives and in the world around us. When we can become aware of the rhythms, embody them, recognize what each of them feels like within us we are less likely to be overwhelmed by any of them. When we learn that none of the rhythms are good or bad, that none is better or more desirable than the others, we can find comfort and peace wherever we may be in our own cycle of creative evolution.
It’s always interesting to see the difference in color, shape and structure in the drawings that emerge from the 5 Rhythms. I’d like to share my own recent drawings and a powerful insight that came to me as I experienced these rhythms once again for myself.
FLOWING
STACCATO
CHAOS
LYRICAL
STILLNESS
I chose to explore the STILLNESS drawing more deeply. The squiggly green and purple lines radiating out from the core into the stars of the heavens seemed to me to represent my own vibrations emanating from my heart and soul and traveling out into the Universe. As I looked at the drawing, though, I was puzzled about the horizontal blue lines that seemed to intersect with the lines of vibration. Through a process of two-handed journaling, I dialogued with the drawing to find out more about that. In the dialogue process, my dominant hand (DH) speaks for me, and I allow my non-dominant hand (NDH) to speak for the image. Here is a transcript of that brief but revealing conversation:
DH: Blue lines, who are you?
NDH: I’m what you keep throwing out after you make a wish. You say, “This! Yes, please, I want this!” And then you throw up this net to try to pull it back in.
DH: Hmm. I recognize that I do that. Yet it looks like the purple and green lines just go right through the net anyway.
NDH: They have lost their creative power, though. Once they’ve passed thru my knotted trap, they become just noise.
DH: Wow. Thank you for showing me that. How can I stop doing that?
NDH: Reel me back in. Fold me up and put me away.
DH: Yes, but how do I do that? I mean, that’s a very nice metaphor and all, but what does it amount to in actual practice?
NDH: You must catch yourself.
DH: Anything else?
NDH: Keep dreaming and you will succeed.
DH: Thank you. Thank you very much. I think I needed to see all of this today.
How many time have you made a wish, stated an intention, repeated an affirmation and then blocked it from manifesting by giving more attention to your fear, doubt and confusion. Don't toss that net out and catch your dreams before they have a chance to live and breathe.
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