Being Creative!

Desk which I painted for my daughter, Lindsay.

Being creative often means you seldom do anything the same way twice! Sometimes you weave in things that don't seam to go together or use language as pictures. This desk was a labor of love for my daughter, Lindsay. I love using the unexpected as a canvas for my art. The picture on the front of the desk is of an island with sun and plane on one side and an erupting volcanoe on the other. She really loves lighthouses so the legs are painted like lighthouses from around the world! What a wonderful time we had planning and executing this project! And she is very proud (as am I) of the finished project. Being creative means thinking outside the box. What does your creative tool box have in it?

I showed you pictures the last time of my altar ego "Lizzie" and "Snailgirl" as well as "Dragon Lady." Even if you have trouble (or are afraid) to draw, you can start to know your inner self by beginning to map out or image (imagine) who are your different personalities. I am beginning to have stirrings about getting back into professional leadership in the church again. So I called some people whom are mentors for me and went to talk to them about doing this. That night I had a fitful night sleep and woke up at 5 a.m. questioning myself. What am I doing, why am I doing this, do I have what it takes to do this, will I be accepted, will I mess it up, etc., etc. you get the picture. So I prayed first of all and then sat down to do my art and healing work. My release picture looked like this:

In working with my emotions and using art to heal, I've discovered that I have to talk about things and then sleep on them (hopefully to dream an answer) but if I wake up more confused and questioning myself, it's time to get out the craypas! This whole picture has to do with my own fears, desires, issues of safety and connection problems. This release really was that. I calmed down and have been better able to be more clear about my own motives and whether I really am feeling a call (which I am!)

To help heal this space inside of me I used what I had at hand (I don't always paint!) and that one looks like this:

This snail energy is what I need to sustain through the next few weeks! Slow and steady. Carrying around what I need and trusting myself. Fear need not take over! I am beginning to be ready if I am called and appointed to the new position. I'll let you know.

If you are still getting started and need some help with beginning the inner pilgrimage, try to think about how you react when you are scared. Are there characteristics that you could name? What kind of animal, insect or inanimate object would that be? Look through some magazines and find a picture that you can cut out and put in your journal (yes an art journal is good. I use solid black ones because when I take them on retreat people are less likely to pick them up when I have carelessly left them somewhere. Pictures invite people to look inside them! I'm not always ready for that!)

You can do this with any emotion that you are feeling right now: happiness, excitement, stubbornness, anger, pain. If you need to heal these things (and that could come from not liking that part of yourself as well as something that has been hurting you), use the healing artwork steps I talked about in the last blog. I'd love to know what you discover about yourself!

How do I use art to heal?

Meet "Lizzie"

This week my spiritual advisor and I were talking about feelings. He asked me to tell him what image I would put to the feeling that I happened to be talking about right then. I told him about "Lizzie" who is a lizzard who climbs trees and is very fast and free! There is that part of my personality that is a climber! And when I am joyful this is how I feel! We each have many parts to our personalities. Some we like and others we'd just as soon not have!

The dragon is also a part of my personality. When she comes out I am so angry I breath fire! She was one of those parts of my personality that I had to make friends with! I tend to come up with animals to describe what I am feeling. When I need to protect myself my snail side comes out. I carry everything on my back and am quite slow at times to move on. It was a great way to discuss what has been happening to me. It is an important step in healing to be able to accept yourself and who you are. But sometimes we need something beyond words to help us grasp that which goes deeper than words.

Try this when you notice yourself being overwhelmed by a feeling, (it works especially well when you get stuck) place an image to it. First try moving. Swing your arms around, move your legs. (I like to walk a labyrinth when it's available) Sit down with crayons or color pastels with a piece of paper (8 x 10). Crayons or pastels work best because they are like those sticky emotions! Put your feet on the floor and close your eyes. Begin to breath deeply, taking 3 deep cleansing breaths in and out. On the third breath, make a noise as you exhale. Ask your spirit to give you an image or color that will represent this feeling. Try to find where in your body this feeling resides. And when you are ready open your eyes and begin to draw with your non-dominant hand (if right handed use your left). Even if you don't get an image see which color you are drawn to and just begin putting something on the page.

Let yourself draw until you are satisfied with it. Remember it doesn't have to be a Rembrandt. One of the things you won't be able to do is bring the part of you that is your critic to this process because you are using a different side of the brain than you are used to using. Did you get an image? Sometimes I get no more than scribbles on the page. How do you feel? Is there a difference? Look at your picture. What was the first color you put on the page? The colors correspond to different energy places on our bodies called chakras.

If you don't know why you are feeling a certain way this is a great way to help yourself map out your emotions. Red has to do with family of origin issues, safety and security. Orange has to do with our ability to accept our feelings and emotions. Yellow has to do with our peers, friends and enemies and our personal power. Green is where we hold our ability to open our heart, to give and receive love, and to release judgement. It is where we hold our life lessons and our abilty to teach others what we have learned (my favorite color!) Blue is where we hold our ability to speak up and to communicate our truth. To defend ourselves and others and to express what we are feeling and what we know. Purple is the place where we hold our ability to tune into messages from the body and it's energy. It provides us with knowing about ourselves, others, and what may happen. This is where we hold our creative energy. White is our spiritual center. The place we hold our ability to release and surrender to a higher power. Black is a place where something is still hidden from us (a place of no light). It will come into the light as we are more able to work through our emotions. And so Brown then is something coming into the light almost ready to take on a color.

Once you've had time to work with your cleansing image to see what you are working on, next pull together a form of art supply that you love to work with. I like acrylic paints for this part of the healing process. You could use water color, pencils, pastel chalks, clay, oils, material, collage, sculpture. (Make it bigger than an 8 x 10) This time you will create a healing image to replace what has been stuck in you. And this time as you create use whichever hand you want. Give yourself time to work on this creation as long as you need. You use the same proceedure (sit with your feet on the floor to begin, close your eyes, breath in 3 times and make a noise on the third time, ask your body and spirit for an image to heal this emotion. And then begin.

Put this creation in a place where you will see it every day for three weeks. And then display it where you will see it all the time. Looking at a healing image will help the cells of your body take in that healing! You will know when it is time. I am always amazed at the results and how beautiful each creation is. Honor what is given you because it is a gift from God (or your Higher Power!) When I have done this during a day retreat the diversity of images is breathtaking. I leave you with another of my own healing creations! Write to me with questions! They help!

               

As I was working with this artwork I followed my instincts. It needed to be 3 dimensional. You are free to use whatever you are drawn to. It could be quite surprising!