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!