Every now and then, we come across a movie, a quote, a person who changes our lives. It's as if we've discovered a truth that we've always known in our hearts, but had never acknowledged in our heads.
For many creative people, Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way, causes just such an ephiphany. It was that way for me. As I worked my way through her 12-week course, one chapter at a time, I learned to think of myself as an artist. I acknowledged the bad habits that were holding me back. I learned to dream big.
That's why I was so excited to discover that Cameron had a follow-up book, Walking in this World, described as "Further Steps Along the Artist's Way." I'm now on week three, Discovering a Sense of Perspective. It's all about the healing aspects of art.
This is a very personal chapter for me. Sidelined from my career in corporate communications due to chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, I know first-hand how art can heal the mind and spirit. I found myself nodding my head in agreement as I read, "Creativity is medicine. It is not dangerous or egotistical. It is life-affirming and essential. The more we use it, the more steadily and readily and easily we use it. The more we ground in and regularly access it, the better off we are. The 'healthier' we are."
One of the tasks this week was to build a collage about a situation that we would like to understand more fully. I chose to tackle the fact that I'm basically a country girl living in the suburbs. I long for days spent lying on blankets underneath the sassafras trees with nothing but a book to keep me company. I pine for the smell of freshly turned earth and the sound of the river lapping at the shore.
All of the photos I used are from stock.xchng.
