Art and healing are synonymous in my world. I make art because it helps me to make meaning from my life, and it supports my physical and emotional wellbeing. At times we become caught up in doing what we perceive that we should do, and we lose touch with what we want and need. We […]
Nature inspiration can recharge our creativity and our wellbeing. Early morning or late evening walks near wetlands are a great way to get inspired to create. If you don’t have wetlands in your area, where can you go to connect with the natural world? Perhaps a nearby park or garden. If you can’t find one, […]
Mindfulness and happiness go hand in hand in my world. Research has shown that a regular mindfulness practice can support feeling a greater sense of peace, happiness, and wellbeing. One of the habitual patterns of the mind is to ruminate about the past and worry about the future. Neither of these habits tends to be […]
Knowing your inner landscape. What does it mean to become intimately familiar with both our inner landscape and our outer landscape? Do we approach each with a sense of mindful care? “It is a landscape so familiar to me that sometimes I have felt a species before I saw it.” –Terry Tempest Williams Knowing your […]
Finding freedom with meditation practice is a journey of personal and spiritual growth. We desire freedom from suffering and its causes —loss, grief, uncertainty, fear, self-doubt, lack of self-confidence, anxiety, depression, psychological and physical pain, illness, death. Finding freedom is possible in this moment when we choose to take refuge in our own breath with […]
Every day we are surrounded by the miracle of love. We often fail to recognize it because we are too busy or distracted, or we fail to embrace it because we either don’t trust it or we judge ourselves as unworthy. Take time today to be present to the love that surrounds you. Open your […]
What if we were to approach life as an everyday pilgrimage so that each day we embrace the awe inspired adventure? “To set out on a pilgrimage is to throw down a challenge to everyday life. Nothing matters now but this adventure.” –Phil Cousineau Some days I travel while at home—I travel through a […]
Just say yes. I’ve been thinking about “yes” a lot today. I’ve been listening to the longings of several artist friends this week. Ambivalence is easy for creative people. We imagine, we dream, but some creative people rarely say yes. They say “maybe,” or “I will when..,” or “as soon as I…” My father […]
Today I am longing for a sense of groundedness that comes from living in place. Terry Tempest Williams writes in Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, The bird refuge has remained a constant. It is a landscape familiar to me, there have been times I have felt a species long before I saw […]
Creative arts for healing can help us to integrate our body, heart, and mind to support our physical and mental health. We spend a great deal of time avoiding our experience because we judge it as too difficult or overwhelming to manage. When we engage with creative arts, we engage our body, heart, and mind […]