I count myself fortunate
to have met good people at opportune moments, who were able to point me towards
some ' tools ' I was missing, that helped me to grow in a direction of more rightness.
One of these invaluable tools is carried in the understanding that Art making is helpful
when we turn our attention inside and simply notice whatever is there, inside ourselves,
at that moment, including: our breathing, posture, state of mind and our sense of where
our attention ( and as a consequence ~ our energy ) is being held or drawn to right then.
If we can express something externally and symbolically about our internal experience,
through drawing or by making something in 3-D, then something very helpful can occur.
This can be a quick effective doodle on a scrap of paper or something more elaborate,
colourful or 3-Dimensional. ( out of clay or playdoh for example )
This type of Art making is therapeutic and can be very personal without being precious:
by that I mean it is not about perfectionism or the urge to try and make 'perfect pictures'.
It is playful exploration of inner experience through art making and creative expression.
This is really all about Quality, specifically: Line, Weight, Rythmn and Colour.
These qualities of Art making offer us a door into another landscape entirely:
the Internal landscape of our bodily Felt Senses and the quality of sensations
we experience inside, when Listening . . . through the body ~ in a certain way.
Sensations all have qualities: Texture, Density, Size, Rythmn and Colour too.
They can also shift and change inside us ~ they are fluid and full of aliveness
and we can give them our attention in a way which reveals how they connect
to our life: our health and well being, relationships, creative projects, dreams,
difficulties, anxieties, thoughts, feelings and emotions . . . the whole shebang.
Expressing something symbolically ~ in Art, sound, movement or words, while we are
listening inside, helps us to find a good working distance with our internal experience,
enabling us to remain more connected and less overwhelmed by our strong emotions,
thoughts, feelings, anxieties or sensations and expanding the length of time we are ok
just being with whatever we find there . . . allowing some space for a fresh perspective.
One helpful way of looking at all this information, that can seem to ' flood ' into our mind
when we listen inside, especially with strong emotions or difficult thoughts and feelings
is to understand it just like it was a wave of energy . . . our emotions, thoughts, images,
sensations, feelings, in fact, anything we may sense inside ~ just see it all as a wave.
Continuing the metaphor a little ~ when we look at a wave in water, appearing to move,
it is easy to assume the water is moving. In fact, the water does not really move much.
An ocean wave is made of energy. . .the wave is just passing through the water.
We are all seeing something that tricks our eye very easily. Understanding the science
of waves can help us find a very useful attitude to approach our inner experience with.
From one perspective we can see all of it, whatever it is, as just waves of information.
It is like: noticing something ~ saying ' hello ' to it and letting it pass on through.
This is just one helpful perspective on our inner experience. We can all find a viewpoint,
unique to our selves, that gives us the ' elbow room ' or distance we need,.to act clearly.
The most helpful gift that anyone has ever given me, is the understanding that
we can change, or shift perspective at all and we do not need to see life rigidly.
Listening through the body . . . with Art ~ is one way to explore how we to do it.
Below are some examples of Art making I have made while listening through the body,
made without any intention of being shared with others ~ only as symbolic expressions
of what was unfolding inside my body. They all still carry some echo of meaning for me
though, I do not feel ' precious ' about them as I might do with a different type of picture.
Their real value lies in the connection I made with myself while they were being drawn,
as they are, in effect, a record or witness, to more than can ever be captured on paper.
A fluid, living, complex, 3-Dimensional whole, that can form inside the body and inform
us about our underlying nature and the nature of any situation we may be living through.
They are the tip of the iceberg ~ the richness they point to, is worth exploring.
I know that slide shows on websites cause havoc for screen readers ~ so please click
on the image below to go to a seperate page . . . where there is an image description.
