Spontaneity vs. Conditioning
We perpetuate our suffering by doing the same thing over and over again, without knowing why. We are often unconscious about our deeper motivations and might not understand why things do not turn out well in our life. Buddhists call repeated hardship the "Wheel of Suffering."
Spontaneous imagery and words can help you to find freedom from the conditioned mental compulsions that create emotional pain. The aim of a spontaneous art or writing practice is to generate your own personal symbols to support you to heal painful emotional patterns.
Spontaneous self-expression can bring surprising information into stagnant thinking and feeling patterns. When we make our subconscious - conscious - through spontaneous images and words, our conditioned psychology does not rule us so much.
As we heal, so does the world becomes more healed. We heal emotionally through understanding our personal symbology. Our inner life offers up symbols for our own healing first, and then the symbols for our purpose in the world becomes clearer.
When we heal emotionally, we start to care more about others and understand where we are needed in the scheme of life. We can give to life much more effortlessly when we are no longer fighting our "inner demons."
The Six Stages of Creative Self-Expression
1. Opening the Door to Emotions: Some of us are just discovering that there is more to ourselves than our social mask. We might not yet understand what is "pressing up" for healing but we know we need to open up the door to our emotions. (See Expressive Arts Videos)
1. Opening the Door to Emotions: Some of us are just discovering that there is more to ourselves than our social mask. We might not yet understand what is "pressing up" for healing but we know we need to open up the door to our emotions. (See Expressive Arts Videos)
2. Releasing Emotional Pressure: Some of us need to find daily ways to express ourselves in order to reduce and release the emotional pressure within - without needing to know what it all means just yet. (See Expressive Arts Foundations)
3. Seeing Emotional Patterns: Some of us need to make sense of what we are creating so that we can change our limited, painful patterns. (See Emotional Catharsis)
4. Transforming Emotional Patterns: Some of us need to process and transform deep pockets of emotional pain such as childhood and teenage hurt, trauma, shame, low self-worth, fear, grief and anger. (See Expressive Art as Self-Therapy and Healing Trauma)
5. Finding the Gifts in the Wound: Some of us sense that our emotional healing is connected to the presence of spiritual support. We ache to understand the deeper meaning and purpose of our life. (See A Course in Creating Miracles)
6. Enjoying Emotional Freedom: Once we heal the majority of our emotional pain patterns, we just want to have fun! At this point, creativity becomes a form of joyful play! (See Expressive Arts Play!)
My Own Journey
Spontaneous pictures and words speak the language of my body, my dreams and my soul. When I see symbols emerge through my art something in me profoundly relaxes. I know that what is arising in my art today is all I need to know - right now - for my healing.
Over the last ten years, I have written many e-courses that deeply explore the process of healing emotional pain through expressive art and writing practices. I warmly invite you to see, release and heal your negative emotional patterns through the course suggestions listed above.
Over the last ten years, I have written many e-courses that deeply explore the process of healing emotional pain through expressive art and writing practices. I warmly invite you to see, release and heal your negative emotional patterns through the course suggestions listed above.
All of my e-courses focus on using creative modalities to see, express, understand and heal emotional pain at different stages of your self-expression journey.
