Part 2 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling

Dialoguing with images allowing the non-dominant hand to write for the image, is a creative path inward to the unconscious and deep inner wisdom and guidance. This approach can be used with Vision Boards or simply by choosing images from magazines or in the environment (paintings, photographs, etc.) and interviewing the image, as Donna does here. 

Part 2 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling
By Donna Sparrow

The whole collage

2.18-19.2021 - Woman with walking stick

Who or what are you?
I am a wise explorer. I have traveled far. I have many stories to share. I can see into people’s hearts.

How do you feel?
I feel their desires. I ache for their longings to be known to them. I love watching them discover that they belong and they can create new horizons. 

Why do you feel this way?
Because I have eagle’s wings and eyes. I see the tiny things that other’s don’t notice. I feel the winds that are there to lift other’s off the ground even before they are ready. 

Do you have a message for me?
You have wings, too. You have owl’s vision. You’ve had to learn how to fly in the dark. You are used to not being seen as you fly and as you feed the young. It’s time to become a daylight flyer. It may be a bit bright and it may be uncomfortable at first, people may even point at you, but that is where the winds are taking you. You haven’t flown in the thermals. They will carry you higher in the daylight than you’ve ever flown before. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Be brave. Make practice flights. Trust the winds. Trust your wings. You can be like me.

2.19.2021 - Bottle with feathers and weeds

Who or what are you?
I am the untaken callings, longings and gifts left forgotten along the path like lost feathers and unnoticed weeds in a vessel of time. We are unnoticed or abandoned due to the lack of passion or resilience. 

How do you feel?
Angry. Unimportant. Like a stillbirth. Never given breath. Never given love. Never given life, wild life.

Why do you feel this way?
Because I am the original. Other voices have painted over me and tried to hide my fierce reality. My offerings threaten the culture as it is, but I won’t be ignored. I will be found. I will be remembered. 

Do you have a message for me?
They tried to literally abort you. Since that didn’t work they tried to verbally abort the gifts that wanted to be born. The vessel of time is eternal. It is not too late. You have collected feathers like garlands of amazing callings. They are a charm bracelet of offerings yet to be given. You carry them. You wear them. Now it’s time to share them. Breathe into them. They are waiting. Breathe. 

Do you have anything more to tell me?
I do. But not today.

2.20.2021 - Small earth-loom weaving

Who or what are you?
I am a tapestry of life. All the things woven in. The things you expect to be there and the things you don’t. I am nature at its finest, surprises and the solid ground beneath. 

How do you feel?
I feel alive. I am tightly woven with spaces for things to be added. I am open for change always. I was created on an earth loom and the earth is always on tilt and moving. 

Do you have a message for me?
Be like me with your dreams. Know how hard to pull without ruining the warp…they are the lines that give you direction. But don’t be afraid to add the unusual…even if it’s a bit wild and may have holes in it. Sometimes a weaving doesn’t have a lot of color because it was woven in the barren colors of winter. Don’t reject the quiet season of winter. The colors are just waiting. You may think the tapestry is complete, but it is like life…ull of humor and adventure. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Always leave the spaces. You will be glad you did.

2.20.21 - The word “Sanctuary”

Who or what are you?
I am the sacred place of belonging.
I am safety.
I am boundaries.
I am peace.
I am integrity.
I will never leave you.
I’ve got you. 

How do you feel?
Wild. Free. Solid. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am made out of wind and stars and the dust of before you, that’s why you can lean in. 

Do you have a message for me?
You can dream, there is sanctuary. You can create, there is sanctuary. Just begin and begin again, there is sanctuary. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Show others how to find me.

2.21.2021 - Women at a table outside

 Who or what are you?
I am the spirit of gathering. I create portals for people to go within and to connect with each other. 

How do you feel?
I feel hopeful. 

Why do you feel that way?
When I sense resistance I bring patient courage. I bring memory of memories locked away waiting for the sound of the key turning. I carry smelling salts. 

Do you have a message for me?
I am handing you the smelling salts. Wake them up. Help restore them to their authentic selves. Let them remember who they were before the chisel of culture warped their gifts. Help them to read what is inscribed on their hearts. Use art to awaken their souls. Teach them how to play. Play is a spiritual discipline. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
Don’t forget to play yourself. Dance in your kitchen and buy yourself flowers.

2.21.2021 - Nature mandala

Who or what are you?
I am source. I am the space between your heartbeats. I am inspiration. I am the creative river. 

How do you feel?
Alive. 

Why do you feel that way?
It’s what I am. 

Do you have a message for me?
Connect to me in the stillness, the solitude and in the beauty of nature as you often do, but open your eyes and ears to find me in the chaos and loud places that you avoid. I am there too. Seek beauty in all places. Bring the strength of the quiet within you into the new territories before you. I will show you new creative ways to do things. I will inspire new ways to do the things you’ve always done. I bring the light and the solid force of revelation to your gatherings. I will bring the people as it is me they’ve come to find in themselves. You just set the table. I’ll pull up my own chair.

2.22.2021 - Girl with feather

Who or what are you?
I am the spirit of inspiration. I am the muse. 

How do you feel?
Wild. Light. Free. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am not captured by photos, art or words, though I often touch them. I drift like dandelion seeds on the wind. I move by my own desires and moods. 

Do you have a message for me?
I am loved by many, but faithful to few. If you want me to visit, you must be idle and playful as well as show up to your work regularly. 

Is there anything else you want me to know?

I love to be a surprise so don’t wait for me…just get to it knowing I’ll visit someday.

2.22.2021 - Mountain Range with one Tree

Who or what are you?
I am ageless wisdom. I am love. 

How do you feel?
Rooted and grounded. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because love is what remains when all other things are gone. 

Do you have a message for me?
Your dream of retreats is rooted in love. Love of people. Love of nature. Love of art. These are what gives you the wisdom to create. When you get stuck without ideas, think less and let your heart feel how much you love the people. That will ground you and let you fly above the mountain tops. Love. Love is your main resource. 

Is there anything else you want me to know?
Love never fails.

2.23.21 - The word “Workshop”

Who or what are you?
The magic space to find insight into your questions and beliefs. The magic space where all questions are welcomed. 

How do you feel?
Vast and Wide. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because hospitality expands. 

Do you have a message for me?
Beliefs are to be held lightly. Life has a way of reshaping and repainting them. Let the color filled questions rise up like balloons filled with helium. Float above. Change your view. That’s where creativity dwells. Follow the sounds and sights of new territory. Risk the unknown path. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Trust your gut. Learn to leap. You are unquenchable. You are flowing with fun new ways to express your curiosity. Open the flood gates and ride the wave of creativity and express your raw authentic self. Hold my hand and get ready. Bring your spirit of imperfection and messy beginnings. Remember to trust me. I will be faithful to make it interesting. We will blow your dreams wide open.

2.28.21 - Basket of sewing things with the word “make”

Who or what are you?
I am the basket of options. There are many ways to make things. You can feel pushed to make something a certain way by your Inner Critic. But I am here to offer you a lot of new and different and heartfelt ways to create. I am options. 

How do you feel?
I feel positive. I feel empowered. I feel free. 

Why do you feel that way?
It’s what I am. 

Do you have a message for me?
I have brought you the resources to have options as big as a path to the moon. Have fun. Play. Seriously…PLAY! Listen to your heart. Everything you need is in the basket. It’s all yours.

2.28.21 - Logs with weeds stuck in them on a table.

Who or what are you?
I am nature re-imagined. I am beauty from outside, brought inside. 

How do you feel?
Generous. Seen. Appreciated. 

Why do you feel that way?
I get to be creative and rethink, reflect and break out of old perspectives. 

Do you have a message for me?
Be wild. Be untamed when you see me. Be like a child. Let’s have fun and make beauty. Let’s get messy. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
Keep paying attention.

3.1.21 - Art Supplies

Who or what are you?
I am color. I am the sensations on your eye that reflects light. I am intimately unique to every human. I love this about me. It’s all about the eye and the light. I play in the light. 

How do you feel?
Changeable. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am invisible like magic and wind...I move...I play. 

Do you have a message for me?
Play in the light. Play in the fog, the shadows, the dark. Let your eyes love the colors. Love the sensations of change. Don’t be afraid of change. Your roots are like the Ents, you are like a tree that moves and takes their roots with you. Change is full of colors and newness. They help you be creative. It’s the change that helps you see. Embrace the new colors. Embrace the magic. Play with the light as I do. Let the colors fill you up. 

Do you have anything else to say?
Not now.

3.1.21 - The words “Nurturing Creativity”

Who or what are you?
The way. The path. The map with no names. I am the vision you follow by the will of your heart. 

How do you feel?
Strong. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because I’m a survivor. 

Do you have a message for me?
You are a survivor, too. We’ve held hands for years. Now we can get married. Just say yes. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
No, but I have lots to show you.

3.2.21 - Clothespins wrapped in colored yarn

Who or what are you?
I am the will to hold fast to the colors, the light, the daily everyday simple joys. 

How do you feel?
Useful. Important. 

Why do you feel that way?
Nothing gets done without me. 

Do you have a message for me?
Wishing and dreaming are the ways to begin. I am the way to take action and to hold on when things get hard. I am in you holding you. You can’t lose me. I’ve wrapped my colors around your heart. Relax and breathe. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Together your dreams will come true. Trust me. Let’s get to work.

Donna Sparrow, Candidate for CJEA Certification
donna.sparrow777@gmail.com

------

Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.

www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com

Part 1 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling

Our guest blogger, Donna Sparrow is a candidate for certification in our Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification Program for professionals. My Visioning® method, based on my book of the same name, has been a source of creative and life expression for Donna. As outlined in the book, she has created collages and then done the journal assignments that include writing with her non-dominant hand for gaining insights into the images. Due to the length of Donna's sharing, I've formatted it into two separate posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Part 1 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling
By Donna Sparrow

I’ve made many collages over the years that never become more than wishful thinking. Using Lucia’s method in her Visioning book has taken me deeper than I’ve ever gone before by engaging my right brain through my non-dominant hand. I was constantly surprised and sometimes shocked by what my images had to say about themselves…being portals and options and love. Many seemed to express themes of play and not being afraid of change. I know those are things I especially need to be encouraged in. I grew up in an abusive home where I didn’t play. I hid and survived. I lived in fear and the tiniest failure had harsh consequences.

Having my non-dominant hand tell me that my dream is rooted in love and that love never fails…seriously? My non-dominant hand told me to listen to my heart and to play…to dance in my kitchen and buy myself flowers. Who says these kinds of things! My Inner Child does. Telling me that I have the will to make these things take action, but that it’s holding me. So my Protective Parent steps up. The other tools of CJEA reveal themselves as I learn the skills of expressive arts. The Inner Family Model breaks through even when I’m not focusing on it.

I had to laugh when I asked the image “do you have anything else you want to tell me” and the answer was “no, but I have a lot to show you.” How is that going to work? I guess I will find out.

This is a wild, new ride for me. I have a sense that this vision collage will actually cause things to come into my life. I am committed to engage with it every day. Half of my collage is the display on my phone. That’s a lot of looking at it without much effort. I will change to the other half every month to see whole vision. I’ve committed to go deeper by investing in ongoing journaling.

My next steps are following what Lucia calls The Story Inside The Collage. On pages 136 and 137 in the Visioning book you answer questions by projecting yourself living out your vision. I love the questions about how has your life changed and how have you changed. These questions are designed to move me into embodying my future in the now. My ex-husband used to do fancy skydiving moves with a team of people. He was amazing at it. When I asked why it seemed so easy for him he told me it was because he would visualize it over and over in his imagination. There is magic in Visioning®.

Here is an image of the whole collage I did recently. In Part 2, there are cropped images from this collage to show, and dialogues to share. It’s more fun to do your own, but what I share will give you a sense of what it can be like.



Donna Sparrow, Candidate for CJEA Certification
donna.sparrow777@gmail.com

-----

Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.
 
www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com

 

Clay Play and Dialoguing with Both Hands

Our guest blogger is Leah Pinck, a Life Coach and candidate for certification in Creative Journal Expressive Arts (class of 2022). This is an excellent example of a CJEA intermodal process in which art exploration in any medium is followed with two-handed dialogues for gaining deeper insight through words. 

Clay Play and Dialoguing with Both Hands
by Leah Pinck

For this work, I used a combination of clay work and journaling based on The Art of Emotional Healing and dialoguing from The Power of Your Other Hand. I experienced the clay play, and then journaled about it. After that, I felt like the piece had more to say so I dialogued with it using my dominant hand to ask my questions, and my non-dominant hand to answer for it. It was really interesting to see what came up. 

The basis of working with clay to access what we are feeling comes from Lucia Capacchione’s book The Art of Emotional Healing (pg. 114). This work consists of using clay, preferably the air-dry kind that does not need a kiln for it to dry properly. (It is easily found in art supply stores like Michaels.)

Usually it is best to go into the session without any preconceived notions of what the clay will express. However, for me, when I started the work, I had an intuition that I had some pent up anger that was just under the surface and would want to come out. 

I started by focusing on my breathing. There is a prompt to think about the ocean’s tide coming up thru your feet. Energy of the world coming in and out, up thru my feet, as I breathe in and out. When the tide comes in as a breath, and then goes out, it takes all the stress out of my body. I could imagine that and felt the tension release and my muscles were able to relax. 

As I continued to breathe, I held the piece of clay (that I had cut from a brick of air-dry white clay) in my hands. As I held the clay, I focused on observing it, feeling the weight, the temperature, and the dampness of it. I did not feel connected to it, so I moved on to the next step. 

I put the clay down on the table, and put my hands in a bowl of warm water that I had next to me. The water felt nice after holding the cool clay. I tried to become more receptive to what was in front of me and explored the piece with my eyes closed. I was only supposed to feel what was there, without changing anything, but I found it very challenging not to adjust or “fix” it. Kind of like me in life — having a hard time with letting things “Be.” I prefer to fix things, even if they’re not mine to fix, so this was a really good exercise for me. 

I kept my eyes closed and continued, but this time I was actively exploring it. I got to smoosh it, and knead it, rip it apart and put it together again, and in general just played with it. Kind of like with a stress ball, but messier. And more fun! 

I had put on some music in the background, but at this point it was disturbing my focus on connecting with the clay, so I turned it off and took a sigh of relief. 

As I worked the chunk of clay, I noticed that it felt too big. I didn’t know where that message was coming from, but I went with it and took off a piece and put it to the side. I continued working it, and that feeling came up 3 more times, and each time I took off some more (see figure #1). Then it felt like it needed to be bigger, so I added back a small piece. Once it was being worked in, it didn’t feel right, so I took it off and it felt better. This was the first time I had experienced “listening” to an inanimate object. It did feel a bit strange, but it got my curiosity going to see where it would take me.

Figure 1

Now I shifted into the part of the activity called “creating the self.” This is accomplished by saying or thinking to yourself: “This clay is me and I am creating myself. I am always the same yet constantly changing.” This is from page 114 in The Art of Emotional Healing by Lucia Capacchione. 

I focused on feelings that were coming up and worked it out in the clay. The clay started out being hard to work with. It softened up as I worked, until it was so soft and thin it was breaking. The feeling that came up with it was that I am spreading myself too thin. It felt so pliable, but without boundaries. So I had to reinforce it by folding it over on itself. It needed its boundaries strengthened, just like in my emotional life. 

I whacked the clay on the table really hard, so it sprayed me and the table with small splatters of clay. This was my underlying feeling of anger coming out. It felt good, but I felt guilty for throwing the clay. I remembered what Lucia had said during a recent training, that the clay doesn’t get hurt — no matter what we do to it. So I ended up throwing it a few more times; it felt good, but still somehow wrong. I don’t like feeling angry in general, but I allowed the feeling to come out as well. Oh well, I have to acknowledge to myself that the old anger I feel is still here, and I will attempt to see it, sit with it and let it Be, until it works its way through me and then out. 

At that point I started to sense a direction the clay wanted to be taken in. (yes, it still sounds strange to me, but that was the experience). Still with my eyes closed, I sensed there needed to be a ball, which would be surrounded by a flat surface. That felt like my core talking. However, it didn’t feel safe. It felt like it needed protection, so I folded the flat pieces up and around the center. To envelop it in safety until I felt it was finished (anger does not feel safe to me). 

It was uncomfortable to express my anger, but the piece was interesting and felt like it needed more dialogue. So I had a right hand/left hand conversation with it (see figure #2).

Figure 2

My dominant hand (DH): Who or what are you? 

My non-dominant hand (NDH): Your heart 

DH: How do you feel? 

NDH: Vulnerable 

DH: Why or what makes you feel that way? 

NDH: I’m too spread out. Something can get in w/out my permission. I thought it would be safe to let my heart be seen, even just a bit. Now that I look at it, it feels too open and scary. 

DH: Thank you for sharing that with me. What do you need from me? (to feel safer) 

NDH: Keep me hidden away to keep me safe. 

DH: Is it ok with you if I share a picture of you with others to show them how valuable this work is? 

NDH: Yes. But you can’t let a/o (anyone) else hold me. That would be too scary. 

DH: Thank you for that and I will take good care of you! 

 

After that I journaled some more to process what had come up. 

This was an interesting insight for me. I see that I was actually able to be a bit more open, at least with myself. 

The clay piece I made is a very small one. I think that because that is all my heart wanted to open up it only allowed a small bit to be seen. As I compare this to the first one I did a few weeks ago (image on right, figure 3), I can see that even though it is smaller, it is not as solid and inflexible as the first one was. It also has a bigger space that opens into the center, which is my heart (see figures 3, 4 and 5).

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

I take this as a sign of my continuing growth one little step at a time. I discovered that I can open the protection around my heart, so that I can see what’s hiding, protected inside, just a bit more. Doing the clay work was an eye-opener for me. But then when I added in the R/L hand dialoguing and journaling, it brought me much more insight than if I had just worked with the clay. All in all, this is an awesome, tactile, 3-dimensional way to work through feelings.

Now I am off to put that little clay piece of my heart away in a safe place. 

Leah Pinck
leahpinck@gmail.com
Certified Life Coach, Candidate for CJEA Certification 2022

-----

Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.
 
www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com

Art in troubled times

Our guest blogger is my artist friend Tucker, whose non-dominant hand expresses so much feeling and insight through drawing and other media. Expressing through his non-dominant hand, here is Tucker's response to life in the time of COVID-19.

Art in troubled times
by w. tucker 

I try to work every day and when I am not able to get into the studio, I work on these watercolor postcards to do the collage work. As with all of my work, these pieces are titled after the work is complete. 

at a loss (troubled times) 

This piece spoke to me of so many things – how the COVID-19 has affected us all and affected us all in similar and different ways. How our country is and isn’t dealing with the issue of race and equality. It spoke as well about the choice, as simply as we can make it, to stand and face these things – to look, to listen and to really communicate. 

red bird just above chaos 

My work tends to be an exploration of self and what is happening around me. There are times when the work seems fairly autobiographical and this piece I feel comes quite literally out of the chaos of 2020. It was not literal when I put it on paper – as I’ve mentioned before I don’t have an idea in my head or plan out the work before I start working. However, for me it does have a direct connection to the turmoil we’ve faced. And in what feels like a hopeful or even purposeful aspect of the peace, it might connect to what things we do to pull ourselves above or out of the chaos – meditation, breathing, swimming, prayer...

w. tucker
wtucker-art.com
w. tucker @ tumblr

-----

Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.
 
www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com