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

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Lucia

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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

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Lucia

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

 

Mary Lou’s COVID-19 Story – Part 2

Our last blog featured Mary Lou Gonzalez, a certified practitioner of my Creative Journal Expressive Arts Methods (CJEA), and a Pain Management Specialist at Buentello Wellness in McAllen, Texas, on the border of Mexico. I told the story of how Mary Lou has been using my CJEA methods on herself for healing from COVID-19. 

Since Mary Lou was diagnosed with the virus and hospitalized on June 26th, the area where she lives – the Rio Grande Valley, south Texas, on the border near the Gulf of Mexico – has seen cases of COVID-19 spike. Hospitals are filled to over-flowing and patients have had to be flown out of the area or sent home to die. I had been watching news about “the Valley” closely because I have a deep connection to this region of the country. For 25 years I had led public workshops in the area hosted by Dr. Marsha Nelson, co-founder and training supervisor of CJEA. For ten years, we offered my training program intensives in Mission, Texas, where Mary Lou lives. Like Mary Lou, many professionals from the Rio Grande Valley have become certified CJEA practitioners. Dr. Nelson and her CJEA team brought Creative Journal methods to post 9-11 traumatized families, cancer patients, veterans, active military, medical professionals, law enforcement personnel, under-served children in summer camp, and students K - 12 in schools, including the Mission School District. We’ve done research into the benefits of the Creative Journal in the Edinburg Schools (K-6) in partnership with the University of Texas. 

The Rio Grande Valley, about 98% Latinx, is known for being a deeply family-based culture, often with three or more generations living together or in close proximity. There is also a high level of poverty in the region, which usually comes with less access to medical care, health challenges, more crowded living conditions, and unemployment. COVID-19 was already hitting similar communities across the nation. The pandemic has raged through Mary Lou’s area, attacking all generations, including children of all ages. 

Last week, Mary Lou called me with an update. She was still recovering at home and had seen a new physician (after her former doctor reported his services were no longer covered by her insurance). The new doctor, who was covered under her policy, had administered more tests. Much to everyone’s surprise, her tests showed no COVID-19, and no anti-bodies for the virus. It was as if she’d never had it. What is more, the doctor took her off of glucose balancing medication she had been on before the COVID-19 diagnosis, saying she never had diabetes so didn’t need these drugs. He lowered the dosage of her thyroid, which she’d been on for years. Mary Lou is 61, and the doctor reported that her lab tests indicated a level of health much younger than a person her age. Considering that she was hospitalized as recently as late June for both bacterial Bronchitis and COVID-19, and grieving the death of her 92 year old mother (who died while Mary Lou was in the hospital), the physician’s assessment of her general health is even more impressive and, quite frankly, miraculous.

Her new doctor wanted to know what she was doing. She told him about advice she’d been given at the hospital. She’d followed nutritional guidelines, was taking vitamins, and sleeping on her side or stomach for better breathing. She also told him about the other things she was doing: Creative Journaling, movement, meditation, affirmations, and prayer. The doctor told her: “Keep doing whatever you are doing. It is working!” 

Mary Lou told me that she continues writing journal dialogues with her Inner Child, who speaks through her non-dominant hand. She lives alone and feels free to have spoken conversations out loud with her Inner Child, as well. Some of the messages from her Inner Child have been: Move from fear to love. Be more patient. Put yourself first. Say No to others. 

Mary Lou reiterated that saying “No” to demands from family members has continued to be a big thing for her. She uses my Inner Family method for bringing in her Protective Parent (who sets boundaries on behalf of the Inner Child’s needs). This was especially important when Mary Lou was in the hospital and could not be part of burial arrangements for her mother. She had to say No in a situation where she would normally have jumped in and taken on lots of responsibilities. Instead, other family members had to step up and take over for her. She also had to assert herself when informed she could not rent an oxygen device upon release from the hospital. She needed oxygen when she went home on July 2. The only option was to purchase one. So she insisted on doing so, even though it was expensive. Her Protective Parent took a strong stand and got her what she needed. 

Of course, Mary Lou is sheltering at home. She limits her phone conversation time if she finds it is draining her. She continues to limit exposure to bad news on media in order to preserve a positive outlook. The Protective Parent within also helps Mary Lou set limits on her Critical Parent, who will try to criticize her and blame her for any number of things. Knowing how to put up a protective shield, she tells it to: Be Quiet! 

From Deepak Chopra recorded meditations on her phone, Mary Lou learns positive affirmations that keep her mind healthy. In this way, the Nurturing Parent Within is feeding her Inner Child with good food for thought. We agreed that nourishment and self-care is not limited to the body. It must include the spirit, mind and emotions as well. Keeping a positive mental attitude is critical when dealing with illness. Without healthy mind food, it is easy to slip into depression, stop eating, stop moving, and give up. Along those lines, she told me she had been told to keep eating and keep moving by medical professionals. And she knew from her CJEA training that she needed to attend to her emotional and mental life as well. Through all of this, and in the face of thousands struggling with COVID-19 in her area, Mary Lou told me she never thought she was going to die. Yes, when she returned home from the hospital, she did have anxiety, she cried, she had nightmares (common occurrence with COVID-19), but deep in her heart she knew she would make it.

Some of Mary Lou’s favorite resources have been drawing and moving to Bobby McFerrin’s Medicine Music, and music created by Gabrielle Roth for doing 5rhythms spontaneous movement (Initiation, Endless Wave). She also reads and contemplates a beautifully uplifting book of words and images I recommend to our CJEA community, Living Life in Full Bloom (by Elizabeth Murray). 

Mary Lou uses my “Picture of Health” process (mapping and dialoging with body parts using both hands) and creates health mandala’s (both of which are featured in my book, Hello, This is Your Body Talking). She does Healthy Lifestyle collages (from my book Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams). 

Mary Lou also recites the Rosary, prays for herself, others and the world, and expresses gratitude to God, the angels, and Our Lady of Fatima. 

I reminded Mary Lou that the CJEA methods she is using grew out of my struggle in 1973 with a lupus-like illness that has no cure. We talked about the great gift that this bout with illness has given Mary Lou. A courageous and dedicated woman, Mary Lou has found deeper powers of healing from having to “walk the talk” while recovering from COVID-19. The end result is that she is finding more vibrant health through her daily practices of good nutrition, self-care, movement, art, journaling, meditation, and prayer.

Love to all. Be well and stay safe,
Lucia

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

From Chaos to Calm: Drawing and Collaging Our Way Through COVID-19

The anxiety we have all felt in the face of coping with COVID-19 is universal. To one degree or another we have all felt it. Anxiety comes in many colors and themes. It may appear as fear of the unknown, of living in highly unpredictable times and with circumstances out of our control. Then there is the fear of coming down with the virus. For many millions, panic about financial survival weighs heavily. Many are scared about day to day challenges, such as schooling children at home, finding much needed supplies that have become scarce, or care-giving sick family members (whether they have COVID-19 or not).

We all need ways to release this build up of anxiety from the body and mind. If we don’t, our immune systems can be weakened (the last thing we need right now). As Dr. James Pennebaker’s research shows, writing about trauma or crisis strengthens our immune functions. My research with children showed that drawing and writing about anxiety has health benefits. (Edinburg School District, Edinburg, TX, Jefferson Elementary School, 2013-14.) I’ve also observed that creating collages depicting chaos, followed by collages of calm, can bring about a deep state of inner peace.

Scribbling it out

Scribbling with both hands, as well as writing with the non-dominant hand, are great ways to shed anxiety bottled up in the body. Using both hands for these stress scribbles helps balance my brain and appears to regulate the nervous system.

Letting my non-dominant hand add words can help as well. The looser the writing, the better. Sometimes a simple image will tell the whole story, as in this “Long windy road” scribble when I realized that sheltering in place could last awhile.

When scribbling out my stress I always find that I draw my way to another mood, one of acceptance and calm. The colors often change, as in this stress series when red and black suddenly turned to yellow and blue. I was also healing from a collar bone fracture and bruised arm and found that all the scribbling I had done made my shoulder and arm feel much better. On the last drawing, I wrote, Mending the Fracture.

Collage: Feelings piece by piece

Another great medium for dealing with anxiety and chaotic feelings is collage. The very act of tearing images out of magazines is cathartic. Sometimes the subject matter in the photos expresses accurately how we feel. That was certainly the case with these photos of trash from an article in National Geographic. Just recognizing how the photo depicted my jumbled up feelings was healing in itself. But I went even further and scribbled my mixed feelings out onto the next page, forming the background for more photo fragments of trash.

The words, Finding Our Way to the Future, amidst all the chaos of COVID-19 jumped out at me from the magazine pages. There was something positive we could do. Shelter in place, wear masks in public, protect ourselves and others from this mysterious virus, which was turning up new symptoms every day and striking new unsuspecting populations, like the young.

On the facing page, I placed a photo of the cosmos torn asunder. I got the feeling that this too would pass. The split seemed to represent a big divide between “life before COIVD -19” and “life after COVID-19”. I had no idea what that meant logically, but my intuition said there would be a big sea change in our lives. And yes, it would be a “trip on the wild side” as the words stated.

As usual, this morphed into another mood and a new message on the next page. Holding pictures of underwater images and a deep sea diver with the caption, Get a clearer picture of the… inspired me to write the words…Inner World. That’s what all this chaos and stress were leading me to. I added to the left, Healing through travels in Inner World. After that I wrote Visions of the heart.

It was clear that sheltering in place while also recovering from a fractured collar-bone were forcing me inward. Time to introspect, feel my feelings, and listen to my heart.

At that moment I noticed a Get Well card from a friend sitting to the side of my work area. The sentiments were perfect for this moment. So I glued the card into my journal. The words, Time and rest, gentle healing, and a deep-down cared-for feeling!…echoed exactly what I needed at that time in my life.

Later on in my journal I expressed the “vision of my heart” by creating collages of places and scenes I associated with peace and well-being: safe and beautiful places I’d been to in Hawaii and other spots on the planet.

This led to a collage I call, Calm, that speaks for itself. A cozy, safe sanctuary in which to rest, relax and recover.

 
For more activities in scribbling and collage, please see my books: Drawing Your Stress Away and The Art of Emotional Healing.

These journal pages also appear at my YouTube channel, Lucia Capacchione, in the series: The Creative Journal Goes Viral - Part 4.

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

The Art of Transforming Fearful Mental Images

Our guest blogger is Claire Perkins, an artist, author, and expressive arts coach. During an experience of deep grief, Claire discovered the healing and awakening power of expressive art and journaling, which she now brings to her clients. Trained in the Creative Journal Expressive Arts (CJEA) method, Transformational Life Coaching, Active Dreaming and SoulCollage®, she gently guides people to deeper self-awareness, inner healing and awakening with a juicy mix of simple expressive art, dream work and journaling.

Here is what Claire shared with me:

“This pandemic is definitely a challenging time that triggers all kinds of fears. A perfect time for this work in the world. Over the past few days, I have been collaging imagery around my own fears. Today I wrote a blog post that includes two of the SoulCollage® cards that I created - the first expressing virus fears and the second, an "antidote" vision of healthy lungs. I journaled with these cards using both "I am the one who" (a SoulCollage® format for working with cards) and CJEA journaling dialogue with the non-dominant hand. It was a wonderfully transforming activity.

The Art of Transforming Fearful Mental Images
by Claire M. Perkins

When vague inner fears dance around in my heart and mind, I’ve found that giving them visual form through collage is an excellent first step in getting a handle on them. There is something healing in the act of gathering together those disturbing but hazy feelings and turning them into a visual you can hold at arm’s length and address in a more solid and concrete way. It’s cathartic.

This corona virus pandemic has definitely stirred up some fears, so I decided to explore my uneasiness through SoulCollage® and Creative Journaling, including the use of my non-dominant hand (NDH) to allow the images to speak.

The first card I created is a representation of this virus pandemic that I call “Aye! Corona!” In this card, the whole world is wearing a mask (of illness? of fear? of protection?). Those spiky little virus buggers have evil monster faces and sharp teeth – and they are everywhere! The poor beleaguered health worker, like something from a horror movie, looks out through the eyes of the virus.

Allowing the card to speak, here is what emerges from the voices of the virus, the world, and the health worker imagery.

Virus Images

I am one who is coming at you with teeth bared and spikes out. I am one who is everywhere. You can’t hide from me any longer. I am one who has come to make you wake up and pay attention. I will multiply until you start to listen. I am a symptom of a world out of balance. I am a desperate call for change.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I need you to wake up. I need you to recognize that I am a messenger – that this is bigger than the here and now crisis – that your entire culture needs to make deep, systemic changes if humanity is to survive. Think about the gift of your breath. Your breath is life. It feeds your entire system. It is a balance of gathering in and letting go. But your culture gathers, gathers, gathers and never lets go. The wealthiest of you always wanting more, more, more while so many have not enough. If all you ever did was inhale, you would explode. And your culture is doing just that. It is no accident that I attack the lungs. I am a metaphor, a symbol of breath out of balance, of a world drowning in an excess of greed and complacency, like a balloon about to burst from too much air. It’s time to let go of this need for more, more, more.

World Image 

Help me! I am desperate. I am dying. I can’t breathe. I am one who has been your home, your mother. I am one who has been abused – nearly to the point of no return. You and I are one organism. We will live or die together. It is time to come together. There is still time to heal.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I need you all to allow time for a reset. I need you all to reexamine your priorities. I need you all to recognize that this is one world, that all of you are interconnected and bound with me. I need you all to make me – your home – a priority. I need you to recognize how out of balance this world has become and to work at bringing balance back. Start with balance in your own life, in your own way of being.

Health Worker Image 

I am one who is here to help, but I am overwhelmed and outnumbered. I am one who must protect myself so that I can help to heal others and the world. I need supplies: gloves, masks, medical equipment, tests and medicines, rooms and beds. I am one who stands on the front lines. If I fall, we all fall.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Keep their feet to the fire – those in charge. Make them see that in this moment of crisis we need to focus on procuring the necessary equipment and facilities for the storm that’s about to hit. Please, please, please heed the advice to stay home as much as you can, to wash your hands often, to disinfect surfaces. These actions can lower the amount of cases that land in my care.

~~~

Having created a card that expresses my fears and having listened to what it wanted to say to me, I begin to think and feel my way into creating an opposite or antidote card.

 One thing that really stands out to me from what the virus said is the idea of breath – that this is a disease that attacks the lungs. I take a deep breath and feel that my antidote phrase is “healthy lungs.” Yes, there is much more to this crisis – deeper, systemic social construct issues, climate change, greed, etc. But my right-now-fears are centered in the current health crisis. So, “healthy lungs” feels right.

A couple things that really stand out to me visually in the “Aye! Corona!” card are the round, spiky forms of the virus and the predominant pink color. When I look through the fear at just the visual impression, I can’t help but think of a softer form in a similar shape and color. A flower, like a peony or hydrangea. Now I have the clues I need to begin to create my antidote card.

I find several appropriate images and create my new card. The combination of the pink peony and the pink daisy mirror the round shape and pokey spines of the virus, but in a soft, transmuted way. The pink color is echoed in the bronchial pathways of the lungs and it feels healing.

When I look at this new “Healthy Lungs” antidote card, I feel an immediate shift in my energy from fear to peace. Just looking at it automatically triggers several deep breaths and the feeling of peace grows.

Healthy Lungs Image

We are ones who bring you the breath of life and pour that life through your whole system. We are healthy. We are strong. We are ones who, while vulnerable to viruses and pathogens, have worked and will continue to work remarkably well for the vast majority of your life.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Please keep breathing deeply. It helps to keep us strong and clear and gives us what we need to feed and restore the entire body system. In addition, it lowers your stress and relieves the system of stress hormones, which are detrimental to your health and immune processes. When you feel fear and stress arise, remember to breathe.

Pink Peony Image

I am one who transforms the fear in your head. I am one who softens your thinking. I am one who brings the pink light of healing energy into your entire system. I am one who rests gently around your third eye and crown chakras, opening the way for spiritual wisdom and guidance to help lead you in right action.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) I, too, am fed by deep breathing. I blossom as fear moves aside, and fear moves aside when you inhale peace and exhale worry. Breathe deeply, and when you feel my calm presence – listen. Listen for Divine Guidance. Know that you are safe, protected and guided at all times.

Pink Daisy Image

I am one who projects your energy out into the world. I am your spiritual antennae. Like a halo, I project your inner light – or your inner fear to those around you. Like an antenna, I can also soak up the light or the fears from those around you.

What do you need from me? 

(NDH) Be aware of how you are affected by the fears of those around you and the fears peddled on the nightly news. Do not allow yourself to soak up too much of the fear around you. Be aware, too, of what you are projecting out into the world. Try not to feed the fears, but rather to be a light.

~~~

I found this process to be cathartic, calming and healing. If you are looking for a way to transmute your fears about the current pandemic, I encourage you to give this activity a try. Your fears and my fears may take different form. Let your own emotions and intuition guide you as you gather images and make your cards.

While I created my cards digitally with free use source images from Pixabay, you don’t have to do it that way. You can also use magazine images, scissors and glue to make your cards. Or source your images from the internet, print them out, and then use scissors and glue. You can even simply draw a visual representation of your fear and then draw an antidote. The main point is to use imagery to express and then transmute your fear.

I plan to keep my antidote card out where I can see it throughout the duration of this pandemic as an anchor and a reminder to breathe, to tune in to spiritual wisdom and guidance, and to watch out for both incoming and outgoing transmissions of fear.

Claire Perkins
Artist, author, and expressive arts coach
Certified in Creative Journal Expressive Arts
Claire@claireperkins.com
https://claireperkins.com

-----

Lucia

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Visioning® through Collage and Non-Dominant Hand Writing

In my book Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, I present my method of life and career creation, which I originated and share in my private coaching practice. The Visioning® process includes the making of collage Vision Boards followed by Creative Journal writing to remove blocks and deepen one’s understanding of the images. Almost all of the writing prompts involve using the non-dominant hand or both hands alternately.

I have observed that we all have natural intuitive abilities to sense what is coming next in our lives. We have hunches or premonitions. We may even have a nocturnal dream that plays itself out in our daily life. This intuitive ability is often buried inside our heart’s desire, which is the core of Visioning®. That is what we are illustrating with our Vision Board. Intuition and the ability to sense the future can be developed with a combination of collage work and non-dominant handwriting. By writing dialogues with the images and words in the Vision Board, we often find much deeper meaning in the visuals than we ever imagined when we tore them out of the magazine. In reviewing our Vision Boards a few weeks or months down the line, we frequently find images and words that are specifically prophetic about what was to come.

A great example is my Vision Board for 2019 and how it manifested.

When I started putting this six-panel Vision Board together in January of last year, I was thinking about a spring and summer book tour for The Power of Your Other Hand. I knew I would be going all over California as well as Texas and New Mexico. Two panels show southwestern scenes as well as seaside areas near where I live on the central coast. That all made perfect sense. It was already part of the “plan.”

I also had some thoughts about a possible vacation later in the year in a favorite spot on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. People having fun on beaches and in swimming pools conveyed that idea, as well as couples dining out. Again, it all made perfect sense.

However, as the process of selecting photos and words for the Vision Board evolved, I found myself including other images that, quite frankly, surprised me. But they “felt right” and I knew I had to include them. One was the image of Helen Mirren, one of my favorite actresses, along with the words.

 Love who you see in the mirror
Look closer and you’ll see
Renewal happens
Get brighter eyes in a blink
See for yourself
Just as you imagined

In an adjacent section of the collage there is a woman and little girl painting and a palette with many colors. At the time, the palette seemed very important to me, but I wasn’t sure why. I hoped I would be able to do more painting just for fun in the new year, although I didn’t know when I’d find time for that. There were also images of gardens and gardeners in a nearby section. I took that to mean that my garden, especially my pride and joy - iris garden - would flourish this year.

I did go on the book tour, as shown in the Vision Board, which was very successful and most enjoyable. And we did go on a short getaway on the central coast and a longer one in Cabo San Lucas, also shown on the Vision Board. No surprise there. But wait, there’s more!

New eyes

In the spring after I made this Vision Board, at a regular check-up with my optometrist, I was told I needed to have cataracts removed. When I made the collage I never anticipated needing cataract surgery. I got the surgery, which was highly successful, and no longer need distance glasses, only glasses for reading and computer work. After revisiting my collage, the words in the first panel I did took on a whole new meaning.

Love who you see in the mirror (I can literally see myself better in the mirror now.)

Look closer and you’ll see (I no longer need distance glasses, and only have glasses for reading and computer work.)

Renewal happens (I can see color in a way I hadn’t for years: without the yellowish caste that cataracts cause.)

Get brighter eyes in a blink (The surgery was painless and fast, each eye done a week apart.)

See for yourself (I am amazed at my “new eyes”.)

Probably the most amazing aspect of cataract surgery for me was the new intensity of color. Without realizing it over the years, white had become yellowish, blue had become dull and greenish, purples looked maroon, and reds looked brownish. I felt like a I had a new wardrobe. Certain articles of clothing were very different in hue than I thought when I bought them. Get brighter eyes in a blink became a reality, in the sense that I got brighter colors in a blink.

And that brings us to the image of the color palette in the collage. Here’s what I wrote about color in my journal while reviewing my Vision Board on April 8, after the surgery:

New eyes, new colors,
New blues, new reds, new purples, new whites, new pinks.

One day while driving around town on errands and marveling at how blue the sky was, I found myself singing the old song, “On a clear day you can see forever.” I hadn’t really seen the true color of the sky and white clouds for quite a few years, it seems. With my non-dominant hand I did a lot of journaling with and about my “new eyes” and what I was seeing. Without realizing it, all those words about seeing had been a preview of coming attractions,

The artist within

Based on the prophetic images in my collage, there was another surprise in store. In the spring I heard about some masters of Chinese Brush Painting who were coming to our area. I immediately registered for classes and workshops with them. This was the manifestation of the image of the woman and girl painting together.

Why is the girl there? I had wondered, when I selected the image. Why not just the woman? As it turned out, taking these art classes took me back to when I began studying art in the 8th grade at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles on Saturdays. My collage really reflected this experience of being a novice in this particular genre of art. As a teenager I had discovered Japanese and Chinese brushes, and I have painted with them all my life (see my earlier post on Zenga Art). However, I had never taken formal instructions in how to use these particular types of brushes. Nor did I know much about Chinese art. These traditional techniques of Chinese painting were new to me. So I did feel like that 8th grader starting all over again.

A new garden design

In relation to the garden section of my collage, we had another surprise in the spring. This one wasn’t pleasant at all. When the irises started blooming, they were eaten by wild bunnies invading our property from the nearby pine forest. They were chewing on the stems and destroying some of the plants. In all my years of growing irises, this had never happened before. I was beside myself about the damage these bunnies were doing. We sprayed the plants, powdered them with cayenne pepper, and tried every deterrent on the market. All to no avail.

 So we redesigned and rearranged the placement of some of the plants, and built a fence to protect them. As pictured in the collage, we did do lots of gardening in 2019, but not the kind we had anticipated. I’m happy to say that most of the plants survived and we are looking forward to a “renewal” in the spring.

If you are interested in learning this process, contact me about one-on-one Visioning® Coaching via Skype.

Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams by Lucia Capaccchione (Tarcher/Putnam, 2000)

VisioningCoach.blogspot.com

Lucia

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Mapping Your Ideal Career: Guidance From Your Other Hand

As an art and expressive arts therapist, I did career work for years with private clients who needed help with career and life direction. Some of them had done Inner Child work with me and benefited greatly. They had healed many of the wounds of childhood and removed blocks to listening to their true heart’s desire. They had learned how to confront their Inner Bully, the self-critical thoughts in their own mind that had inflicted low energy and sometimes depression. Armed with these tools, they were ready to move on with their lives.

The first step was to listen to their true heart’s desire about the life and career they truly wanted. I included those exercises in Chapter 3 of The Power of Your Other Hand. These journal prompts involve answering back to the Critic and standing up on behalf of one’s heart’s desire in the face of blocks such as perfectionism, pessimism, self-doubt, and pressure from within to perform.

I later taught them the Visioning® process, which is the focus of my book: Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams (Tarcher/Putnam 2000). This involves creating a collage of one’s true heart’s desire, often called a vision board. This is followed by journaling with inner blocks and dialoguing with images in the collage using the non-dominant hand to allow the pictures to speak.

In using the Visioning® process in job and career development we start with a focus phrase that represents the true heart’s desire. It might be something like “getting paid to do what I love to do,” “being creative and enjoying my work,” or “loving what I do, doing what I love.” This focus phrase becomes the title of the collage or vision board and provides the hook on which picture selections are made. In finding images and words in magazines, or in one’s own photo collection, the question we ask is “does it illustrate my focus phrase?” If not, it gets tossed or saved for another collage.

What makes the Visioning® process different from techniques like “treasure mapping” or simply making a vision board is the journaling. We dialogue with the images using the non-dominant hand to speak for people, places and objects that appear in the collage. In right-hand left-hand interviews the dominant hand asks questions and the non-dominant hand answers for whichever image is being focused on. The levels of meaning that emerge from these images are nothing short of amazing. My clients and students report that they had no idea what the true meaning of these images were in their lives until they began giving them a voice through journaling. Many have commented that is was a lot like doing dream work because they were exploring areas of their creative unconsciousness that they were not in touch with before. For example, dialoguing with the image of a personal hero often brings deep inner guidance and encouragement for the individual embarking on a new career direction or project. People’s lives are often transformed in the process of engaging with their collages through journaling with their non-dominant hand.

This process has worked effectively in corporate and organizational settings such as schools, business, and industry. For example, in 1983 I was hired to do career development work for Walt Disney Imagineering, the division responsible for designing and building Disney theme parks and retail stores. I was asked to work with the creative division in the company where hundreds had been laid off after Epcot and Tokyo Disneyland were completed. The company brought in outplacement consultants to assist these recently terminated employees with career development and job finding skills.

In my work with these creative individuals, I suggested the idea of creating vision boards. The technique attracted them and was helpful in their career transition. Many of them started new businesses or went into entirely new fields of endeavor.

After 8 months of doing outplacement work I proposed an "in placement career development program" for the survivors of this traumatic experience. I was hired to offer weekly sessions and one-on-one consulting with managers and staff. My program lasted for 10 years in which we constantly created new programs for changing needs. Our goal was to maximize creativity, and I introduced Visioning® and dialoguing with the non-dominant hand in many workshops for managers and staff. The division not only survived layoffs, but also built back up to several thousand employees in 10 years. Imagineering came back to life, built EuroDisneyland and California Adventure at the Anaheim Disneyland, and created the Disney retail stores during my time there.

The woman who brought me into Disney, the late Peggy Val Pelt, and I worked together the whole time at Imagineering to create programs that were relevant for each stage of new growth after the 1982-83 lay-offs. We trained managers and oriented new hires to the work and culture of Imagineering. We went on to co-author Putting Your Talent to Work: Identifying, Cultivating and Marketing Your Natural Talents (HCI, 1998) in which I first introduced the Visioning® technique. I went on to author Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, and more recently 2 workbooks: The Talent Workbook and Talent2Work for youth (field tested in our local middle and high school).

Please visit VisioningCoach.org for more information on the Visioning® process, and a list of trained, certified coaches using my methods.Visioning® Coach Training is a graduate course open only to Certified Creative Journal Expressive Arts Instructors.

Lucia

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Finding Your Heart's Desire

Finding your true Heart’s Desire in life is not always as simple as it seems. We often make decisions from our left, logical brain, putting practicality before passion. We can actually have both if we learn to listen to our hearts. We can do this through accessing our right brain by writing with our non-dominant hand.

I teach my clients and students what I call The Heart’s Desire Practice. This is a practice done every day for all the seemingly insignificant choices we make, like what to wear, what to eat, what route to take to any destination, and so on throughout the day. Before making these ordinary choices, I suggest they ask themselves: What is my true heart's desire about this? Not what others are doing, not what is expected of them, not what they think they should do. This means letting go of old automatic default settings and allowing themselves to behave differently. I think of this as Heart's Desire Aerobics.

What does your heart really say about the seemingly insignificant choices or decisions all day long? If you do a daily Heart's Desire Practice, you will be exercising another set of heart "muscles," the ones that have to do with an emotionally healthy heart. This is a heart that "talks" to us when we stop to listen. In this daily Heart’s Desire Practice we prepare ourselves for the big decisions in life: career, residence, relationships, and more. I also extend this practice into journaling.

My heart writes to me with my non-dominant hand (accessing my right brain emotional and intuitive centers). I just let it talk to me about my life. I might even ask it to draw a picture of itself. Using the non-dominant hand (the one you don’t normally write with) for drawing and writing is a great way to get out of the default setting and try new ways of doing things. Yes, it’s slow and awkward, but it definitely shakes things up. More importantly it accesses the right brain creative and intuitive centers where breakthrough thinking happens.

Another way to listen to your Heart’s Desire is through vision boards and "bucket lists." I have written an entire book about integrating vision boards with journaling that features the non-dominant hand. It is entitled Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams. In the Visioning® method, we create magazine photo collages on large vision boards or in a journal. Picturing scenes, objects, and people expressing feelings and engaged in activities we enjoy is a way to allow the heart to speak to us.

These collages usually reveal parts of our personality wanting more expression. For instance, a photo of a "woman in red" spoke to me through my non-dominant hand. She told me that she is here to give me more vitality, courage and fun. She also wanted me to dress in brighter colors. If I've been working too hard, an image of a woman luxuriating in a bubble bath might speak to me through non-dominant hand journal writing, advising me to slow down, relax and restore my energy. Both of these women reflect parts of myself that have been dormant. If these parts have been ignored, discounted or given a back seat to other more responsible, “worker bee” parts, they will speak out sooner or later. They might cause low energy or illness in order to get my attention. Why not listen to them before such symptoms set in? They are all speaking from my heart.

Creating collages of nocturnal dreams can also illuminate our true heart’s desires and reveal parts of us needing more expression. The same journal techniques described above can be applied to dream work. Picturing the images in the dream and allowing them to speak, especially the parts that seem foreign or strange can open us to renewal. Like tiny sprouts emerging out of the earth in early spring, these dream images from the unconscious are often telling us about something new that wants to be born in us.

How do we know that parts of ourselves have been left out? We usually see symptoms: low energy, boredom, feeling we are in a rut, crankiness, irritability, burnout, physical pain, headaches, and even depression. Any of these may be signaling a need to listen to our Heart’s Desire.


Lucia

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