creativity
Don’t be Afraid of Drawing
I stumbled upon this article on Buzzfeed about a graphic artist and her four-year-old daughter who draw together. It reminded me of the surrealist’s game exquisite corpse, which is a fantastic, playful way of drawing collaboratively. Try this when you are feeling down, stuck, or uncertain how you feel: Gather a couple of pals or family members, and don’t…
Read MoreMandalas for Restoring Balance
Last month’s explorations took us into the complicated realm of Balance. We throw that word out a lot these days: “I need more balance in my life.” “Strive to maintain a balanced life.” Ruminating over the meaning of balance, our class came up with word associations like equilibrium, stable, controlled, static, rigidity, precise — none of which made us feel very…
Read MorePartnering with Center for Colon Cancer Research of USC
Healing Icons® is partnering with Dr. Frank Berger and The Center for Colon Cancer Research of USC to provide a series of arts and healing workshops for colon cancer survivors this fall. There will be no cost for participants to take part in these workshops due to the generous underwriting of CCCR! A Holistic Approach to Healing Receiving a cancer…
Read MoreMandalas for Harvesting Gratitude
How can we remain grateful in turbulent times? How do we keep our hearts open when we are swallowed by fear and anger and chaos and doubt? During our July workshop, Mandalas for Harvesting Gratitude, we used our creative processes to dig into these difficult questions. Mark Nepo, one of my favorite thinkers and poets, provides one eloquent answer: How can we stay awake…
Read MoreReleasing Anxieties to Gather Inner Strength
As we continue this summer to explore the art of the mandala – creating within a circle – our practices begin to intertwine. Our first workshop addressed how to release anxiety through the process of intuitive mandala drawing, which we featured in our “Mandalas for Centering Strength” post. During the workshop, we discussed the importance of recognizing…
Read MoreThe Art of Survival: Insights into the Arts and Healing | 2013 Classes
We Need More than Medicine to Heal Journey Through Cancer with Healing Icons I recommend Healing Icons to other cancer survivors as it has helped me reflect on my cancer journey… Having examined my feelings and fears, my hopes and dreams, I now stand strong in who I have become. – IS, 2012 In each…
Read MoreMandalas for Centering Strength
Our latest class gathered at Lexington Medical Center to explore the idea of art making as a form of healing. A few had been outside of cancer treatment for many years but still possessed a nagging fear of a recurrence. Others had just finished treatment. One was heading to Duke University on Friday for exploratory…
Read MoreOur Inner Lives
Opening my Gmail this morning, I landed on a message from my daughter containing a link to the article How Not to Be Alone by Jonathan Safran Foer, saying it reminded her of me. I was deeply touched by this gesture, and it reminded me of all the cancer survivors I have worked with and of our…
Read MoreYour Springtime Creative Muse
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard This weekend, I wandered throughout my neighborhood, slowing way, way down to see my familiar environment through a different lens, traveling in my own backyard. As spring begins to…
Read MoreSpring Oncology Art and Healing Workshop
Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. This spring, stretch into your mind-body-soul connection and join us for our spring oncology art and healing workshop. Finding the Quiet in the Roar: Creating Sanctuary Thursdays, March 14, 21 & 28 and April 4, 11, 18 & 25 11:30am – 1:30pm Our physical world…
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