{"id":874,"date":"2015-05-08T19:52:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T19:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/?p=874"},"modified":"2015-05-28T18:28:47","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T18:28:47","slug":"finding-a-new-whole-self-portraiture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/finding-a-new-whole-self-portraiture\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding a New Whole: Self-Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Me<\/a>

Me and My Shadow – Photo taken with my iPhone.<\/p><\/div>\n

Each spring, I like to dig a little bit deeper into who I am,<\/strong>\u00a0face some fears, uncover a long-forgotten aspect of who I truly am and hopefully move one step closer towards my personal\u00a0quest for wholeness<\/strong>. In Jungian psychology, this journey is referred to as the path of individuation, a process where we learn and pay attention to the language of symbols and dreams in order to understand the life we are living.<\/p>\n

Discovering What Really Matters<\/strong><\/p>\n

For most of my adult life, I have been\u00a0recording my nighttime dreams and making art<\/strong>. Both have been a constant source of amazement, curiosity, bewilderment and, if I am patient enough, beguiling insight. Using the surreal images that come to me in the night has always been fuel for my creative process, allowing me to gradually derive the meaning of these bizarre but enticing nighttime tales.<\/p>\n

“Trust that which gives you meaning and accept it as your guide.” –\u00a0Carl Jung<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Mixed<\/a>

Mixed Media artwork I created in 2000 about my 1st snake dream.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Snake haunted my dreams for years and still does from time to time when I am off-center. This ubiquitous symbol first showed up in a series of terrifying nightmares that haunted me for a very long time.<\/p>\n

The Snake holds a plethora of scary associations, but once I made friends with it,\u00a0<\/strong>I realized it was nudging me to shed some skin. It did not show up as a symbol of evil temptation but as a guide urging me to make some shifts in my life<\/strong>, to let go of habits that no longer served me and to simply see what I was doing with new eyes.<\/p>\n

Learning a New Language<\/h3>\n

Although huge strides have been made\u00a0in early detection and treatment for many types of cancer,\u00a0it is still a terrifying\u00a0diagnosis that comes with a fierce undercurrent of stress and anxiety<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

One way to cope with this internal trauma is to connect with others who\u2019ve been there. Not all of us have the wherewithal to venture into a tradition “talk” support group. Healing Icons\u2019 approach is different.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/a>

Finding a new whole through a self-portrait collage – putting the parts and pieces back together again<\/p><\/div>\n

When cancer turns our lives upside-down and inside-out, words are not enough<\/strong>. We long for a different way to communicate with ourselves and with others. Words just fall short. This is where the language of imagery comes into play.<\/p>\n

We need a way to see ourselves anew<\/strong>. Each one of us has our own unique visual vocabulary \u2013 specific images, textures, patterns and colors that we are drawn to. If we slow down and pay attention to the call of the visual, a new world opens up to us.<\/p>\n

“Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.” –\u00a0Carl Jung<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

Art as Healing<\/h3>\n

In our Healing Icons classes,\u00a0we create collages from images we intuitively and spontaneously cut out of magazines and catalogs<\/strong>. When we assemble these seemingly disparate parts and pieces into a whole, they paint a picture for us, a waking dream,\u00a0<\/strong>a different kind of self-portrait<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If we question our creations honestly, they hold layers of revealing, exciting information for us. From the symbols within our collages, we make spirited, spur-of-the-moment word associations and link them together in a free-writing style of poetry.<\/p>\n

Listening with the eyes and ears of the heart, our visual creations become not only our own personal teachers but also teachers for the cancer community at large.<\/p>\n

Self-Portraits\u00a0& Written Reflections<\/h3>\n

Medium: magazine cut-outs, xeroxed photos, acrylic paint on canvas board<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Seeing<\/a>

Seeing Me<\/p><\/div>\n

Seeing Me<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three months & one day
\nColon Cancer Diagnosis
\nLife as I knew it shattered
\nLife as WE knew it changed<\/p>\n

We all know this feeling<\/p>\n

But we are not fragile
\nWe are strong warriors
\nWe do not white wash our circumstances
\nBut face forward
\nInviting the unexpected
\nLearning to grow in peace
\nLearning to find refuge within
\nThe heart of our lives.
\nJR (colon cancer)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"It<\/a>

It is Up to Her<\/p><\/div>\n

It is Up to Her<\/strong><\/p>\n

She wants happiness
\nAnd freedom
\nIn her life.<\/p>\n

She wants to be free
\nTo feel
\nAnd experience life.<\/p>\n

Her happiness depends
\nOn taking a long, hard look
\nDeep down
\nInto her soul.<\/p>\n

She wants to let go
\nOf all those things
\nThat hold her in bondage.<\/p>\n

It is up to her
\nTo make it happen.
\nMW (kidney cancer)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Magazine<\/a>

Kaleidoscope of Possibilities<\/p><\/div>\n


\nKaleidoscope of Possibilities
\n<\/strong>
\nHer heart is feeling
\nExcitement
\nThat a new phase of life
\nIs about to happen.
\nShe realizes
\nHer mind is filled
\nWith pocket-sized compartments
\nWhere memories live,
\nAlways there to guide her into the future.
\nAnd yet,
\nThere are so many empty spaces
\nShe has yet to fill.<\/p>\n

She senses a new direction,
\nThough she does not yet
\nKnow the way.<\/p>\n

Her inner most being
\nAnticipates the
\nKaleidoscope of
\nPossibilities.
\nLD (breast cancer)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is our hope that this creative work will inspire your own journey into art making and self-discovery.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Did you resonant with any of these self-portraits? Considering sharing your thoughts with us.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each spring, I like to dig a little bit deeper into who I am,\u00a0face some fears, uncover a long-forgotten aspect of who I truly am and hopefully move one step closer towards my personal\u00a0quest for wholeness. In Jungian psychology, this journey is referred to as the path of individuation, a process where we learn and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,10,7,8,12,23,11],"tags":[28,13,55,16,20,86,61,14,17,71,62,58,51,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healingicons.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}