"Drawing as a Sacred Activity" Study Group

[PaulaIA]

Hi Folks
We are beginning a study group using the book "Drawing as a Sacred activity' written by Heather Williams.

The sub title is "simple steps to explore your feelings and heal your consciousness" and on the back it says:

"In our materialistic society, many people are not encouraged to embrace their creativity. So they quietly shut down that part of their inner lives. Even people who learn to embrace their creativity may find themselves blocked by past emotions. Heather Williams has developed playful yet profound exercises to teach not only the technical but also the emotional skills that artists and nonartists alike need to create and heal their lives....."
We will begin by reading the preface and introduction.

As you read, write a synopsis of where you are now and what changes you want to make for, or within yourself.
You may want to call it your statement of purpose: "What we want to gain from working with this book."

As we progress, we will review this statement of purpose and see if we are meeting our own expectations or if we need to revise them according to our personal growth.

No one is expected to share their statements if they don't want to. And no one should be discouraged from sharing them either.

You may begin posting anything from within the assigned reading that you want to talk about. That means questions, statements, and insights.
Lets get this thing going

Paula

[christinemlr]

Hi Paula, well done - looks like its getting off the ground at last. See you tomorrow with my first drawing/s relating to intro.
Xina

[spclvr]

Hi all
I got my book and it seems interesting to me. I just subscribed to this thread. I want to understand how will this work ? I understand there was some conversation going on about Tuesdays. It will be helpful to have a topic and deliverable mentioned for the week.

As I wait for the responses, I will read the introduction upto Page 22, then write my statement.

Also I can see that one drawing exercise as week is understandable but how do we work with the introduction piece of the part 1 for example ?

Yeeeeeee I'm excited !!!

[aszurblue]

Hi Sandya, We have a thread going.. Just scroll down to the Drawing as a Sacred Activity, started by Meriel and join in. Xina is going to post our first activity tomorrow.... Yea!!! Azure

[PaulaIA]

Hi Folks
I want to get this study kicked off now. The reading assignment was to read the preface and the introduction and then talk about it.
The preface on page xiii first paragraph second sentence reads "After many years of using drawing to learn about my world and about myself,...."
After about the third time of reading through the preface this jumped out at me. My first thought was "I don't use art in that way. But then I thought about the last project I did and realized that I actually had done just that. I did a butterfly in colored pencil for an art exchange. In doing it I found that there were so many more kinds of butterflys in the world than I could ever have dreamed of. I also found that I realy want to know more about them. So I did use art to learn about the world and my self. I learned that art can be a tool for learning.
Have any of you for this to be true in your lives? Were you aware of this or doing it intuitively?
Tell us your experiences.

In paragraph 3 the phrase :"The mind unfolding" is used but I have not been able to get a clear understanding of it. Could some one give their thoughts and feelings about it?

page 3, paragraph 1 of the intro is very interesting. The author asks :"How often do you sit quietly for a few moments, calm down, relax, and reconnect with a deeper aspect of yourself?"
This is such a good question to consider in all of our lives. I know I hardly ever do this and have realized I need to make a conscious effort to do so. Is this something you do for yourself? Has it been helpful to you?

It is late and I am tired, I have more to talk about but will save it for later. Please join in here and add you 2 cents worth. If we all do that we will all be richer by the end of this.

Paula

[christinemlr]

hello all
and hello Sandya, it's good to see a new name here eager to start.

I have read the preface and intro and made notes. From those notes I have highlighted the significant sentances that speak to me. I don't want to write too much, as I want to use drawing as my tool for exploration, so I think this week I'll pick out one of those quotes each day and focus on its meaning, and hopefully include a drawing with it.

Paula, I did the exercise you mentioned - to look up from the book 'and notice what your senses are reporting to you' I spent a little while doing just that and then I wrote what I sensed. It was a very valuable exercise for me, so much so that I have decided to incorporate some moments for doing just that each day.

My quote today is concerned with feeling. She says the book offers a playful way to become more conscious of feeling. And I want to keep the word playful in mind. "If you want to be creative stay in part a child... p 13

So, thank you Azure for this great suggestion, I've taken some colourful chidrens crayons and paper and drawn some of the first vivid memories that came to mind. I'm not sure this drawing exrecise has been the 'refreshing breath of air' she describes on p.10 but I'm very very glad I did it. It wasn't easy to get there, to that child self. The important thing I realised was how alone I was most of the time - not lonely, just alone, even though I have a brother and sister, my experience as a child was long times spent alone. Now I want to explore what that means, its significance for who I am now, and I shall keep doing the child drawings. I won't bore you with those, but here are the ones that have started me off on this exploration.

Bye for now
Xina

PS Sorry, I've got a problem with file size so can't upload, will try again later

[christinemlr]

Hi again,
Here they are then, I wasn't going to title them, but decided may as well now. I've entitled them with the feeling I remember

1. Very scared- stuck up a tree
2. Longing - I want to dance on my toes
3. Very frightened - in hospital
4 Wondering - my favourite book, a massive encyclopedia -even thogh I couldn't read!

(is wondering a feeling?)

Xina

[aszurblue]

Xina, I love them all!! Each one has a different feeling... Bravo, well done!!

I will post mine later, cause I have changed my mind on what I wanted to draw... All of my life I have used my art to "paint happy"... It is a place I go when I can't handle life any more.... Thinking, if I paint happy, my world would follow along and be happy too...

I will say that sitting alone, quietly doing art, dose give a sense of relaxation and calm... For 10 years I worked in a place that I came to completely and utterly detest!! So my lunch hour was spent in my car doing art.(went to my happy place)
But that only lasted till I had to go back into work, a place filled with so much anger, hostility and down right evil people. The closer I got to that door, the slower I walked, but by the time I was threw it, I had a big smile in place, a up-beat walk, and twinkle in my eyes... 'It's razzle dazzle time' my mind would shout and I would slip into another Me... Even as a child I used my art to draw myself 'happy places'...

So I think maybe now is a good time to draw what it is, not what I want to be!

What I hope to get from this book, that my art dose not have to be perfect, stop being so judgmental and critical of my art.. Draw on my own inter self to guide me and see what I didn't before, then having the courage to accept it...
Latter.... Azure

[christinemlr]

Hi all, - just a quick response to you both, before I go study...
Paula - I looked again at 'mind unfolding', she uses it again at the end of the preface. 'Let your heart guide your hand to the great awakening-your true identity as mind unfolding'. No I'm afraid I don't truly understand - is she talking about the great all one consciousness of life/the universe that we are just a part of, and that we can connect with more deeply through art? May discover more by working with the book, perhaps that's the point.

Azure, Oh goodness all those 10 years spent in the misery of a forced false persona. That you used art to create your own 'happy place' shows a lot of strength.

I also share your desire to stop the judgmental voice that defeats me so often, and to just let it happen for a while. The good, bad and ugly-embrace it all! An important quote from the book I noted
'Unrealistic expectations paralyze people creatively. Use the exercises in this book as a journey into your own perceptions, of your experience of seeing through your eyes'. (p.8)
Exactly!
Bye for now
Xina

[PaulaIA]

Hi Folks,
It is Tuesday and I have not got anything up yet but I am working on it now. I will have something posted soon so please check back later. Feel free to post before I do.
I was working on a project which I finished last night so I will be giving this more attention now.
Thanks
Paula

[PaulaIA]

Xina, It has been really exciting to see your posts and hear how you have been able to put to use what you got from the book and how it has helped you. Your drawings of early childhood are insightful. And yes wondering is an emotion. (curiosity). Being able to get in touch with your child self can be an important skill and a valuable tool in personal and creative growth. You are so willing to allow yourself to go on this exploration of yourself in an effort to tap in to your creativity that it has encouraged me to put more effort into my own search for creativity.
Thank You for the good example you have set for me.

Azure, It is so sad to hear of your years of hell called a job. I am glad you had your art to help you survive it. Now you are ready to use your art to draw your real life and in that way become more aware of where you are now. I hope you draw some of the things in your life that really are happy, as well as the unpleasant/bad stuff. It is all worth while. I am looking forward to seeing the drawings you want to share with us. And if you don't want to share them that is ok too. But don't forget or abadone your happy place it is part of your art and therefore part of you. It is a sturdy anchor for your turbulent life.

I have not done any of that kind of drawing yet telling myself that I don't have any vivid memories (except when I fell down some stairs as a toddler). But then after I went to bed last night a couple of things came to mind after I decided that they did not have to be bad memories. It just kind of opened up the other side of the cupboard, so to speak, for me. I will be working on that during the week and plan to post them when done.
Well there will be more in a bit. It is lunch time for me so will be back soon.
Paula

[PaulaIA]

These are some quotes from the book that are helpful to me. I have put them on a single sheet of paper and keep them were I can see and read them several times a day. I will add more to my paper as we progress through the book.

page 3 ph 1 "The activity of drawing is natural to every human being... We all have an inborn need to connect our inner and outer world in a meaningful way- and drawing is a satisfactory and powerful way to do just that. It is also a safe way to see old, familiar things in a new light"

Page 3 ph 2 "Drawing exercises a different part of the brain. Where as naming something sets you apart from what you see, drawing connects you to it."

Page 4 ph 2 "...therapists and counselors can help you sort things out, they cannot go with you into your memories. They cannot feel your feelings. They cannot give up an old attitude and replace it with a new understanding. You are the only one who can do these things"

Page 4 ph 2 "Drawing is a safe, effective, relevant, and playful way to explore your inner world"

These quotes help me to not feel guilty about the time I try to spend drawing. I am very good at guilt trips for myself so at times it is hard to sit down and draw.
That is all I have for now. If some one has an activity they want to do let the rest of us know so we can also do it.

Paula

[aszurblue]

Hi Paula, sorry for not posting of late. I have been busy busy busy doing cakes. Then my special needs granddaughter is under "house arrest" at my house.(while Mom's at work) Got too way out of control at her school. So for the rest of the week I have her all day. I have one more cake to do today, then will try to get to some art..... Later Azure

[christinemlr]

Hi Paula and Azure - I'm so glad to read your posts. I was worrying I might be on my own. A very quick note for now. I was thinking I probably jumped ahead of myself with the drawings - we are after all only at the preface and introduction, and rereading it I am still finding things that speak to me.
For example - 'the challenge - take up your pen and pencil and love your world by seeing it firsthand'
and also, 'intellectual striving to control the pencil is put on the back burner... on the front burner is a deep openness and a willingness to let go'.
I'm going to find that 'letting go' difficult, and I hope I can find a way to do that by working with this book.
Paula, what you say about feeling guilty about taking time to draw is I think extremely important. It might be worth exploring this feeling you have about yourself and art. What are the fundamental reasons causing it? How much has it stopped you from expressing yourself creatively?
I hope this book will help free you from futile guilt trips when it comes to 'doing art'
Azure I hope you get some time for you.
Looking forward to hearing from you again.
Xina

[aszurblue]

Good Morning Everyone, Just a quick post to let you know that I still am moving forward with the book. Plus I have some other art projects I need to get going.

Chyrlie(my granddaughter) is still with me. She would not go home with Mom, so have had "girls night sleep-over", three nights in arrow But she Will go home tonight!!

I have had six orders(cakes,cupcakes,cookies) come in for Halloween already... Isn't retirement great I love the extra money it brings in, but sure can eat() in to my free time.

Xina, I do not think you jumped ahead with your drawings. I think anytime we read something that we want to put into drawings, we should, then post it if we want. Sometimes, I can draw my words better than when I try to say them!!

This small book is turning my life around.. Excepting the fact that I do not have to *be perfect* in "everything" and then having to courage to except it, has been sooo refreshing...I may end up liking myself anyway
Azure