My Name Is...

In expressive arts therapy class today we worked with spoken word. It's amazing how the simplest thing can be compelling, touching, revealing, funny. We shared stories about their names. We created word poems with the colours we felt today. We created sculptures to express concepts and ideas. We shared. Let me share with you what I wrote about my name.

My name is...

My name is Jamie. My parents each independently chose it as their favourite name for a girl, perhaps one of the only things they ever agreed on. No one else ever had my name. It was mine, mine, mine.

Except the Bionic Woman, but she was cool.

And a Barbie doll made in the 70s, but she had a dog, and I wanted a dog, so she was cool.

I guess because no one ever had my name, I didn't need a last one. I was free of my clan, not tied to men's names. I didn't change my last name when I was married. It didn't matter much because I am Jamie. I am always Jamie.

No short forms.

No nicknames.

Well, my husband calls me little acorn, but that's not connected.

I'm Jamie.

I'm Ja-mie.

That's me.

What's the story of your name? I know Jana shared her story recently.

Note: Until February 13th you can sign up for my draw for a free email tarot reading as a part of the One World, One Heart Giveway. Sign up in the comments here.

Expressive Arts

Yesterday we worked through some poetry writing and movement to support the processing and letting go of difficult images. Here's my poem and my declaration.

the line/the slash/the great divide

Falling into the vastness

of the great divide,

I fear there is no choice

but to become a rock,

a boulder holding a soul,

a hermit hiding within.

I'm falling...

falling...

falling.

Crack.

After dancing with the question this poem provoked in me, I came up with this declaration:

Every time you open your heart,

it's an act of bravery.

Every time you share yourself.

it is an act of Peace.

Be brave today. Make peace.

Expressive Arts Surprises

This week my friend and colleague Jenn led a great call on the expressive arts and coaching. I'm so glad to have connected with Jenn because, well, one, she's a wonderful, creative, generous human being and two, because we're both deeply interested in developing this kind of work.

As some of you may know, coaching is very often done over the phone. So how can we incorporate creative work in that format? Jenn had us do a great exercise that involved moving and sounding and allowing ourselves to create on the page. What you see above is what came out of the exercise for me.

When I first created this, the lines were all of equal intensity, so the shape that you can more clearly see now was not visible. When I finished the scribble and looked at it, at first I saw nothing but chaos. Slowly as I looked at it, this figure emerged, a bit of a downtrodden figure. And then only later again did I see that this figure was protecting somthing, something that was beautiful to him.

This turned out to be really meaningful for me. The day had been incredibly chaotic and I was feeling a bit disheartened. Looking at this picture reminded me that a lot of the chaos in my life was just noise and busy-ness and that if I looked I could find where the meaning was and that maybe my own posture in the world right now was less downtrodden than it was protective.

It's amazing how such simple things can open up new ways of seeing yourself and the world.

Expressive Arts: Mixing It Up

One of the coolest things about Expressive Arts Therapy is the use of many different art forms: music, sounding, visual art, dance, theatre. One of the key components is moving between art forms, which we did a lot of this week. In class we started off with making music together, just using our bodies for percussion and vocalization. From the experience we wrote down words or phrases that came to us. Then we choose a word or phrase that spoke to us and took it to the page. Mine is in the picture above.

We then took the step of working with others, combining 4 of our art pieces into one installation piece. This is always an interesting place to negotiate as you try and respect each other's work but also create something new. And it didn't end there. Once we came up with a piece we titled it. And then we moved onto another group's installation and turned our response to it into a theatre piece and shared it with the class. What an afternoon!

There are so many gifts to this experience. It expands your creative abilities as you start using media that perhaps you haven't used before. By responding to the same thing with many different approaches, it opens up the possibilities of what you might see and experience. And it's just plain fun.

How could you explore one of your creations in a new way? What if you turned a journal entry into a dance? What if you sang your painting? What if you wrote a poem to your photography? I'd love to see what you come up with.

Expressive Arts Therapy

Where do I even begin to talk about the Expressive Arts Therapy program that I've started? Participating in this program has been on my mind for a couple of years but this year I decided to take the leap. And once I did, I felt immediately at home. My hope is to combine interaction with the arts with coaching to create something my friend and colleague Jenn has dubbed Expressive Arts Coaching.

I'm learning so much about this discipline and also about myself. I've had the opportunity to explore plasticene, clay, storytelling and music. In our last class, we created music together with instruments ranging from drums to toy guitars. I played the maracas. We played solos, duets and as a group, and it was amazing. It wasn't about being a musician. It was about experiencing each other, our selves and the music. It was powerful and intimate, challenging and joyful.

One of my deepest held beliefs is that art is for everybody. If you've been reading this blog a while, you know I take a particular stand about that and dance. Nia has helped give me a way of creating a space for others to discover their joy in dance. And now I believe this program is going to open up so many possibilities and opportunities with other arts, and I can't wait. Because as grand as it may sound, I really believe that having and sharing our selves and our stories through art can change the world.

Expressive Arts Therapy ~ Good News!

I have been flirting with Expressive Arts Therapy for a few years now. In February I took a workshop that confirmed for me that it was an area I would love to explore. I felt completely at home in this space, painting and making music and writing and sharing.

A few months ago I applied for the foundational year program. Just this week I was starting to think that it might have been a mistake, that perhaps I already had more than enough on my plate. And then I got the call - I'm in! And I beamed and beamed and beamed. It took me a few hours before I realized that that meant next year I'll be painting, writing, dancing, etc. as a regular thing! When I got that I think I literally started floating.

I'll look forward to sharing my explorations with you!