Last week I explored the theme Marginalization/Belonging. It has me thinking about times I’ve felt like I belonged, and times (and ways) that I felt deliberately excluded. What is coming up is how often I marginalize myself, and that it is often just in my head. And that in order to belong or fit in, I tone myself down. I have the […]
Authenticity for us privileged white folk
How to deeply explore your inner world
Original, fresh, new, innovative, groundbreaking. Fuck ’em. Find your myths. Find your idols, symbols, guardians, guides, angels, totems, whatever you want to call them. Call them cliches if you want. Find YOUR cliches, and love them, squeeze them and hold them tight. What reoccurs in your dreams? Moments of synchronicity? What image do find yourself spontaneously drawing, even if you […]
Creative solitude vs. creative community
Remember a few weeks ago when I was like “woo hoo! I’m starting my arts-based research project! Yeah!” Now, picture Eeyore. “Ho hum. I’m working on my research. No one cares. Poor me.” Which isn’t true at all. I know I am supported. But after years of learning and creating as part of various communities, I am realizing that doing […]
Authenticity/Conforming: exploring identity
I’m doing arts-based research. It was hard to start, lots of doubts. The first theme I am exploring is Authenticity/Conforming. I did an active imagination writing, and then played with some of the symbols that stuck out: a tree, a white bird, a glass sphere. As I created the images, it was hard not to constantly, anxiously look for a nugget […]
Blasting away unhealthy assumptions through drawing
For years, I have been stuck behind a veil. I saw others, and then I saw myself. They were over there, I was over here. No one pushed me out, no one said anything mean. They just said nothing. That silence that could be interpreted as passive aggression. At least, that is how I interpreted it. I didn’t think I […]