Monday, October 29, 2007 at 1:01am
Healing is a process
Column: Our Place in the Universe
I was on my way to a week's intensive on Art and Healing with Wisdom University. It was taking place at the University of Florida, Shands Hospital. Driving along roads bordered by fenced-in horse farms, I found myself praying about my purpose for going to this particular seminar. Suddenly, along one of the many fences, lined up in a row, were doors. Six or eight doors were displayed, each one a different size and shape.
OK, it looks like I've got a variety of options, I thought, as I chuckled to myself. So maybe it's not the choice that I make right now that is important. What, then, is it that matters? We were asked to pick a "soul card" when we arrived. What should be my purpose for this day, for this beginning, I queried, as I drew a card. Pictured there was a woman lounging, awake, aware, but doing nothing.
"Carry water. Chop wood." That's what my new friend said when I asked her if doing nothing was important enough. That, it seems, is the nuts and bolts of the healing process. Carry water; chop wood — those daily, ordinary tasks that seemingly lead nowhere are actually creating the content of our lives.
Isn't it the foundation of life as well? Our healing comes about through living, restoring, or re-story-ing our lives. Art is a manifestation of that story. Whether it is through drawing, storytelling, drama, music or writing, our ability to communicate our story for our families and others is the beginning point of living and healing.
We talked about the making of this art. I wanted to talk about re-story-ing our whole nature. "Learning is actually remembering, and the ultimate memory is to recognize your true spiritual self. ... The healer doesn't heal; he or she facilitates a process that is active and implicit within all of us" (Deborah Cowens, "A Gift for Healing"). Healing is restoration, cleaning up or polishing what has been stuck below the surface for generations.
To get unstuck, one must transcend the ordinary, the habitual and see with new eyes. This is what leads to transcendence. Transcendence starts with radical amazement — finding the creative beauty in all around us. God is in all things, but is not limited by them. Healing finds that creative connection that links us with the Beloved and allows us to be reborn.
The second card I drew a few days later was of God with His hand cupped and extended outward — protecting me, holding me, guiding me. I had received my purpose in the first guided imagery: This seminar was to give me wings. I announced my intent: to heal the heart of the Beloved. The instructor repeated, "Did you say that you wanted to heal the heart of the Beloved?" I nodded, "Yes."
We shared our stories. At one point it became obviously necessary for each of us to relate our personal path of healing. That seemed to be the key. If this is so important in our lives with each other, then why is it so difficult to recognize that the personal connection with our God is as important in the telling of our story and in the re-story-ing of our lives?
I want to speak more of this as it unfolds in my consciousness. In the meantime, here are some of the things I learned about the healing process:
1. Patience is a process. As we carry water and chop wood, we must keep our minds and hearts filled with passion.
2. The turning point of our lives is a process, often manifesting in a series of movements or changes that we must pay attention to.
3. Trust is a process that strengthens with experience.
4. Remembering is a process. Remembering things we had forgotten or that are ancient, but a part of us — like our original nature — is one reason for telling our story.
5. Learning is a process — of remembering. The ultimate memory is recognizing, again, our true spiritual self.
6. Transformation is a process that takes place only within a relationship.
7. Transcendence is a process that mirrors the Beloved in the creativity that is your life and your love.
8. Prayer is a process. Creating art and/or life is the prayer of your heart and the intention to be healed.
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad.
OK, it looks like I've got a variety of options, I thought, as I chuckled to myself. So maybe it's not the choice that I make right now that is important. What, then, is it that matters? We were asked to pick a "soul card" when we arrived. What should be my purpose for this day, for this beginning, I queried, as I drew a card. Pictured there was a woman lounging, awake, aware, but doing nothing.
"Carry water. Chop wood." That's what my new friend said when I asked her if doing nothing was important enough. That, it seems, is the nuts and bolts of the healing process. Carry water; chop wood — those daily, ordinary tasks that seemingly lead nowhere are actually creating the content of our lives.
Isn't it the foundation of life as well? Our healing comes about through living, restoring, or re-story-ing our lives. Art is a manifestation of that story. Whether it is through drawing, storytelling, drama, music or writing, our ability to communicate our story for our families and others is the beginning point of living and healing.
We talked about the making of this art. I wanted to talk about re-story-ing our whole nature. "Learning is actually remembering, and the ultimate memory is to recognize your true spiritual self. ... The healer doesn't heal; he or she facilitates a process that is active and implicit within all of us" (Deborah Cowens, "A Gift for Healing"). Healing is restoration, cleaning up or polishing what has been stuck below the surface for generations.
To get unstuck, one must transcend the ordinary, the habitual and see with new eyes. This is what leads to transcendence. Transcendence starts with radical amazement — finding the creative beauty in all around us. God is in all things, but is not limited by them. Healing finds that creative connection that links us with the Beloved and allows us to be reborn.
The second card I drew a few days later was of God with His hand cupped and extended outward — protecting me, holding me, guiding me. I had received my purpose in the first guided imagery: This seminar was to give me wings. I announced my intent: to heal the heart of the Beloved. The instructor repeated, "Did you say that you wanted to heal the heart of the Beloved?" I nodded, "Yes."
We shared our stories. At one point it became obviously necessary for each of us to relate our personal path of healing. That seemed to be the key. If this is so important in our lives with each other, then why is it so difficult to recognize that the personal connection with our God is as important in the telling of our story and in the re-story-ing of our lives?
I want to speak more of this as it unfolds in my consciousness. In the meantime, here are some of the things I learned about the healing process:
1. Patience is a process. As we carry water and chop wood, we must keep our minds and hearts filled with passion.
2. The turning point of our lives is a process, often manifesting in a series of movements or changes that we must pay attention to.
3. Trust is a process that strengthens with experience.
4. Remembering is a process. Remembering things we had forgotten or that are ancient, but a part of us — like our original nature — is one reason for telling our story.
5. Learning is a process — of remembering. The ultimate memory is recognizing, again, our true spiritual self.
6. Transformation is a process that takes place only within a relationship.
7. Transcendence is a process that mirrors the Beloved in the creativity that is your life and your love.
8. Prayer is a process. Creating art and/or life is the prayer of your heart and the intention to be healed.
— — —
Anne E. Ulvestad is a free-lance writer residing in Maryland. She has her masters in earth literacy, and is available for public lectures and group presentations and rituals on Spirituality and the Environment. Anne can be reached at {email anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com}anne@ourplaceintheuniverse.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Anne E. Ulvestad.