Art and Healing

As I continue to consider how the Eight Verses of Mind Training relate to being an artist I find myself becoming more and more aware of my attitudes and opinions regarding my art and activity in the art world. Last week I began teaching a six week course called "Working With Grief Through Art." It is an honor to be able to share my experiences with my students on ways to heal emotions art-fully. I cherish those little flashes of joy and light that lighten grieving hearts when they paint something that is meaningful . . . or the art they've created reveals something new to them, something hopeful, that they felt they had lost. Art is healing in a really powerful way.

Theresa Rhando writes in Grieving: How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies, that "Grief is work." The term 'grief work' is just that, work. "It requires physical and emotional energy. It also requires activities to do." Art is a perfect tool for working with our suffering. The suffering that is experienced in grieving is outlined by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross' model of "Five Stages of Grief." These include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Much of the process of suffering loss is painful. Art is a gentle and nurturing way to be with ourselves through these stages. Art allows us to be present, see what is, and open in a positive way.

I have heard from students that they aren't artists. The truth is that we all have creativity in us. As Shaun McNiff states in Art as Medicine, "Just paint. Begin to move the brush in different ways and watch what comes. If you paint, it will come." This I've seen again and again. That innocent freedom to be creative returns and so does joy.

What I'v written above relates very keenly to the fourth of the Eight Verses of Mind Training. The verse goes (Rigpa translation):

Whenever I see ill-natured beings,

Or those overwhelmed by heavy misdeeds or suffering,

I will cherish them as something rare,

As though I'd found a priceless treasure.

H.H. Dalai Lama explains in Transforming the Mind that "This verse refers to the special case of relating to people who are socially marginalized , perhaps because of their behavior, their appearance, their destitution, or on account of some illness." At first I thought this verse pertained primarily to murders, however, there are many degrees to which a person can become ill-natured or overwhelmed by suffering. Individuals or groups suffering from loss, whether it is grieving the loss of a loved one or of many loved ones lost in a disaster, behave unsociably, often look unkempt, and are certainly made ill by emotions and mental stress.

Why would helping others in these conditions be something to cherish or be a priceless treasure? It is a gift to be of service. It is being wisely selfish, at HH Dalai Lama says. We are all interconnected and to help others we are helping ourselves. Art is a tool I know how to use and it has helped me. I extend that experience, strength, and hope to my students. It gives me joy to see others heal.

Thank you to all the teachers, healers, artists, and art therapists working compassionately in this world.

The gouache and color pencil illustration I created for this verse is of a hyena. Hyenas are rather scruffy, bad table manners, loud, and hard to get along with. It's a light hearted symbolic connection to verse four.

Next week in verse five I'll write about trying to not take things personally.

Until then . . .

Be Well,

Susan