Visual Journey 29

Art, Healing and the Power of Gratitude

Early work in my healing journey. Untitled, Mixed Media journal page. From the series Safe Spaces, 2014.

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, November offers a natural time to reflect on gratitude. It can be seen as a way of “honoring life” and enriching our practices. Gratitude is closely linked with mindfulness, curiosity, and joy, just as it fosters loving-kindness and a truly open heart.

When we nurture gratitude, we create room to welcome both light and shadow, allowing us to cultivate inner balance and strength. This practice helps keep our hearts and minds open with compassion and love, no matter what life brings our way.

Gratitude also invites us to lean into joy, laughter, and human connection, helping sustain our compassion, even amidst the weight of social injustice, oppression, and suffering. It gives us the strength to respond to challenges with grace and empathy. In this way, gratitude embraces the full spectrum of life, acknowledging sorrow and struggle, while also celebrating the profound beauty of joy, love, and the bonds that connect us all.

"I sometimes forget
that I was created for Joy.

My mind is too busy.
My Heart is too heavy
for me to remember
that I have been
called to dance
the Sacred dance of life.

I was created to smile
To Love
To be lifted up
And to lift others up.

O’ Sacred One
Untangle my feet
from all that ensnares.
Free my soul.
That we might
Dance
and that our dancing
might be contagious."

~Hafiz

Understanding and being open to the idea of gratitude in the face of fear and struggle in my own life is ongoing. It’s a process that ebbs and flows. Just when I think I’m holding gratitude, fear creeps in and shakes me. So, I begin again, centering, grounding and reconnecting with gratitude. Often coming through when I’m creating art, gratitude and healing are deeply intertwined in my life and work.

As an artist who has felt and lived the immense healing power of the arts, I’m often drawn to other artists on a similar path. I wanted to highlight a few here today.

Bob Barancik is an award-winning painter, print maker, video producer and the author of Art Not Hate, Creative Responses to Conflict. The book weaves personal story with images of his work. He reflects and share’s thoughts on a life defined by conflict and change as a Jewish, post World War II baby boomer. Learn more about Bob and his work here.

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Carrie Schmitt turned to painting in 2009 when she developed a life-threatening allergy to heat, including her own body heat. She believes her intuitive approach to painting carried her through her an incredibly dark time and saved her life. Her books, classes and retreats empower others to heal themselves using their own creative practices. Learn more about Carrie’s life and work here.

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Rebecca Love is board certified with the American Dance/Movement Therapy Association and a licensed creative arts therapist and certified yoga teacher. She works with people to help them find safety by creating new experiences in the body and calming the nervous system. This can take the shape of movement exploration and other creative modalities such as breathing and relaxation techniques, body scans, guided imagery/meditation, sound healing, utilizing therapeutic card decks and art journaling. She believes “Change is movement & in order to create change there has to be both internal & external movement in the body.” Learn more about Rebecca here.

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These artists, and so many more in the world, have experienced the healing power of the arts brought forth through a profound sense of gratitude. Have you experienced healing through an art form? We would love to hear your story.

Until next time,

XXX Char

Here’s a few upcoming workshops and events (for a full calendar visit my website.)

Join us for a cozy, creative journey into the world of junk journaling! In this workshop, we’ll explore how to transform everyday materials—old papers, fabric scraps, and found objects—into a personal journal filled with the beauty and warmth of autumn…

Learn more here

Winter Reflection Lanterns-Inside Outside Nature Based Educators (online)

Turn inward and reflect on personal wellness by creating a simple and elegant paper lantern using foraged natural items, such as pine, cedar, spruce and fir needles…

Learn more here

A Winter Solstice event where traditional Maliseet symbolism and story are woven into batik and printmaking.

Learn more about The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and their work here.

Join me this December at my home studio to celebrate the Winter Solstice with a special bookmaking experience. Craft your own hand-bound journal using the elegant Coptic stitch technique…

Learn more here