On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Friday, September 28, 2007

Pondering out loud

I spent six hours in a PowerPoint lecture yesterday because my profession requires continuing education units. To stay focused I sketched some of the participants.


Last night I was skimming through some pages in Cathy Malchiodi's book on art therapy, THE SOUL'S PALETTE, where she introduced the topic of mandala drawing as a daily practice. "A mandala journal is a special form of image journaling and is a practice that is both soothing and stress reducing. Staying with drawing or painting within a circle is containing, structured, and satisfying and can be particularly healing during times of crisis or loss. Keeping such a journal is a transformative practice because your mandala images will change and evolve over time...." I recall that Carl Jung drew a daily mandala for years and was probably the first person to begin theoretical discussion on the topic although mandalas themselves have been part of every culture for thousands of years. At any rate, today I have no energy whatsoever so I took some time to construct a simple geometric mandala (with a cup of English Breakfast tea) to help me get my day started.

3 comments:

  1. That's an interesting idea. Let us know if you keep it up for a time and what the effect on you is. Of course, it could be the wonderful taste of Eng. Breakfast tea. (my fave)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Neat idea! I might try that myself. Haven't thought of a mandela for a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous7:21 PM

    You're right about doodling enabling one to keep focussed. Nice mandala. I've never done one, but the idea is intriguing.

    ReplyDelete

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