Balancing the Brain: You are the artist and you are art in the making.
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There is a deep space of mystery inside of you, inside of me, inside of every one of us human beings. The cavern within is our inner world and it is the world of the 'right brain' - one way to speak of the mysterious nature of our consciousness.
Or as Gabrielle Roth wrote,
"Between the head and feet of any given person is a billion miles of unexplored wilderness."
Yeah. That. That which we know exists but most of the time would rather not give any attention to.
Except...except when the hunger comes. That hunger that won't let you alone even though you try to ignore it. That hunger that tells you there is so much more to who you are than you believe to be so.
You know what I'm referring to, right? It's only you and me here. You can acknowledge it and no one has to know.
There is a deep hunger within us to remember. To remember what we once knew we are and how we once lived as the light of stars and the dark of night and traveled lifetimes of changing tides and shifting seasons.
We are always, hungrily, calling to ourselves to remember.
A hunger so deep and real - much more real than what you are sitting on right now reading these words.
"...this is one of the really important things about art, that you can make more than you can understand at the moment the thing is being made. But the gap between what we recognize inside ourselves – our feelings- and our ability to trust ourselves and to trust exposing ourselves to those ideas, can be great." Emmet Gowin
I saved this article years ago and still have it to this day, for it reminds me in a way that few others do of the artist in each of us that must come alive if we are to live here on earth and not just exist in numbness throughout our days.
These words cut to the quick every single time I read them...
"The fact that something is unsayable, that you are emotionally restricted from saying or even recognizing consciously what your own spirit is struggling with, energizes one's work. That is exactly where good work comes from." Emmet Gowin
As a teacher of art, Gowin says...
"But that's a parental emotion at work when one says I don't want a student to be trapped. The truth is, I'd be perfectly happy if they would be "trapped" within the experience their own authentic difficulties. If they would be trapped on their own, then any freedoms they discovered would be their own. Which is what interests me, because I believe that the joy of your own discovery is what confirms your own aliveness, your own value.
"So in this sense it's cool to be wrong. It's so essential, so necessary. It's so appropriate to be confused, to be muddled, to be unsure. We preach clarity. Get your ideas organized. Get your thinking straight. And it's the kind of stuff we all got from our parents, because that's the role of parents. But it is the aliveness of the unguarded intuition and the persistence of our own feelings that guide us to our discoveries."
"I believe that the joy of your own discovery is what confirms your own aliveness, your own value."
Gowin speaks as a teacher but coaching is the same. I am both a coach and an educator and nothing gives me more joy than to experience a client or student sit in their own confusion while I hold the space of love and we, together, close the gap between when they are conscious of and what is struggling to be known and remembered.
Even when it is uncomfortable, and especially when it is uncomfortable, what is unveiled is the act of remembering and it is the deep awakening to more aliveness in our lives.
What is the feeling of coming directly into contact with that unexplored territory?
How does that moment feel inside of you when you come face-to-face with the dark reflection of that well looking down into what seems to be an endless mystery?
This remembrance. This uncovering and discovery. This feeling of aliveness and value, it is the essence of art-making. You are the artist and you are art in the making.
Here's the thing, though...
This isn't about art in the traditional sense. This is about opening up your awareness of the capacities of your right brain and coming into a balance between the parts of your brain, a balance where there is great respect for all of your capacities. Most of the time, we incessantly judge the capacities of the right brain. We are constantly reminded taught that rational thought and logic are much more valuable. But the truth is, we need our wholeness to live lives where we feel alive. And we need cooperation between the different capacities of our being in order to be happy, creative, innovative, people who are in conscious action in the world.
:::
Balancing the Brain - I currently have two ways to work with me:
One-on-one coaching
for individuals who want to go deep into self, into the body and the heart, and into the beautiful mystery within. (It's not as scary as it sounds!)
or for leaders: those who are interested in diving deeper into their personal art as a leader.
I hold a tremendously safe place of love for transformation.
In my fourteen years of experience as a coach, this is what clients are truly seeking. Yes, we look at goals and intentions. Yes, we see progress and completion as important to the work. But underneath the achievement of truly satisfying goals is this deeper work, for nothing truly satisfies if it doesn't feed your deepest hunger.
You are the artist and you are art in the making. You are remembering yourself into balance. And coaching is a powerful cauldron that can support your discovery.
Writing Raw
A six-week circle for women to access the deep voice within. Yes, we do it through words, but the process works for any inner exploration to uncover the source and voice of your deepest self. You DO NOT need to be a writer.
I lead you into the great wilderness within you...the place where you can finally come home to the voice you've been longing to hear.