Growing up, I would spend many hours drawing and writing stories. My father worked on one of those giant mainframe computers, ( this was in Poland in the 70’s ), which spat out reams of paper with binary code on one side. These big reams of paper, attached together like a giant accordion, were my playing field – the blank page where I lived, played, made sense of the world, amused myself, wondered, and experimented. Thousands of drawings and stories later, I am still doing this work!
In the ups and downs of growing up, creative expression was a saving grace, a place to cultivate aliveness, wildness, and a passion for life. As I got a little older, I studied literature, mime, mask, technical theatre, commercial art, painting, creative writing, modern dance, and acting. I wrote poetry, short stories, plays, and novellas. I read poetry. This carried me through. It was water and nourishment. It kept me connected to what I knew to be “true”, to the little voice inside that was in danger of being overwhelmed. It was also my way of praying, of connecting to something deep, mysterious, powerful, and profoundly life-giving.
When I took my first Art Therapy class during graduate counselling training, I knew I had found it. Here, I could integrate all the threads of my lifelong engagement, play, and learning. Here, I could see the connections.
I would like to share some of the fruits of my creative journey with you, as well as the therapeutic tools I have gained along the way!