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Body, Mind, Spirit... and Creativity

© T. Darlene Cheek

I've always believed that our creative side plays a major role in helping us heal holistically, and I've searched all different types of creative outlets in order to keep my creative side healthy. Three years ago, while I was stuck off the Internet, I decided to learn to paint. I began with acrylics and practicing with painting my own tarot cards. It was that I truly realized the mental, emotional, and spiritual connection that was enhanced through art!

So, when I was given the opportunity to take some courses at Suite University, one of my first choices was Jo Murphy's Visual Literacy course. I truly didn't think that I'd be able to DO the course because I've had lots of self-doubt about my own drawing abilities and tons of fears about putting my art out there for others to see. I imagine that for many of us, self-esteem and fear are part of what keeps us from exploring our artistic side.

Of course that in itself shows that something as simple as an art course can help us heal on many different levels. Just over the last couple of weeks, I've learned to stop judging myself, stop criticizing so much, and my self-esteem level has risen tremendously! It's so hard to be creative when you've got mental and emotional blocks standing in your way, and I've been able to knock a few of these out of the way with Jo's help!

Visual Literacy begins very basically so that even the beginner can get started, and by the end of the course, you've learned everything you can possibly imagine about drawing - enough to keep you practicing for months on end! Jo's course is packed full of exercises and discussion ideas, as you can see in her lesson plan.

One of the most impressive things about Jo's course was Jo herself! She was right there for me to share with from the moment I posted my first sketch and question... and boy, did I have questions! I couldn't have asked for a teacher who was more supportive and encouraging or more involved in my learning process!

As I said, I didn't just learn about drawing in this course. I feel like a whole new world has been opened up for me! As I kept my visual journal, I drew things that helped me heal emotionally, like coping with the death of my dog, Draco. I was able to connect with him through drawing, feel his energy with me again, and receive some closure, which had been trying to come to me for over two years.