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Images & Stories of Healing Art


Dorothy (Continued)

Dorothy was a student in one of my healing art classes. She spent 6 weeks sitting at the table without participating in any of the art activities. She was pleasant and talkative, but she always avoided the exercises. I was perplexed as to why she kept coming back. I didn't know it yet, but Dorothy was going to be my teacher and gift me with a great lesson.

On week 7 -- our final class -- Dorothy came in as usual and sat at the table with her coat on and her purse wrapped in her arms. I had been worried that I was not reaching her, and feared that she didn't like the class. I naively thought that there was no reason for her to be in the class if she wasn't doing the exercises each week.

Then, about halfway through the class, I noticed that she had drawn something in pencil in the corner of a large sheet of paper:

It was profound -- all these weeks she really was listening and processing the information. She kept coming back to class because something in her was trying to find its way out, even though she could not verbalize it. She had honored her own pace & her own body, and allowed herself to be a bit uncomfortable as she waited until the time was right.

Dorothy beautifully illustrated the meaning behind healing art. The process carries its own medicine. It does not require complex artistic skills but does require courage, patience and a desire to heal. Dorothy never did tell us what her images represented, but we knew something had changed inside her. Before class was over she took off her coat, put down her purse and danced around the room with the rest of us as we listened to music and cleaned up our art supplies. I will never forget the sparkle in her eyes and smile that evening.

Dorothy's story taught me patience, to honor each person's process and to really understand the simplicity -- yet great wisdom -- of this creative medicine we each carry.
 

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