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By Nancy Marie (Based on her book I Create What I Believe! Self-Awareness Art Program) Our society, with all of its pressure and striving to raise test scores, seems to have lost touch with the importance of nurturing the whole child. At the same time, today's economic, social, and environmental challenges have created an unprecedented need for unbridled creative thinkers. The key to facilitating this revolutionary change is to encourage creative exploration and play at a very early age, and continue to encourage it throughout the teenage years. Artistic expression is not just for an elite few. For within each of us is the ability to connect with and express our truest thoughts and feelings via line, color, texture, and dimension. With a mere flick of a pencil or crayon-like the quick turn of a kaleidoscope-we can move ourselves out of a stuck and boxed-in perspective and uncover a new and innovative solution to our present challenges. It is the fear of being wrong or the feeling that who we are is wrong that stifles creative development and expression and holds us trapped in a box. When a child or adult remembers how to spontaneously play, transmit, and release their feelings with color, line, texture, and form in an unbridled manner, they can easily uncover and transform the false beliefs that are holding them back. How could something as simple as drawing facilitate change? Art is more than a subject. It is a language -a nonverbal language -that can help us uncover the subtle nuances of our feelings and emotions. Then, because it is also a form of biofeedback - meaning the real paintbrush is your body/mind state - it can help us identify and pinpoint beliefs, behaviors, and responses that are not in alignment with our true nature. As our awareness expands, what appears on the paper also changes. This can take place with activities as simple as scribbling. For years Miro, Picasso, Klee, and Kandinsky explored how the elements of color, line, texture, and dimension carried and transmitted their feelings, thoughts, and beliefs. They perused art in this manner because they were all interested in self-transformation. They found that removing the focus on realistic rendering and playing with only the elements (color, line, texture, and dimension) they freed their subconscious to express itself in a unique and unabashed manner. And in that place of spontaneous, almost child-like play, delight, wonder, and the authentic self was rekindled. If you have never played with art in this manner, I recommend that you begin with simple scribbling. This seemingly infantile activity can transport your mind into a hypnotic-like relaxed and open state. When you go into this state with awareness you can program your subconscious mind with awareness -you are now programming the programming. This is very different from being in the same state in your early childhood years. One is passive and the other is active. I think there are as many approaches to scribbling as there are people in the world, but I am going to offer a few guidelines for beginners. Instructions: 1. Place a crayon or colored pencil in your non-dominant hand (the hand you don't normally write with). With your eyes closed, let that hand scribble whatever it wants to scribble. When you feel done and with your eyes still closed, place the pencil or crayon in the other hand and continue scribbling. Try passing the pencil or crayon back and forth to see which one is more relaxed or spontaneous. 2. Now take a colored pencil or crayon in both hands and continue scribbling -maybe even use two or three pencils in each hand. Pay attention to which movement you like the most. Do you prefer holding the pencils and crayons at the very top or gripping them like a two-year-old would? Focus on the rhythm and movement. Does your body get into the scribbling or are you just doing it with your hands and arms? Think about what style makes you the happiest. Scribble to music. Try different kinds of sounds and rhythms. Scribble in silence, or make your own sounds with the movements. Remember, the key is to play, explore, and observe with no agenda. And in this playful process you may uncover new insights about yourself and life. Nancy Marie is a driving force for self-actualization and the creator of the I Create What I Believe! Self-Awareness Art Program. This groundbreaking program, which is based on the research of Dr. Bruce Lipton, introduces children and adults to the art of transforming their stifling subconscious beliefs with the mere flick of their pencil or crayon. Ms. Marie is also the author and illustrator of: Out of the Box and Into Yourself!, Passage of Change, A fable based on the research of Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., and The Beckoning Song of Your Soul, A Guidebook for Developing Your Intuition.  www.innereyepublishing.com Nancy Marie P.O. Box 559, Mt. Shasta CA 96067 Phone: 530-926-0365 email: info@innereyepublishing.com All materials © Nancy Marie Web management by Kim Solga Artworks |