Art Heals
Since I fell in love with photography and began the practice of making photographs, learning about photography, and immersing myself in photography on a daily basis, I have learned that art heals.
It has helped me become a more joyful person and begin to heal lifelong health issues that plagued me for most of my adult life. No wonder art therapy and music therapy are standard fare in many hospitals.
The creative process takes people out of the negative stress and survival cycle into a life-enhancing creative growth cycle. I don’t think it matters whether you draw, paint, dance, work with fiber, make music, make photographs, or create pottery. The important thing is immersing yourself in the creative process.
“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.”
I recently discovered an art organization in Minnesota that “inspires hope and builds self-esteem for youth who have experienced poverty, homelessness, abuse and mental illness, using the healing powers of artistic expression and caring adult mentors.”
The organization is called Free Arts Minnesota.
They offer three programs to Minnesota’s youth: weekly mentorship (46 weekly groups in 23 locations), teaching artist series, and free arts days. Volunteers staff most (if not all) of these programs.
What a great way to help youth who are struggling! This is a program I intend to volunteer with in the next year in some way.
As schools focus more and more on academic subjects and cut programs like art and music, children’s learning suffers. Studies abound that show the benefits of music and art in helping with reading, mathematics, and other academic skills.
We are an art-making species.
When was the last time you engaged in a creative practice of your own?
May you walk in beauty.
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