My entry into my sixties was rocky. I had lost my sense of purpose, so I enrolled in a spirituality class, hoping to tap into my inner wisdom and find a new direction. I was open to anything; nevertheless, I was surprised by my first assignment: “Paint something.” Other than writing, I’d not exercised any creative muscles in a long time, so I cheated with a practice run. I went online and bought a “Paint Your Own Unicorn” kit marketed to “three years old and up.” And still I panicked. Staring at the colorless unicorn while spreading out the mini-me-sized paints, glitter, and stickers, I doubted I could get anywhere close to the lovely unicorns supposedly created by the kids on the box. I was scared to try. But this was just my practice run, so I picked up the bigger brush and focused on swirling it around the unicorn, then used a thinner brush for fine details like eyes and hooves. Stroke by stroke, something magical happened. The world slipped away. Was my unicorn perfect? Not at all. But by the time I added glitter and tiny stickers, I felt a new sense of ownership—of me. Looking back, that unicorn changed my life.
The unicorn led me to painting on small canvases, molding small figurines from clay, and stringing beads to make a bracelet. It prodded me to release my voice through musical chanting and channel my emotions by drumming. It poked me into making creative feng shui collages using symbols, charms, and images. Before I knew it, I was riding into a new life that included creating online exhibits, writing new books, and acing grad school papers.
BECOMING A BEGINNER AGAIN
Bu hikaye Spirituality & Health dergisinin July/August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Spirituality & Health dergisinin July/August 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
ONE WORD TO BEAT WINTER BLUES: BIOMIMICRY
CREATURELY REFLECTIONS
THINKING ABOUT RESTITUTION
THE HEART OF HAPPINESS
WAITING IN LINE
OUR WALK IN THE WORLD
ENTER THE SAUNA
Journalist Emily O’Kelly shares some uplifting research on the benefits of sweat bathing, a global healing practice not just limited to Northern climes.
the trail of ATONEMENT
One Ashkenazi Jewish family escaped pogroms in Russia and then flourished in South Dakota, but the “free land” of their new homestead had been unfairly taken from the Lakota by the United States. Generations later, a celebrated investigative journalist set out to tell the truth of the Lakota and her family, calculate The Cost of Free Land—and pay it back.
STALKING YOUR Mind
Stalking the Mind is part of an ancient Indigenous American Medicine Way to tame your guilt, fears, and shame. What we’re “stalking” are our thought patterns and beliefs that seem to create the opposite of happiness and wellbeing. It’s a powerful psychotherapeutic journey of healing without the diagnosis or labels.
LEAVING MESA VERDE
After 21 years of service at Mesa Verde National Park, RANGER DAVID FRANKS recently guided his last tour of the pueblos and cliff dwellings. He says he was fortunate to assist the archeologists with a variety of work and never lost his amazement with their ability to figure out how and when things happened. The question he still wrestles with is much deeper: Why they left?
BECOMING YOUR OWN LEAD RESEARCHER IN HEALTHCARE
PEGGY LA CERRA, PHD, downloaded a health app to aggregate her medical records and was stunned to see the phrase \"aortic atherosclerosis.\" What she did next is a helpful model for all of us.
ARCHETYPAL ASTROLOGY
\"Is astrology true?\" is the wrong question, writes RABBI RAMI SHAPIRO. He suggests that the truth is out there, but out there is really in here.
WELLNESS IN THE WILD
Spa aficionado MARY BEMIS takes the [cold] plunge at Mohonk Mountain House.
