If you're a creative sort of person with a horrific past I can't tell you how helpful DeSalvo's book truly is. It's so helpful I could imagine designing a workshop around it, though it would produce work of such a sensitive, personal nature I think one would have to be really careful about it.
The book is very introspective, naturally, and just so, so wise. Here's one of the zillion or so quotes I highlighted:
" ... we possess an emotional self-righting mechanism, akin to our body's innate ability to heal wounds. This is our creative imagination ..."
Apparently DeSalvo read several works on the subject of traumatized children. It seems these little ones tend to engage in imaginative play more often and for much longer than children who've enjoyed pleasant childhoods. And this is what spurs so many creative people to continue making use of creativity in adulthood.
Really a fascinating glimpse inside the creative mind, and a very inspiring program for using one's creativity as an emotional outlet. I'll refer back to this book for a very long time.
5 comments:
Oh wow, Lisa. I need need NEED this book. Thanks! :)
And the best bit is that acts like journalling and writing poetry actually have something approaching a research base behind them as therapeutic methods.
Cdnreader, it is phenomenal! I'm still stunned by how great it is. Let me know if it's productive for you.
Stu, that's true. Same goes for meditation which has been proven in several studies to have a benefical impact on health.
I've already got my copy in hand, but I won't get to it until post-exams. Sigh.
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