SCULPTINGTHEHEART
AUTHOR, WRITER & POET
AuthorsDen.com/joycewhite
wingedforarttherapy.com
INTRODUCTION 



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My book Sculpting the Heart is about more than just scribbling a stick figure to pass time. It can give you joy, get you excited and help you recapture your youth when drawing and coloring was a favorite pass time. Art Therapy gives us a balance between joy and sadness. Sculpting our heart with dreams is good as medicine. My book will help you search for your own divine gifts.

Be all that you can be. Surprise yourself, surprise others. Invest in your soul's estate by getting to know your inner child. Keep your hands busy...your mind open...try new things...



(:COLOR YOURSELF SMILING:)
Free Coloring books - Click at left.




 





After a life wrought with beiges, two divorces, and fifty years of depression, my pain began turning towards self expression. I had a lot to say and needed a way to say it. I am no doctor and I write for fun and wellness, mine and others. Writing poetry, journaling and art making are wonderful creative ways to turn the burning inside our heads into positive thinking, researching and recording. I think too many of us focus on the pain of life rather than all that is good.

I found when writing poetry, we can't help but confront our past history to break its hold over us. I am not always aware, at least on a conscious level, of how much my past drive my art. I know for sure God and his creative angels were my partners in everything I managed to finish. I purposely write sublime. The world is too full of sad and ugly. Reality is very restrictive so I like to mix in a little fantasy. I like to write the world absent of the things that bring us pain and anxiety.  It is said the human mind is like an umbrella. It functions best when open. I like to keep my mind open to possibilities and - - what if (s)?   

When sculpting our hearts with poetry, it is good to approach poetry as if it were a game. This is the way I do it, anyway. We need to play connect-the-dots with words and feelings, paying close attention to the sound and flow of our memories, as well as their arrangement on the page. I play connect-the-dots with sentences, images  and pictures. There are no losers when playing this game. 

I am always looking for ideas, metaphors or topics that interest me. I'm always looking for an initial thought burst, a memory or a feeling I can blow out of proportion, and use in a grand over-indulgent way. "You may discover your best poems while writing your worst prose." says Joyce Carol Oates, "As soon as you connect with your true subject, you will write."

Shannon Melikan, author of Angel-Inspired Poetry, says, "In poetry, angels often have names and identities. They speak to us clearly and impart encouragement that is forever generous in its nature. We know that we can go to a poem where a known angel resides and be quickened by a burst from the pages that embraces us and endows us with the kiss of heaven."

 I found this to be so true. However,  when I began studying poetry in college, I found some poetry can be understood while others you can't hope to understand - - but that is okay. We all relate differently to each other and to art. Both writing and reading poetry are individual arts. Both can be a study in thinking and relating to the world around us. We need to open our minds and step into our poems, tasting their ink and feeling their pull at our hearts. Poetry must be felt to be understood. Do you have goosebumps when reading a line? You are feeling art. Does the hair stand up on your skin when reading something unusual? You are feeling the pull of art. Many refer to my poetry as profound and chilling. I try very hard to appeal to the emotions of my readers. My work has been also reviewed as beautiful.

When that perfect line comes to rest in a poem for me, I get goosebumps. Sometimes I cry. Sometime the hair stands up on my arms. I say, "Thank you, God, for giving me sensory touch of poetry."

I discovered all we need to write a poem is an initial brain-burst - - a memory or a nagging emotional feeling to get started. Many of us prefer the simple old fashioned kind of poetry, less negative, bent on healing open wounds rather than describing them. Composing a poem is a lot like making love. Nobody sees the poem happening but it always arouses us and usually ends too quickly! These thoughts and words were taken from my book, Sculpting the Heart.





Excerpt from my book:
Partnering with the Unknown

By Joyce White
Last edited: Friday, September 12, 2008
Posted: Monday, September 08, 2008



How far can the flow really take you when you
believe in yourself and your divine gifts?


 If you really don't believe in the serendipity of the "unseen," leave yourself a wormhole escape when you're doing creative things like writing or art making. Don't fight it, like I do. I yearned to make art my whole life. But, I was too busy surviving as a mother, wife and daughter to parents who thought art was for the rich. It is a waste of time to try and force art.  Now, I live for me. I let the unknown sneak into my work in a good way when I least expect it. It takes time to communicate with our inner artist I've learned to do well. Wherever our paths cross with creative thought messages, there is union with God and his angels...Don't take my word for it. Follow your own artful hunches. It is never too late to be what you were meant to be.

Even if evidence is visibly lacking, you don't need to meditate on top of a mountain for twenty years to be welcomed into the angelic realm. I am proof of this. Most of us can't maintain states of God-consciousness for prolonged periods of times but we have occasional glimpses of it when we're in the "flow."  The next time you're overly excited, feeling quite groovy and smart, look around and acknowledge and thank your muse. The more you appreciate your gifts, the more gifted you will be. Imagine being heart-to-heart with our muses who are our best fans.


RELEARN TO PLAY, LAUGH, AND REINTRODUCE YOURSELF TO YOUR CHILD WITHIN.


Life is not easy for any of us. We must try many ways to improve our lot in life. This is how we were designed, to be curious, adventurous and always inventive and creative when it comes to communicating our feelings. The soul's palette, often through expressions as simple as stick figures and primitive arks on paper, reflects the true experience of both physical illness and the mind's fears.

I've come to realize if we indulge our soul's palette and believe in God, ourselves and our special purpose, we can become that special person we were meant to be. It only takes one person to change your life - YOU.



Many of us are heavy-laden with desire to make new things familiar and familiar things new. This is the definition of an artist. We do not have to be artists to express ourselves creatively in words, photographs, clay, and/or any other way. Even though all we do is not golden, it feels golden to make something out of nothing. For all of you who say you can't draw a straight line, any toddler can doodle and scribble. Follow their example and look for joy in spontaneous imaging. 

Look out, if you're smiling, you're probably having fun. You don't have to sell yourself to others to be an artist. We don't have to sell our books to be writers. If you want to feel special  follow me into the land of Winged and see how contagious a creative thought and/or smile can be. With "Sculpting the Heart." 

Most of us are geared to the spoken word but it is images like the one to the right that give us the most fun. Even the traumatized can get outside of their disease for a while. Talking is fine for those who are articulate and unafraid to express themselves. For those who suffer from depression, illness and/or anxiety, their tongues become their worst enemies. Words come out wrong. We are misunderstood. We become confused and hard of hearing when spoken to. Those around us think we are not smart. I was  tongue-tied and shy for most of my life. It was only when I began writing that I realized I could express myself so much better when writing. Some cook, some play music, some make clothes. We all have a talent for something. We have to help ourselves find what we are good at. Art Therapy gives us confidence to succeed at other things, as well. 

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I want to encourage and brighten the world of those who lived like me in a crayon box with no verbal skills for success when we were children. You may discover yourself "a budding Rembrandt" if you just try new activities. Creative expression may be the only true way to communicate for the troubled, il and/or sad.

As for myself, I've learned to sculpt my pain into clay figures, busts and vases that speak for me. I write poems. I use photography to record my journey out into the world. I wrote Sculpting the Heart to help turn your creative light on.
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Reviews at Amazon.com for Sculpting the Heart by Joyce White

 

 
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful, August 27, 2008
By  Cassandra Mae (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
What a brilliant book this is. I think it would make a very helpful and caring book to a friend or family member fighting depression.

I love the whole idea of creating art to help heal. What a wonderful idea. This book was very interesting, well written, great quotes that made one ponder, and looking at the art pictures made it a five star book.

This book will help many people live happier lives. I believe it is very inspirational, in that, others will create their own art. Thank you to the author Joyce White.
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5.0 out of 5 stars A Marvelous Look at the Power of Art to Relieve the Frustration and Tension Caused by an Imperfect World, August 26, 2008
"I am an ordinary woman living in an extraordinary, imperfect world."

This phrase sets a poignant beginning to a poignant masterpiece full of humor, honesty and reflection. All of us struggle with depression at some time or another, whether it be from losing our job, or financial burdens we are unprepared for, or some other crisis which steps in and takes control of our lives out of our hands. Depression is one of the most sinister diseases in the world, because it is one that we consider to be ordinary. Yes, of course we're going to feel sad. Yes, of course there are days we're going to feel like we're hanging on to control by a very thin thread.

Guess what? There's no of course about it! No one says that you have to feel that way. You can find an outlet for your depression that allows your heart to heal and your mind to clear by transforming your feelings into a tangible expression through art.

Sculpting the Heart takes you on a personal journey through depression and the healing powers of creative expression. Whether your medium is writing, sculpting, painting or music, creative expression can release the tension and frustration that build up inside your mind and release you from the bars of depression back into the freedom of the real world.




 

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