Lessons from the Book

Sharing from my forthcoming book

Holding Energy for What's Next

Doll shown was created by Barb Kobe

As I am working on the final pieces of my book The Transformative Art of Healing Dolls I thought I would share pieces of inspiration from the Medicine Doll online classes that may or may not be in the book.  Here's a discussion about metaphor:

Hi E,
I hope you will share more of your story in the group about how you broke things down into smaller pieces in order to understand the whole.
 
K's response to you was helpful for me..."Sometimes it just makes so much sense to break things into its components and take it one step at a time. No rush. No worry." 
 
There is so much to learn about our bodies, emotions, minds. I am notice how a re-education about food and exercise and the effects to our bodies is starting to show up on the media....I remember working in the computer lab at the high school and watching the health teacher and her her class as they were assigned to interact with health programs about the body.  Most were quiet and deeply involved.  There is so much to learn and I feel as if I am playing catch you after being raised in a system that taught me to treat doctors as the one's with all the answers and trust them before I trust myself. 
 
I am drawn to experts in the fields of alternative medicine like Donna Eden, Lissa Rankin, Christine Northrup, and so many more. Most saying we are more than our bodies, and yet we live in these bodies and our bodies present with a language that comes through the body. When it comes to making healing dolls there's a part of the process that includes learning about the scientific studies that tell us about the part of ourselves that we are focusing our healing energies upon.
 
Yesterday I listened to a presentation by an artist who had received a Mn State Arts Grant to partner with her son and daughter-in-law, both Ph.D's studying different areas in the field of environment and evolution from a Darwinian perspective.  Carolyn, the artist, talked about how they worked together.  Her son and his wife, gave her a copy of a book that was Darwin's journals, which included drawings and mapping and very abstract notes and thoughts all put together. Carolyn loved the book and would engage in conversation with her partners about different terms used in their studies. She would listen to the words and turn them into metaphors for a life process. One small example is

Gradualism  -  The Darwinian belief that evolution takes place in innumerable small steps. She connected this to the creative process and as Kathryn so apply stated...."take it one step at a time." Her art was knitted and crocheted with things she found from nature ---  pods, vines, sticks, etc.
So what is my point.  I think we have an added advantage being dollmakers. We can take words that describe a symptom, research the details about the system and turn it into a metaphor.
...and then using our creative toolbox engage with this knowledge through art making that mirrors back to us a new relationship we can have with our bodies. ...and when done we share the story of our lessons and learning that encourages our group to made new connections for themselves, explore deeper and make their own metaphors and images.  All so creatively scientific......

​Barb Kobe

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