When we work with people in substance abuse recovery, we focus on identifying positive emotions they’d want to experience if their recovery from addiction goes as well as it possibly could. Using this “fake it ’til you make it” approach allows people the opportunity to imagine, and act “as if”, their ideal life was a reality. In this process, they are able to experience those positive emotions, if only for a short time.

Art is intimidating. Although children usually make art spontaneously, most of us stopped doing art in our early teens.  

Unless you identify with being an Artist with a capital “A,” art may be something that you relegate to your talented sister, your artsy friend who is naturally creative and has an eye for color and design, or the gifted few who seem to be born with imagination and artistic skill.

This time of year always calls for lists, all kinds of lists—“Best of..”, “Worst of …”, “Things for which you’re grateful”, “What you accomplished in 2014”, “Resolutions for the upcoming year”, etc…. We’ve been thinking about lists here at CWW partly because we’re preparing for a couple of “Vision Journaling” workshops and making lists is always a great prompt for journaling, but also because we are trying to identify our own aspirations for ourselves personally and professionally over the next year. I was chatting about lists with some friends while hanging out at the neighborhood Starbucks in Tucson. Kris, a fellow Starbucks traveller (and also a therapist) mentioned one of the best lists ever written—Woody Guthrie’s 1942 “New Year’s Rulin’s”. Apart from the charming and unpretentious hopes that Woody voices in his list, what makes it unique is the fabulous doodles he uses to illustrate each of his aspirations. As Kris said “They’re not only comical but they make the ideas more endearing and memorable. And also easier to relate to.” Kris added that, although she is not an artist, she loved the idea of accompanying each promise with a little sketch, “just a visual thought, really”—that it made the commitment less daunting and more approachable. It also makes the tasks seem more playful and less overwhelming. There are other qualities about Woody’s list that make it appealing,–it’s a reminder of down to earth essentials coupled with more noble intentions. I particularly love the increasingly expansive sequence that begins with “LOVE MAMA, LOVE PAPA, LOVE PETE, LOVE EVERYBODY”.

It’s been a challenging year if you listen to the news recaps. Ebola. Gaza. Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines. ISIS. Robin Williams. Girls here and abroad abducted and raped. Rockets crashing. Ferguson. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of “severe, pervasive and irreversible” damage to our environment from global emissions of CO2. Heavy stuff, all of it. And we know many of you face personal challenges that add to these global stressors.

Think about three things that have gone well thus far in your day. Find a piece of paper and write them down. If the list gets longer as you’re writing, go ahead and add more

A few years back, Gioia went on a butterfly binge. Butterflies showed up all the time in her artwork. It seemed to make sense that butterflies appeared—she was going through a lot of changes in her life, many of them positive, and butterflies are often associated with metamorphosis and transformation.

At CWW, we often sing the virtues of getting into flow and, of course, we suggest that doing art is a natural way for people to experience it.

Gioia-Serenity Prayer

Gioia and Rebecca have a running joke about being diametrically opposed in both mood and also our general levels of optimism versus pessimism. Those of you who know them personally can probably easily identify that Gioia is the buoyant optimist and I am the darker pessimist.

Last weekend Gioia took her family to visit her old friend, Sarah, who farms on Maryland’s beautiful Eastern shore.  They arrived in the early evening after a wonderful day of enjoying the water. Sarah and her husband fed us a succulent meal of fresh-picked grilled zucchini, onions, and squash from the farm, and then Gioia’s girls got to pick flowers from their fields. The experience was amazing, and as the sun set, Gioia knew she would be savoring this moment for a while.

We all had to stay straight and proper
in our former lives on the tree;
now down from that cover,
it’s fun to discover how interesting we can be!

Gioia and Rebecca have adopted the title “Strengths Spotters,” from the work of one of their positive psychology heroes, Robert Biswas-Diener.   Not only is it a part of their work and the work of most therapists, but they are both blessed to have this quality in their repertoire of strengths, and particularly in the set of strengths that engage and energize them.

The other week, Gioia attended an informational lecture at her daughter’s elementary school. Many of the teachers had recently read Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset, and were excited to share her work with their students’ parents. Mindset theory, based on decades of research, examines the effect beliefs, outlook, and attitude have on achievement and success.

March of 2014, Creative Wellbeing Workshops is celebrating the completion of co-founder Gioia Chilton’s Ph.D. studies at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Gioia was the first student accepted into Drexel’s new doctoral program in Creative Arts Therapies and now becomes the first student to defend her dissertation. The program director, Dr. Nancy Gerber, wrote about Gioia, “Ms. Chilton has truly been and remains a courageous pioneer and innovator in both our program and in her field.” Congratulations, Gioia!

Not only is love wonderful to both give and receive, but it also improves physical health. That’s part of why we have been using Love-Kindness Meditation (LKM) in our workshops. We follow that up with response art, such as the drawing above done at a recent Smith Center workshop on Mandalas for Meditation, Peace and Healing.