Gratitude in Difficult times

Quote from Dana Jennings reflections in the New York Times on his cancer journey:

 

"When you have cancer, when you’re being cut open and radiated and who knows what else, it can take a great effort to be thankful for the gift of the one life that we have been blessed with. Believe me, I know.

 

And sometimes, in the amnesia of sickness, we forget to be grateful. But if we let our cancers consume our spirits in addition to our bodies, then we risk forgetting who we truly are, of contracting a kind of Alzheimer’s of the soul.

Gratitude is an antidote to the dark voice of illness that whispers to us, that insists that all we have become is our disease. Living in the shadow of cancer has granted me a kind of high-definition gratitude.   I’ve found that when you’re grateful, the world turns from funereal gray to incandescent Technicolor."

Today, whatever it has brought, consider drawing a mandala of gratitude. Start with being thankful for your hands and the ability make marks. Remember, drawing is simply mark-making! Use color freely and expressively, seeing where it leads you. Gratitude is gratitude whether it's for the largest most grand thing you can muster up or for the seemingly most insignificant thing imaginable.  Create your mandala and see what words it presents to you.



Gratitude for:
My Hands.
Vibrant colors.
Nighttime stars.
Courage.
Blessings.
Blurred Lines.
Softness.
Insights, great and small.
Worthiness. 
Boundaries.
Lessons learned.
Falling in love 3 times a day.

 

 

 

 

Partnering with Center for Colon Cancer Research of USC

Healing Icons® is partnering with Dr. Frank Berger and The Center for Colon Cancer Research of USC to provide a series of arts and healing workshops for colon cancer survivors this Fall.  There will be no cost for participants to take part in these workshops due to the generous underwriting of CCCR! 

 

Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a deeply jarring experience that ushers the cancer patient into a world of overwhelming psycho-social and spiritual issues.  In this summer’s CURE MAGAZINE, the article Vital Signs: recognizing & managing distress can lead to better outcomes speaks to the importance of healing the whole person, not just the body!

“Most of the time, negative emotional responses to cancer, such as vulnerability and sadness, are normal, manageable and temporary. But for more than one-third of patients, cancer instills an avalanche of fear, anger and anxiety that takes over and doesn't go away, intensifying the experience. Experts call this response "distress," and it is an increasing focus of comprehensive cancer care.

Many doctors have come to accept that treating distress will not only improve the quality of life for people living with cancer but will also enhance treatment adherence, hasten recovery times and even lower healthcare costs. In fact, so much support has coalesced around the value of recognizing distress that, starting in 2015, more than 1,500 cancer centers in the nation will need to screen patients for distress to maintain their accreditation with the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.”

We need more than medicine to heal.  The creative act ushers us past verbal expression into a silent realm full of color, shape, texture and image.  Within this world, a different kind of strength and healing is accessed where anxiety and distress loosens its hold.   Absolutely no experience is needed to participate in Healing Icons® offerings!

Who: Adult Colon Cancer Survivors   

What: A series of art & healing workshops

When: You may register for one or all three!    Absolutely no experience is required!   

Thursday September 26^th from 1pm – 5pm

Mandalas for Centering Strength

Thursday October 10^th from 1pm – 5pm

Mandalas for Harvesting Gratitude

Thursday October 24^th from 1pm – 5pm

Mandalas for Restoring Balance

Where: The Lourie Center

1650 Park Circle   Columbia, SC   29201

Located near the intersection of Blossom and Pickens in Five Points, next to Maxcy Gregg Pool,

adjacent to the beautiful University of South Carolina campus.  

Why: We need more than medicine to heal

How: Register by email - info@healingicons.org or call Kendra at 777-1231

More information: www.healingicons.org                            

About your instructors:

Heidi Darr-Hope, founder of Healing Icons, has been a visual artist for over 4o years and has ushered

thousands of cancer patients through The Art of Survival.    

 Christy Clonts, of Wisdom Scout Coaching and Ceremonies, is a Holistic Life Coach,

Life Cycle Celebrant®,  writer and teacher.