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Embracing
a Soulful Life
by Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D., A.T.R. |
Embracing a soulful life began with life-threatening illness. I found myself
in a sick bed with a mysterious condition the doctors could not diagnose
correctly much less treat. Unable to function due to severe fatigue and other
symptoms, I was forced inward. My soul's journey was launched, and so was my
healing.
My refuge became a sketch pad which transformed into a personal journal, a
record of my inner search to find a reason to live. I had been a professional
artist and designer for almost fifteen years up to this time. I had survived
five years of constant crisis: family illness, a divorce, dissolution of my
business partnership, many changes of residence and jobs. The world, as I had
known it, had fallen apart. And so had I.
As an artist, it was as natural for me to draw as it was to write, so I did
both in my journal. Free-wheeling explosions of color, symbolic images, and
poetic words meandered across the page. Through words and images, I recorded
my dreams, drew my feelings, wrote about memories, and created visions of a
possible future. My inner world came tumbling out on paper for me to see,
examine and embrace. I was speaking the language of symbols, the soul's
native tongue.
Slowly I began to feel better. As I listened more closely to my soul, it
suddenly began speaking through a child's voice within, a child who had been
long buried, my feeling self. And a voice of immense creativity came bursting
out on its heels, followed by images of an inner wisdom figure who spoke with
elegant simplicity, guiding me each step of the way. My body began to heal
and within a few weeks I was on the road to full health.
What was birthed was a new life, a new career as an art therapist, and later
my work as an author of books about this immensely expansive approach to
journaling. I called it the Creative Journal Method and have used it to guide
my life ever since. I ascribe my healing without drugs or medical treatment
(from what was later diagnosed as a collagen disease) to journal work
combined with a brief time in psychotherapy.
The most important aspect of my journal explorations were written dialogues
with my body, my inner child, my inner wisdom voice. I discovered that if I
asked questions with my dominant hand, and answered with my non-dominant hand
(the hand I don't normally write with), guidance would come from a very deep
soul place. It is an understatement to say that this tool changed my life
forever. And it has changed the lives of countless others who have found it
in my books or learned it in workshops.
I found my soul's voice at the scariest and most painful time of my life. But
by listening, truly listening to what it said, I began living a soulful life
every day, not just in a time of crisis.
© Copyright 2002 Lucia Capacchione.
All Rights Reserved.
Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D, A.T.R, is an internationally known art therapist,
corporate consultant, trainer and best-selling author of 12 books including,
Recovery of Your Inner Child, The Creative Journal, and The Power of Your
Other Hand and her new title, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of
Your Dreams (Tarcher/Putnam).
Dr. Capacchione conducts public workshops and trains professionals
internationally through her Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification
Program. Her books have been translated into several languages and her work
has been endorsed by such experts in the health field as Joan
Borysenko, Bernie Siegel, Louise Hay, Gerald Jampolsky and Norman Cousins.
Recognized for her ground-breaking discovery of the healing power of
writing and drawing with the non-dominant hand, Dr. Capacchione is a pioneer
in healing and recovery through expressive arts. She has been the subject of
many magazine and newspaper articles and frequent guest on radio and
television. She is director of the Creative Journal Expressive Arts
certification training program for professionals.
An inspiring speaker, workshop leader and director of spiritual retreats,
Dr. Capacchione engages audiences with playful, hands-on experiences. Widely
acclaimed for her ability to catalyze innate creativity and inner wisdom, her
methods are being applied in education, medicine, mental
health, the arts and the entertainment industry.
Website address: www.luciac.com
P.O. Box 1355, Cambria, CA 93428 USA
Phone: (805) 546-1424
Some of Lucia's Other
Books:
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