THE FEELING PRACTITIONER
Thoughts whilst grieving
a distant land and distant people.
The dance of the therapeutic artists.
On neutrality in practice
As a practicing artist stepping into her role as art therapist
and circle facilitator, sharing one’s worldly view comes into question.
A moment of examination.
Do we hold a neutral stance.
Only showing the benefits of our craft our therapies.
Speak only of who you can become. The joy after the clearing.
The dance, the laughter, the empowerment.
A regulated nervous system. Peace.
Do we ignore the pain points.
The external world that bombards, soaks, and seeps in.
Each time we find a small patch of solid ground. That internal sanctum.
Or do we speak to what is here.
Unmasked. The duality.
The paradox of blood and bone existing in this earthly realm.
On being human in therapeutic space
We are, first and foremost, human.
Sentient. We will always feel.
Rationalise it away as much as you like.
You are here to feel your way through.
And I do question at times.
Does this make me unsuited to the therapeutic realm.
Too invested in the pain felt across the globe.
Or does it make me precisely suited.
Able to sit with those whose reality does not reconcile
with the idea of a hopeful future.
Who feel out of place in a world that asks them to be okay
with what is not okay.
Where sensitivities are treated as dysfunction.
Where normality is born from the casualties
and reaping of those who pillaged.
And still, you are expected to get on with your day.
To function. To be at ease.
In an increasingly dis-eased and unnormal world.
Images: Views from Lebanon. Unsplash.
On systems and suppression
The sun is shining in Melbourne.
Everything appears as it should.
And yet beneath that, people are bracing. Holding.
Consciously or unconsciously preparing
for the repercussions of world leaders.
The pursuit of constant peace, joy, enlightenment.
It is not only difficult. At times, it is limiting.
At times, it reads as toxic positivity.
Practitioners are on their own journey.
Do not place them on pedestals. They will fall.
Do not worship them. They are not immune.
They are permeable.
They move through the same muddied states of being.
We are all sentient. This plane offers all feeling.
On emotionality as practice
Perhaps the difference is this.
We develop ways to keep moving toward hope.
And within hope, there is expression.
A place to feel.
To somatically, visually, vocally acknowledge what is present.
Even in the so called lower states.
This is not weakness.
With trained perception, it is raw, uncensored bravery.
To speak.
To stand in the face of injustice.
To feel and say no more.
This is power.
Freedom and liberation from colonial, institutional and systemic forces
that depend on suppression, silence, and uninterrupted functioning
so their operations and harvesting do not stop.
Images: Views from Lebanon. Unsplash.
On oscillation
So yes.
The practitioner is sentient.
The practitioner feels.
The state of the world affects them.
And still, they show up.
They break at times.
And they also model peace, love, and joy in their everyday life.
Both are true.
And just as important as the modelling
is the allowance of oscillation.
Therapists, healers, creatives are not immune.
If anything, they dive deeper. Often unassisted.
Into the unconscious.
Where what is avoided festers.
Manipulates. Gains control.
We look at it directly.
And we offer tools to navigate when it takes hold.
We chip away at the calcification
of patterns that disconnect us
from what hurts most.
Mind. Body. Soul.
We hold it.
For ourselves and for others.
This is why we are called into this work.
On clarity
In working this through, I am clear now.
I will continue to create, speak, and
share the full breadth of human experience.
Not a softened version. Not a palatable one.
But an honest one.
My emotionality does not weaken my practice.
It informs it. And extends into those I hold.
I do the dance.
If you are a feeler, take care.
This space is real.
Sometimes I feel so angry.
Then... I sit down and I write.
- Toni Morrison.
Let’s add to this insight. We…
…stand at our canvas and paint,
…show up and listen,
…move our bodies and dance,
…lift our voice and sing,
…tend to something living.
Until it shifts.
We do not get rid of our feelings.
We move through them.
And I would love to hear from you…
Do you believe neutrality is still honest in the world we are living in.
How do you sit with what you feel, and still show up to hold others.
What are you no longer willing to bypass.
With love,
- A. xo