Serious MD Advice-Take A Walk on the Wild Side

                                                                   photo- unknown 

There has been a fox in the hen house or so it has seemed said the newspapers,TV's and radios...

photo- Cecilie7

However, staying centered in faith, love & compassion WE can fly....

to new heights {Isn't that how the story goes? mine does!!!}

 photo- unknown

In our mind's eye and in our dreams, we can climb to new heights,dressed of course, like this willowy dancer

photo by Tim Walker UKVogue 2005

Mind you in my waking hours ,I have been painting the entry walls of my seemingly ancient french bohemian mini chateau,{breath} the color palette is full of blues and aquas, with a dash of black like the grand photo below....no, it is not mine!  I shall promise though, to take photos soon!

photo-Elle Decor

Care for a café creme? or a glass of local wine or an ice cold Orangina?

hmmm...

If you could have lunch with anybody, alive or deceased...anyone at all, who would it be?

My painting pal asked me this very question today.... lovely!

Weekend prescriptions for a happy outlook !

ok,breath,now close your eyes,listen very ,very closely to the silence,even if it only imagined...

 photo-Boubat

now go somewhere lush, somewhere vibrant as though you are once again a child, innocent and loved....

                                                     painting mariechristine Marty (sold)

this is starting to make the crazy week of negative news fade...and you are open to seeing new                                                                     and beautiful things!!! 

you have been invited to the south of France by a famous artist,known for her brilliant palette which reflects the bright sun, the red earth,the rich wines, the presence of centuries of Spanish,Catalan, Italian, and North African layers of traditions, music,dance,arts, In Marie Christine's Salon there are paintings yielding sunflower yellows,burnt oranges,ochres, suggesting the smell of wild figs,lemons, herbs like thyme, sage,lavenders, 

&

you are still feeling new , and fresh to these sensations....like a child of say,4 years old who still can see the auras of angels and the love of the good and the kind beings, those who use their gifts from the heavens,or the powers that be,for positive,for progress,for healing....

                                                   painting mariechristine Marty 

As you grow hungry with all this  ,chocolat fondant is offered by the kind Lady in red....

 painting mariechristine Marty (sold)

she is strong,generous,and kind...you feel safe,she is like the woman of the healing stories about wisdom and fairness...sometimes she is perceived as too strong, or too focused,she knows

and appreciates beauty,loving the details and textures of fine things 

Dior

she knows, as you do ,life can be a fight,a dance with danger or grace or passion or maybe all three, there is comfort in knowing that many have faced the challenges and that we survive and that we can thrive ....

                                               painting mariechristine Marty -Sang et Or                            

  you are feeling strong,your head is held high, proud,yet with a healthy dose of humility,you are sure to move into the challenges of the tomorrow without hesitation, but rather with faith  and hope.... 

                                                                                 Dior

and now you can do a little Irish gig or any other dance for that matter, because you feel grateful and joyous 

 and so safe with the dancing nun!!

Now go spread the joy and hug someone you love!

Healing Health Benefits of Community

Healing Health Benefits of Community- A Shared Blessing Amplifies our Gifts and A Shared Challenge or Difficulty Lightens our Load and Invites Creative Solutions!!! This seems to be ever true in blog land and for this I am truly grateful!!! Merci , read on for the surprise and to find out why I have gone all warm and fuzzy on you in this post!

I am floored actually, upon catching up with my messages  today, I received a delightful surprise from the sweet and talented, Catherine over at , A Thousand Clapping Hands!!!I am so touched and honored.

The surprise was 

Apparently, as Catherine describes  this award-"This award was started by the blogging team at Jane Austen Today" -

 "The aim of the Award is to acknowledge writing excellence in the spirit of Jane Austen's genius in amusing and delighting readers with her irony, humor, wit, and talent for keen observation. Recipients will uphold the highest standards in the art of the sparkling banter, witty repartee, and gentle reprove."

As such I have also learned that-

" Recipients are to please claim your award. You may post the badge, list the name of the person who nominated you and link to their blog. Then you may nominate seven other blogs that you feel meet or exceed the standards set forth. But if by chance, you are Award weary - please just enjoy the honor!"

Right, so this is the Healing Aspect of Blogging Communities- at least to me,you see I believe that the concept of passing it on here is real and valid ! I think that , unlike mainstream Internet sites which focus on news, often very negative in its presentation and analysis, that perhaps blogging serves a higher purpose if, you will. It stretches us by allowing us to focus on ideas!! Rather than allowing us to get stuck in just the ever pressing minutia of everyday life- perhaps,it urges us to evaluate events and interactions with people on a more productive,positive level. 

 It connects , it listens, it offers genuine feedback, it broadens one's perspective, it instructs, it delights, it enchants, it fosters creativity, it honors an individuals personal story through her or his own unique lens. 

 I find this phenomenon fascinating and comforting . I am truly honored to be able to contribute in my own small way and to have the privilege of sharing in the worlds of my favorite bloggers. Speaking of whom -now it is my turn to thoughtfully select the next set of nominees---

I would like to nominate the following blogs:

The Things We Carried
Paris Parfait
Country French Antiques
A Cuban in London
From the Desk of Bee Drunken
JohnstoneJournal
Creme de la Mode

Life at Willow Manor

I hope you are all as tickled as I was to receive this tasteful award,it sure made my day!! Thanks again Catherine at AThousand Clapping Hands

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. 

Eleanor Roosevelt 

photos credit Internet french properties.com

Medical Monday' s Musings: Inspiration & Illness

Here is a sampling of some of my work using choreography, sculpture, photography and poetry to express the profound ways in which  diseases are impacted by the human spirit and the human spirit is affected by diseases. 

These performances were fortunately well received at the American Medical Women's Association in Atlanta. They reflected my commitment (as well a large group of professional and nonprofessional artist's commitments)  to exploring the relationship of the Arts ,Spirituality and Medicine.  I have  previously shared this passion with my blogland friends because it has been so meaningful to me as a clinician and patient .

This work demonstrates the arts abiltiy to explore various disease states- Cancers, Affective Disorders, Cardiac Illness,the  Surgical setting among just a few. 







This was called Dark Night of the Soul- I was invited to create a piece about depression and suicide on behalf of a physician who lost her battle with this lifethreatening disease at an early age.  It was an opportunity to "reframe" clinicians perspective of the disease in a biochemical, behavioral and social context.  





Below is a piece called Tour de Force- about the nature of Breast Cancer,its affects on the family, groups, body image, sexuality, and motherhood. The sculpture is by Christiane Corbat



Truly, there is a movement out there in the medical world which recognizes the value of spirituality in any of its forms or traditions-do explore this subject because I believe that regardless of our religious or cultural backgrounds that there are universal truths which bind us and inspire us during times of crisis or illness or loss.  I find that knowing the medical world has opened up to embrace all facets, or at least more facets of the our healing potentials , might be reassuring to all of us. 

•  like Dr. Herbert Benson's Harvard Mind ,Medicine and Spirituality Conferences,
  
  
• like Waking Dreams & Warrior Women's programs 
• like the work of Christina Puchalski, MD 

  Puchalski, M.D."  Dr. Puchalski is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Health Care Sciences at The George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish), a center that develops educational, clinical, and research programs for physicians and other healthcare professionals regarding the role of spirituality and health in medicine. Dr. Puchalski is an internationally known leader in the field of spirituality and health and a recognized pioneer in the field, especially in curriculum development for Spirituality and Health. Her curriculum has received honors and has been the model for innovative curricula throughout the country. Through her efforts, over 75% of medical schools today teach courses in spirituality and health. My work has intersected Christina's work to a some degree in my authorship of a chapter in her bookA time for Listening and Caring and End of Life Issues---.The Arts: A Nondenominational Tool for Reconnecting Spirituality & Medicine, Oxford Press chapter 20  Monday's medical musings are not so painful,yes? Tommorrow night is about wings:

If only wars could be surgically excised ? art as diagnostic??

I believe art can be a window to our subconscious as well as our conscious,hence it prompted me to look at the artwork of painters from Palestine and Israel because of their ongoing conflicts.


This first image is by an artist from Palestine by the name of Zuhdie al Adawi He spent time in prison and began to create his images on fabric which were smuggled out by visiting relatives as a way to communicate his experience-the barred window and fiery building dominate the painting with a dark misery related to his confinement.
Likewise , this second painter,Samar Ghttass also a palestian artist,
chose to paint an outlet ,like the window- which is a door,yes, I knew we would get that !! It is however, closed and the threshold is covered by crumbling rocks. Not particularly optimistic symbols. and yet in each painting there are symbols of HOPE and PEACE, at least that is how I see them- a rainbow in the upper one and a dove in the lower one. Even amidst trauma, the human spirit clings to HOPE-


I wonder if the pain of the traumas and restrictions prevent people from accessing their best inner resources for creating meaningful change? I know from medicine that this is so ,yet when applied to a society rooted in a long history of violence,displacement, and wars- is the human spirit so overwhelmed that they are incapable of trusting and halting their attempts for change even if it is self destructive and provocative-as is shooting rockets into a neighboring nation?

The painting here by David Gerstein,an Israeli artist,
reflects an openness, using similar symbols- here though there are open windows, playful figures, flowers and space!

Similarly,Pamela Silver's colorful, yes, vibrant rendering of a garden has trees,plants and life giving space that breaths calm and creativity.


It looks like the first set of paintings reflect a very traumatized culture who may need help sorting out viable solutions and yet, the second set of painting reflects a society with more resources to think outside the box--to react with a set of options that are not primitive, cruel and backward moving- it is like reopening a wound to such a degree that it will not heal and perhaps become outrageously infected,thus fulminating and contaminating others.

My hope is a cease fire can be brought about somehow !!!

art and the blessed variety of women's form throughout the ages

This great presentation was created by a talented french graphic artist CALI REZO



This work depicts the evolution of the female form using art!

I sure wished I had had this tool in my pediatric and adolescent office when I was working on art and healing projects with teens with body image destortions and eating disorders!
Get this,I used to use long pieces of examining table paper which my patient and I would put on the floor and then we would trace his or her body shape. Most often they had determined it would have been much bigger than it turned out to be in reality. Then they would take the paper tracing home and creat a collage within the space using words,objects or colors which later we would discuss.

It was very rewarding work for both of us-They discovered their unconscious symbols by using them to create a rich,detailed mosaic which portrayed their inner beauty.

They told their story in a visual way full of textures and subliminal meanings and they learned to honor their own stories within their own forms!
It was a wonderful collaborative connection and made me feel grateful to be witnessing a healing they brought about for themselves.

Let's face it the mass media is still pushing stick figures forms,prepubital at that! so when I came across this piece by CALI REZO I thought hooorah someone has taken the time and used her talents to give women a wake up call that no, the beauty of the female form has varied over time and within cultures.

It has been altered by the socio-economics and the art and design of the times!
Here the artist shares that fullness and curvatiousness of a women was initially related to her strength and potentially a sign of fertility!

So lighten up , it may be bathing suit season soon but, let's reframe,after all choose any form and it relates to a work or period of art!