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September 23rd,
2001 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| YouCanDraw.com Communiqué |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Hi all, It’s been a tragic 12 days. After a short 12 days many seem to be “jumping right back in”. You can see it here in most of LA - at least on the surface. Being 3000 miles from “Ground Zero” makes it less real. Those closer to the tragedy, well it’ll be a long, long time before things feel better or make any sense. If that’s you I hope you’re making your way through them little by little. YouCanDraw.com is a site that promotes learning to draw and learning to draw by drawing caricatures. Funny thing though - and you’ve probably discovered it too - it’s hard to do caricatures. Somehow, it doesn’t seem quite right. That’s really not so hard to understand: who wants to make fun of anyone right now? Drawing funny pictures of people can be an act of affection though too. And humor can be lifesaver. Still, the interest hasn’t been there. In time, I know the old funny bone will come back. Drawing is therapeutic But I have been drawing. And you know what? I’ve found the drawing a powerful antidote - even if it’s temporary - to all that’s going on around. Is that escape? or denial? I asked myself that too. If it is, I don’t think anyone would criticize me or you for that. But more than that, I’ve found it an anchor - even if only for a half hour one day, 45 minutes two days later. Art therapists have found it’s easier to get troubled kids to talk about what’s bothering them by getting them to talk about what and who they draw. Adult or child, drawing is therapeutic. “Facing adversity introduces us to ourselves”. That’s a quote president Bush used in his speech 1 week ago. That’s a wonderful statement - even if you’ve heard it said 50 different ways before he said it. It still brings up a powerful point: It’s easy to tip toe around our gifts, our desires. I’m talking about big “D” desire - as in big LIFE desires like “I want to be the greatest writer, greatest painter, I want to the best surgeon or statesman/woman or most insightful poet or mother or father”. Big desires. As opposed to little “d” desires like “I want to go to the mall, I want a new car, I want / need a new purple polka-dot and gold Bullwinkle baseball hat”. It’s easy to ignore what’s important until we realize how easy it can all be taken away, how easy we can lose everything. Our lives included. The "Bigger Picture" James Hillman talks about big “D” desires in his book "The Soul’s Code". He called it “The Acorn Theory”: The idea: we’ve all got a mission in this life. It’s this idea we all have a pre-outlined pre-chosen map for our lives that God and us figured out before we were conceived on earth. When you’re off track, you know it - sort of. You start having symptoms: all that flitting around, Band-Aid sorts of little “d” desires start popping up, we drink, party, avoid commitment, snap at people, get cynical, get paranoid blah blah blah. They’re symptoms because they’re uncomfortable, painful, they’re never really satisfying. And if they seem to be, they’re always very short-lived. Getting back on track When you’re on track, all sorts of invisible helping hands start appearing. Now maybe you’re meant to be the world’s greatest caricaturist, maybe not. But maybe you were grabbed by those invisible helping hands or by your own roustabout version of a guardian angel (a “Daimon” as Hillman reminds us the Greeks called it) when you were nabbed by the deep inner urge to start drawing. Or maybe drawing is just a piece of a larger version of who you’re supposed to become. Whichever it is, whatever fits your original reason for learning to draw, now more than ever, don’t let it go! Fit it in. If you’re so grief struck, give that your time - but eventually weave the drawing back into your life. It IS therapeutic. And it, along with the other things you know you’re supposed to be doing, helps rebuild, helps reestablish your own firm foundation. Honoring those old hopes and dreams can get you back on track. I going to wait until next week for the next caricature - but I will have it for you :-) Warmly and with Peace, Shalom, Aloha, Salem Alechem, Jeff K. PS: link to James Hillman's "The Soul's Code": http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446673714/qid=1001306357/sr= 1-1/ref=sr_1_6_1/104-3315807-1892741 Executive Director (310) 676-2998 4702-C West 130th Street Los Angeles CA, 90250 http://www.YouCanDraw.com "Once and for all getting you drawing faces and caricatures" mailto:comments@youcandraw.com
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