Echos of the Heart
Creative Meditations for the Developing Soul
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5/29/2020 1 Comment Patreon Launch!
Hello Curious Creatives! My name is Natalie Knettle I welcome you on a healing & creative journey. For years, I have taught others simple art activities that help them connect to their inner voice & access emotional healing & wholeness. Now, I want to make these art activities available to you! I will teach you simple art activities that will equip you to take a personal journey of self-discovery & growth!
Every month on Patreon, I will release a “Visual Art For Healing” activity in the form of a written prompt, that leads you through a creative art-making activity. Many of these visual art prompts will encourage you to think about your life, relationships & belief system, in order to cultivate a stronger sense of self. There are not many requirements for your journey. All you need is some scrap pieces of paper, simple art supplies, and most importantly, your curious mind & open heart. When you sign up to receive these art activity prompts, you are stepping into a community. I will invite you to be a member of our secret "Visual Art For Healing" Facebook group. On this page you will meet like-minded people who are on a growth journey, who spend time creating the same art activities as you! You will be able to share photos & personal reflections of the Visual Art Prompts you have completed. Along with the Visual Art Prompt, I will post a list of 5 simple "Art For Healing Questions." These questions will help you express, in words, your experience while creating the artwork. Over time, it will serve as an easy method to record your art-making thoughts, feelings & epiphanies! As an artist, I create artwork with themes & concepts that are meant to give others perspective, self-realizations & ultimately heal their soul. Your contribution to my Patreon allows the financial investment for me to continue to create more soul-inspiring work (in & out of my studio) & facilitate Art For Healing / Spiritual Art gatherings in my community. I am here to help you awaken to the sound of your inner voice & create artwork that heals your soul. In the midst of your journey, I will be present with you to encourage, guide & inspire you as you are growing! Let's experience this creative journey together! In joy, - Natalie K. Z.
1 Comment
5/20/2020 2 Comments Deeply Rooted & Rising Strong
As I reflected on the imagery that I wanted to paint for the Detroit based organization "Six Feet Over," I was reminded of how when I was 16 years old a friend of mine had committed suicide. I was devastated, but it elicited a response within my soul that was unprecedented. That feeling was a deep desire to love others. When I lost my friend, I had a realization that I may not be aware of the quiet pain that a person is going through. If there was the possibility that my smile, hug or kind word could give hope to someone in the midst of their pain, then I did not want to miss an opportunity to share that type of love. In the midst of my hurt, I allowed myself to grow, because I knew that people in this world needed intentional love.
The thoughts that transformed me the most in that time was the fact that I maintained a growth mindset or an abundance mindset, instead of a fixed mindset. A fixed or limited mindset has the tendency to believe that "the current negative circumstances that I am living within is all that is possible for my life & there is no possibility for change." A growth mindset carries the perspective that anything worth pursuing in our lives can be cultivated and developed. This mindset believes that I am empowered to change in the ways that I need to, in order to be a better person for myself & for the people around me. As I went throughout life, I realized that the way to maintain long-term change is to make sure that I am firmly rooted, with a solid foundation underneath me. The roots that we grow beneath us, in the soil, would represent our habits, our character, integrity, our self love, a strong sense of our identity and our life purpose. Allowing these traits to grow deep in every area of your life can help make you a grounded person. The more love, trust & self respect we have for ourselves, the more grounded we become, because we are not easily shaken. We must first give ourselves the honor, love & respect that we need, in order to authentically share that type of love with a hurting person. In real life, when you look at a tree, you can tell how deep the roots are because they are the same depth or deeper than the height of the tree. A tree is only as tall as its roots are deep. "The deeper the root, the wider the shoot." When we experience "winter seasons" in our life that feel cold & dark, we are like a tree. In the wintertime, trees focus all of their energy on growing deeper roots into the soil below them, so that when spring-time comes again, they can focus their energy on growing upwards once more. Once we are rooted, we can start growing upwards, outwards & flourishing. We can display all of the health that we have cultivated in our personal lives to the world around us. With our deep roots, our tree is able to confidently take up more space and cultivate more fruit. In my painting, the tree on her head does look heavy, but because she is firmly rooted, she has the strength to carry the weight, grow & flourish with abundance. Then, with the fruits she grows, she can share the food of wisdom and lessons of her life with other people. Like the seedling of a tree, you can always have a new beginning. Where can you start again? |
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