My entry into my sixties was rocky. I had lost my sense of purpose, so I enrolled in a spirituality class, hoping to tap into my inner wisdom and find a new direction. I was open to anything; nevertheless, I was surprised by my first assignment: “Paint something.” Other than writing, I’d not exercised any creative muscles in a long time, so I cheated with a practice run. I went online and bought a “Paint Your Own Unicorn” kit marketed to “three years old and up.” And still I panicked. Staring at the colorless unicorn while spreading out the mini-me-sized paints, glitter, and stickers, I doubted I could get anywhere close to the lovely unicorns supposedly created by the kids on the box. I was scared to try. But this was just my practice run, so I picked up the bigger brush and focused on swirling it around the unicorn, then used a thinner brush for fine details like eyes and hooves. Stroke by stroke, something magical happened. The world slipped away. Was my unicorn perfect? Not at all. But by the time I added glitter and tiny stickers, I felt a new sense of ownership—of me. Looking back, that unicorn changed my life.
The unicorn led me to painting on small canvases, molding small figurines from clay, and stringing beads to make a bracelet. It prodded me to release my voice through musical chanting and channel my emotions by drumming. It poked me into making creative feng shui collages using symbols, charms, and images. Before I knew it, I was riding into a new life that included creating online exhibits, writing new books, and acing grad school papers.
BECOMING A BEGINNER AGAIN
This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of Spirituality & Health.
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This story is from the July/August 2023 edition of Spirituality & Health.
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MY BODY IS A WONDERLAND
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