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There are some wonderful blogs on the internet that offer timely and helpful information to readers including:

Psych Central World of Psychology Blog

Psychology Today Blogs

Markham’s Behavioral Health Blog

Depression on My Mind

The Trouble with Spikol

Panic!

Beyond Blue

Walking the Black Dog

Sanctuary: A Mental Health Blog

Anxious No More Blog

Research Digest Blog

The Urban Monk

The Mindfulness Blog

Mindfulness and Psychotherapy

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Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who thought and spoke a great deal about happiness, contentment, and living well. Among the numerous nuggets of wisdom he offered were:

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

“It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life.”

“Not what we have But what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.”

“Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.”

Today, with so much talk about hard times, corporate greed, and the search for the good life, much of his message seems relevant to me today.

Following is a very well produced video entitled, “Epicurus on Happiness. It offers some valuable food for thought. Parts two and three of the three part series are available at y0utube.com

http://www.youtube.com/v/20LTTRQcZ8c&hl=en&fs=1&

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“On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today’s senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community.”

The 2 plus minute trailer is heart warming and inspirational…

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http://www.youtube.com/v/Ge9JqzqL57k&hl=en&fs=1&

“On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting over 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today’s senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community.”

The 2 plus minute trailer is heart warming and inspirational…

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http://www.youtube.com/v/QajhWiBhPhg&hl=en&fs=1&

Foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, T.R. Reid, traveled around the world trying to find an affordable health care system for the United States. In his book, The Healing of America, Reid convincingly argues that an effective universal health care system in the United States is possible. The above video is a brief interview with Reid.

To learn more, check out the following:

5 Myths About Health Care Around the World

Excerpt from The Healing of America

The Healing of America on Fora Tv

Frontline: Sick Around the World (Can the US learn anything from the rest of the world about how to run a health care system?)

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Julia Cameron describes the process of engaging in art as tapping into our ‘vein of gold’ – the origin of our creative impulses as well as our connection to the divine. Each of us, according to Cameron, possesses this precious conduit which can be found at the very heart of our lives. However, if our hearts have been wounded, then they must be healed in order for our vein of gold to flow freely. In her book, “The Vein of Gold” Cameron describes this process of healing as a pilgrimage home to ourselves where, “we will be taking the dross of our lives — the disappointments, wounds, and burdens — and we will make them into gold through the power of creativity. All of our lives are already golden — in potential — if we are willing to do the necessary work of transformation.”

I was speaking with a group of women recently about the importance of creativity and tapping into our unique veins of gold when one woman shared, “I wish I were, but I’m just not creative.” I immediately responded, “when I came into this room today, all I saw at first were strangers. I only knew one person here. Now, in spite of the fact that I’ve learned to hide it well, I’m very shy and so it was uncomfortable for me at first. And then I looked over at you, another unfamiliar face and you immediately gave me such a welcoming and beautiful smile that I relaxed right away. Right at the moment you smiled at me you created a safe place for me.”

I didn’t just say those words to her to make her feel better. I meant them from the bottom of my heart. She has a very special gift that not everyone possesses, and she created something wonderful today, and not just for me. I watched her repeatedly project this warm and healing energy into our group. There are so many ways to be creative and I am tremendously grateful for gifts such as hers. I honor her gift and encourage her to claim it. I encourage you to honor and claim your own creative gifts as well.

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Julia Cameron describes the process of engaging in art as tapping into our ‘vein of gold’ – the origin of our creative impulses as well as our connection to the divine. Each of us, according to Cameron, possesses this precious conduit which can be found at the very heart of our lives. However, if our hearts have been wounded, then they must be healed in order for our vein of gold to flow freely. In her book, “The Vein of Gold” Cameron describes this process of healing as a pilgrimage home to ourselves where, “we will be taking the dross of our lives — the disappointments, wounds, and burdens — and we will make them into gold through the power of creativity. All of our lives are already golden — in potential — if we are willing to do the necessary work of transformation.”

I was speaking with a group of women recently about the importance of creativity and tapping into our unique veins of gold when one woman shared, “I wish I were, but I’m just not creative.” I immediately responded, “when I came into this room today, all I saw at first were strangers. I only knew one person here. Now, in spite of the fact that I’ve learned to hide it well, I’m very shy and so it was uncomfortable for me at first. And then I looked over at you, another unfamiliar face and you immediately gave me such a welcoming and beautiful smile that I relaxed right away. Right at the moment you smiled at me you created a safe place for me.”

I didn’t just say those words to her to make her feel better. I meant them from the bottom of my heart. She has a very special gift that not everyone possesses, and she created something wonderful today, and not just for me. I watched her repeatedly project this warm and healing energy into our group. There are so many ways to be creative and I am tremendously grateful for gifts such as hers. I honor her gift and encourage her to claim it. I encourage you to honor and claim your own creative gifts as well.

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In “Creativity and Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists,” counselor and art therapist, Vivian Rogers wrote the following about artist, Elizabeth Layton:

“The artist, Elizabeth Layton, defied traditional rites of passage in old age. Her point of departure was a 30- year crisis of manic depression and the cruelest blow of all – the death of a child. Yet ahead was an astonishing journey of creativity and personality growth…

…The death of a son precipitated a psychological crisis when she was 67 and was the turning point in Layton’s late life development…

…It had been a rocky road, with a lingering sadness that began in childhood, a failed first marriage, the need to support five young children, and life in a small Midwestern town where, as county newspaper editor, her liberated views often put her at odds with her readers. Thirteen electroshock treatments, lithium and psychotherapy failed to bring any lasting relief. A successful second marriage and the support of loving friends and family also proved inadequate to buffer the pain.”

While grieving for her son, Layton followed her sister’s advice and enrolled in a drawing class at Ottawa University. While taking the course Layton was introduced to blind contour drawing, a technique designed to assist the artist in tapping into the right side of the brain so that he or she experiences what is drawn rather than simply drawing what is seen. “From the inward search, carried on through drawings so stark she could hardly look at them, Layton’s depression lifted, and healing came within the year and her bi-polar symptoms never returned.”

From the time Layton took her first class in her sixties, she completed over a 1,000 drawings, many of which have been displayed in prestigious galleries and museums. Rogers wrote, “At first convinced that it was the contour drawing technique alone that cured her, Layton was later to conclude that it was both the act of blind contour drawing and the finding of meaning in her drawings that made her well. She thought that those who do contour drawing experience some sort of catharsis, some relief from the pain of their emotions as, after the images mysteriously take shape on the page, the artist reflect on the meanings of what they have drawn. …Layton’s written commentary, which often accompanied her drawings, was another way she explored and shared meaning. …Layton said the commentary also provided closure.”

In “The Art Therapy Source Book”, Cathy Malchiodi observes, “Art therapy is a powerful means of making painful and frightening events concrete and dissociating them from ourselves. …one of the most impressive aspects of the arts process is its potential to achieve or restore psychological equilibrium. Art therapy emerged from the idea that art can be used not only to alleviate or contain feelings of trauma, fear, or anxiety but also to repair, restore, and heal.” Therapist and author, Natalie Rogers writes, “Part of the psychotherapeutic process is to awaken the creative life-force energy. Thus creativity and therapy overlap.”

It’s not my intention to suggest for a moment that art is a magical cure for mental illnesses and despair. I wish it were that simple. However, I certainly find Layton’s story to be inspirational and one that supports my belief in the tremendous potential contained within art and other creative acts to foster meaning and facilitate healing.

A free online lesson in Blind Contour Drawing

Drawing Against Depression

Grandma Layton: Art Heals

Progress: Special Edition on the Treatment of Trauma and Creative Arts Therapy

How Creativity Heals

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