Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Putting Out Fires

" The Dragon's Breath"
Digital Mandala by Kate Jobe

Artfulness extends into everything in life...regardless of your profession.  All things can be approached from an artful perspective.  Art is a dominant factor in my life.  I am also a conflict mediator. Mediating conflict can be challenging, but is also intriguing when the participants begin to see beyond the limitations of their behaviors and open to change.  I compare this pivotal moment to the moment when the web that has created the drama of their enmeshment begins to unravel. 
 
More often than not, the obvious ramifications of the statements they are making have become obscure to them.  The actions of others involved within the conflict are perceived as personal affronts toward each other and, in adapting this perception, they are blind to the root cause of the other's behaviors.  When you are blind and deaf to the truth, fear...evolving into inflamed anger... becomes dominant.
 
To put out these fires and reach the point where new growth can begin, I focus upon teaching them communication skills.  Trust and love are often held prisoners by specters of the past.  Many times, I incorporate associative art techniques to assist in the removal of the veiled webs that have encased them.  These same techniques can unleash and tame memories frozen in time that have now morphed into massive and intolerable beasts that gnash at the dynamics of their lives. 
 
We talk.  We create.  Walls begin to crumble.  Tears may flow.  Webs woven from pain unravel.  Seeds of love and trust take root.  New growth begins.

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