130 NATURE-BASED EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY
When asked about his simple practice of making his pinch pots and
returning them to the Earth, Paulus Berensohn (Lawrence 2013) said
that the arts are not a way of making a living but a way of making
a life. Through his doodles, his sewing, his pottery, his letter making,
his journal making and his dancing, Paulus expressed the pain of his
psyche and found peace in the midst of a disabling depression. Such
ways of being help us to embrace the seemingly paradoxical abilities
of letting go, allowing life to unfold and taking courageous action
when appropriate to address issues of ethics and justice. Through
sacred practice, our purpose is “to pay attention, this is our endless
and proper work” (Oliver 2003, p.27). Marianne Adams’s poem
“Daily Practice” is a helpful reminder:
Daily Practice
We never get it right
It’s life work
It has to do with being
Comfortably alone
Honoring our interior lives
And finding our place in the larger world
Marianne Adams (2003)
Our inner alchemy is supported by the commitment to a daily sacred
practice. By transforming our psychological and spiritual lead into
gold, we are better able to promote sanity and sustainability in the
world around us. This is the work of outer alchemy. By tending our
inner lives, we are able to be present and engaged with both the
beauty and ugliness we face.Cultivating an ethic of care
OPENING OUR HEARTS TO THE EARTH:
AN ACT OF VULNERABILITY
The ways that we teach, practice and live matter because we are
shaping the world with our values, attitudes and actions. We are not