RESISTANCE AND HEALING
H
ave you ever spent time in Santa Fe? There's a
subculture of "healing" there. The idea is that
there's something therapeutic in the atmosphere. A
safe place to go and get yourself together. There are
other places (Santa Barbara and Ojai, California, come
to mind), usually populated by upper-middle-class
people with more time and money than they know what
to do with, in which a culture of healing also obtains.
The concept in all these environments seems to be
that one needs to complete his healing before he is ready
to do his work.
This way of thinking (are you ahead of me?) is a form
of Resistance.
What are we trying to heal, anyway? The athlete knows
the day will never come when he wakes up pain-free. He has
to play hurt.
Remember, the part of us that we imagine needs healing
is not the part we create from; that part is far deeper and
stronger. The part we create from can't be touched by
anything our parents did, or society did. That part is
unsullied, uncorrupted; soundproof, waterproof, and
THE WAR OF ART