Drum for Life

I just met Christine Stevens from UpBeat Drum Circles and thought you would love her. For those of you dealing with the holiday headaches and heartaches check out her healing drum kit!

We should bring a few of those to the Army of Angels Conference in March! I'll add a video of this shortly but wanted to give you her site so you could check her out. She is going to Iraq in April for the 3rd time to do a healing drum circle. Wow.

Points with Purpose

http://www.pointswithpurpose.com/

Check that out! Another artist using art for healing and awareness and that is always inspiring!

Sword of Trauma

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These images are part of my new event - Removing the Sword of Trauma. You can contact my mom at events@angelashelton.com or joann@angelashelton.com to bring me to your community.

I love this program!

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The 30 Day Finding Angela Shelton Journey!

Check out this amazing letter I received! It is from the 30 Day Finding Angela Shelton Journey. WOW!

Hi Angela Shelton.

What a ride! Today was my Day 30 on your Angela Shelton Journey. I can only begin to tell you how emotional the last 37 days have been for me. So many tears and emotions that some days I just couldn't click on the day's Journey email, and had to wait a day or two.

Thank you thank you thank you. Your program is truly inspired and a blessing from all that is good and loving and healing in the universe. Your messages are right-on, and your videos so intense, funny, and personal. I have learned SO much and still have work to do, but a shift in my healing has definitely taken place.

I thought I would share with you my Day 22 drawing of what joy would look like to me. This was done with markers on a file folder. I certainly wouldn't have felt this without your program, and the assignment gave me this light-hearted image of joy. I have kept it up where I see it many times each day, and it makes me smile every time, and lifts those old vibes up.

I will also share my Day 26 Mission Statement:

I am a beautiful entity, a divine spark of God who is on this planet to learn to love and to play and love and have fun. I pray to be a fountain of love to the world and to be a bright loving light to myself and therefore to others. I am joyous Jaye who exited the blame game.

Thank you for your work, from deep in my heart to you, and so much more than I can say right now.

Jaye

Joyful Music for a Joyful Life!

What does the soundtrack to your life sound like? I am a big believer that life has a soundtrack. A well-known radio station where I live has a "Rock of the '90's" show each weekday during the noon hour. I have decided that listening to this radio show when I am able to is part of my new routine of Joyful Living.

Perhaps like many of us, the 1990's don't contain many memories that one would desire to recall. My abuse during this period was entrenched and regular at this point. I spent the majority of that time deeply depressed, self-destructive, and actively suicidal---I saw no other way out.

However, what I DO like to recall from that period is the "soundtrack." I am a type of person that takes comfort and finds deep meaning in analysis of song lyrics and music. In fact, I am planning future scholarly research on the effects music has on mood and conduct. What we listen to does "train our brain" and influence us more than we know!

So, as part of "The Joy Campaign" I have created an iTunes play list consisting of songs that arouse joyful feelings within me. Most of them make me want to dance around. That is a way that I express joy all the time. I dance around like a crazy woman! Definitely like nobody is watching!

I want to invite the rest of you who use iTunes and other online music services where music can be shared (and I do mean legally, people!) to do the same. Publish them on iTunes. Mention "The Joy Campaign" and Angela Shelton when you write your description so we can find each others lists. Imagine all the joyful tunes we could compile together?! It's about SPREADING THE JOY! Every person's list will look different. As a form of art, music has different meanings to each person.

Everybody has had that "one song stuck on repeat in your head". I don't think I have had a day alive where I haven't had some song looping through my brain! Make sure it's a song that is going to influence your thoughts and conduct in a positive way. Allow it to be a song that brings a smile to your face and to your heart. Angela has said before, take that love-song that's your absolute favorite and sing it with YOU as the subject!

Can't wait to see how creative you all get, and to see us all sharing the songs that contribute to our joy!

As a starter, here is my JOYFUL PLAY-LIST. You'll have to have iTunes installed to view and preview the music. It can be easily downloaded at www.itunes.com for free!

BE JOYFUL, DANCE AROUND, LOVE YOURSELF!

What is Art Therapy and Why is it important to work with an Art Therapist?

What I know about art:
art is fun
art can be messy
art surprises
art tells a story
art can keep a secret
art is curious
art is poignant
art saves lives
What is Art Therapy and why is it important to work with an Art Therapist?
Art therapy is making art with a person who is educated about how art and your psyche relate. Working with a real Art Therapist (there is a master’s degree and nationally recognized credential for this field!) makes a difference. Because art making is so powerfully transformative huge shifts can come very quickly. It is important to know how to contain big feelings as they come up.
You might not know that some materials could be triggering to those of us that are carrying scary memories. [For example, while using clay can be a grounding experience, using red or brown clay could be retraumatizing for a person that has been abused around blood or feces. White or gray clay would make a better choice if you are using clay.]

Some of us need containment, yes, but some of us are so numbed out and our feelings are so shut down that we need help to become MORE expressive.
Q. If I don’t even know what I’m feeling, how can art help me?
A. Some materials can stimulate your creative juices and bring up your energy. With art therapy you might find dreams changing. You might become more aware of your surroundings. You might find your relationship with yourself and your past changing. As you gain more control in your art you may find you gain more control in your life, too.

A good Art Therapist will know what materials and interventions are appropriate for you as you work together.

My personal philosophy about art making is this: I believe that we are all made of the same creative stuff that created the universe. Therefore, when you stimulate creativity in one area of your life (making art, dancing, writing a poem, knitting, etc.) other parts of your creativity are also stimulated. When we do something creative we begin to heal in thousands of unseen ways because we are tapping into that original creative source from which we are made.

There is much more information about Art Therapy out there. Here are some links:
www.arttherapy.org (I regret their “Art Therapist locator” page is not working at the moment)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jY4s-3UEjg

You may have guessed by now that I am an Art Therapist myself. I live and work in Ann Arbor, MI. Here is my URL: www.artistrees.com Contact me if you have questions!
-All the best,
Susan Boyes, ATR-BC, LMHC
Registered Art Therapist, Board Certified
Licensed Mental Health Counselor