In my very first post, Priming the Pump, I wrote about Source, or the Wellspring from which creativity and life flows…and my beloved Wilsonia.
My family of origin, through trauma and tragedy lost all photographs and memorabilia. It was, in effect, an obliteration of the ancestors. The family history. And, as time went on, it was as if some part of me, or my past had never existed.
When I stumbled onto the art of Jana Botkin, a kind of photographic memory in my psyche was constellated. And the realization that without the reflecting mirror of the image, the effect was akin to being a woman without a past. No wonder, at times, I have been so orphaned and bereft! No mirror in people, places or things to remind me of who I was, where I came from, and how far I have come!
Stimulated by photos and drawings of my dearly beloved childhood sanctuary, helped me to remember myself.
It is through the image that healing takes place:
“The great problems of life…are always related to the primordial images of the collective unconscious. These images are really balancing or compensating factors which correspond with the problems life presents in actuality. This is not to be marveled at, since these images are deposits representing the accumulated experience of thousands of years of struggle for adaptation and existence.” C. G. Jung
It is through the artful image that body and soul are released and restored.
Susan, I’m so happy to have been of help to you to reconnect you with your past. I’ve never considered what it would be like to not have photos of my own history.
Jana,
So you see, the gifts of the artist, YOUR art, you could not predict or imagine.
That is what Martha Graham meant: it is yours…to express…without comparison or judgment.
i.e., the world needs your art. Love always, and hope to meet you in Wilsonia some day. SDM
“The great problems of life…are always related to the primordial images of the collective unconscious. These images are really balancing or compensating factors which correspond with the problems life presents in actuality. This is not to be marveled at, since these images are deposits representing the accumulated experience of thousands of years of struggle for adaptation and existence.” C. G. Jung
Vox Anima, SDM
Susan Davis Martin, M.A., M.F.T. & StillDancing... 
Susan, I’m so happy to have been of help to you to reconnect you with your past. I’ve never considered what it would be like to not have photos of my own history.
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Jana,
So you see, the gifts of the artist, YOUR art, you could not predict or imagine.
That is what Martha Graham meant: it is yours…to express…without comparison or judgment.
i.e., the world needs your art. Love always, and hope to meet you in Wilsonia some day. SDM
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P.S. Glad to have your voice on my blog!
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