Remember the Sun :)

This is a shot of the 2011 winter sun shining over Camel's Hump from the VAST trail off of Stagecoach Road in Stowe.. The days after a storm are always the clearest and brightest here in northern Vermont.. We don't see the sun as much as we would like to between the months of November and March, but when it does make an appearance, it is just amazing as ever!!

                                                         Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgivings conjure up all sorts of memories of holidays past.

My earliest recalls are at a farm in Chepatchet, Rhode Island.
My 7 cousins and their parents lived there and we always seemed to spend
Thanksgiving Day with my Mom and Dad, Uncle Ben and Aunt Audrey, Uncle Bob and Aunt Grace and the 3 families of children totaling 16.

It seems fitting to celebrate this holiday on a farm. A day of cooking and preparing meats and vegetables for a warm evening feast. As the children, we would roam the farm; feeding the chickens, running with the dogs, playing hide and seek in the barn and having all kinds of fun. Meanwhile, the moms and dads toasted the day while gathered around the hearth and the turkey in the kitchen.

As the sun went down, we would sit around a large farm house table passing the turkey, stuffing, summer squash and peas and loving my grandmother Riley's left-handed potatoes. Everyone had a part in Aunt Audrey's kitchen and it all seemed to go off without a hitch.

The cousins all loved apple pie but there seemed to be pecan and mince as well. They served the pie with ice cream and my dad always like coffee ice cream with his pie.. After dessert my uncles, Bob and Ben sometimes known as Bad and Worse, would get out their banjos and start singing and playing with all of us..It was a great time and we would laugh and sing some of their old songs or just hum along if we didn't know the words.. It was sort of the grand finale to the holiday..

At that time the television was limited to one room in the home and they probably also had one wall phone.. So there was no technology; no cell phone distractions, no television football bonanzas.. AND everyone was talking, laughing and conveying.. Happy times they were..I remember listening to a lot of stories and lively discussions of their past and Thanksgiving Days of long ago.

In later years as we all grew to teens, Uncle Ben sold the farm and moved to Florida to retire with Aunt Audrey.. We had held Thanksgiving a few times with everyone in suburbia but it never seemed to have the same feeling of being away from it all, out on a farm..

I went to college in Burlington, Vermont and once I graduated, I moved and worked in NYC.
Working in the city made me realize how much I missed the farms and the mountains, so we restarted that tradition of Thanksgiving on the farm. We are now in our 34th year of celebrating Thanksgiving here and it seems fitting since most of the food we eat, celebrate and are grateful for originates here in places like Vermont..

Thanksgivings conjure up all sorts of memories of days gone by. 

I am happy to spend a day of thanks and gratitude with my husband and children right here on a farm

looking to a future of more people appreciating each other, communicating more and spending more family time together. 

This is an important American holiday which helps all of us get through the dark cold winter and bring light to the rest of the world on how important it is to give thanks..

Amazing She Was; Audrey

                                                            Riley Gang. circa 1980

  

(To my cousins; Sharon, Stephanie, Robin and Pat)

Dear Girls,

I am so saddened to hear of Audrey’s passing. She is the world's best mother. 

I am in awe of your mom to this day. Birthing and raising 7 children, she did it quietly 

and flawlessly with Uncle Ben off each week connecting VT. to the rest of the world working for AT&T.. Amazing she was, Audrey..

One time a few years ago when Lilli was a freshman in college, we were driving around Sarasota, Florida and visited Aunt Audrey when she was still living with Uncle Ben in "Golden Gulf Gate".

It was the beginning of car navigators and we called our navigator Sandy. I guess because we were at the beach. Little did we know that name would come back to haunt us this week. But it helped us to find your mom and dad. We had a very nice visit. She showed us all of the grapefruit and orange trees right in her front yard and the beautiful eucalyptus.. It was her very own paradise..

Years later when Gene got his navigator for the car, he asked “what should we name this navigator,?” and immediately I said “Audrey, “ after your mom, because she was to me, the compass for our family after the other five had passed.

She was a role model; raising 7 children on a farm in the country, in the fresh air with lots of room.  And once the kids were grown, she was off to Florida to be surrounded by family in her later years.  She had a wonderful life and that is what I always try to focus on when someone close to me dies; what a great life on earth they did have..

So with Audrey joining the other five, it is hard for us down here on earth because she has been with all of us the whole way..

So Cry, cry and cry as hard as you can, whenever you want to -- because you will miss her more than you know. I think losing my parents and Kathy was the hardest thing I have ever experienced in my life..

But time does heal.  It has been 4 years since Mom died, 6 years since Papa and Lisa and 9 years since Kathy.. Suddenly though, after their death, you will feel them always with you and even closer when you need them in a spiritual way..

Holding babies helps a lot as well as spending time with your children and grandchildren.. That and making the best of each day is what it really is all about.  We are all here for a very short time and seeing other people leave is not easy.

These people made us; literally and figuratively.. And for some reason after they die, you feel even closer to them especially in times of need and uncertainty.  And don’t forget to walk, everyday, because you will see wonderful things and you will feel better..

When the hurricane hit last week on the north east coast of the country and left the place in Narragansett standing, I said to Rick, “well, we’re still here and so is the place, “ so onward we go, all of us …

My heart aches for you girls. But you have each other, so be strong and stay in touch.

Love you,

JMC

                                                    Phone Etiquette, It’s about being Present

It’s Time to have a little talk about phone etiquette. I realized this when I was in a restaurant with my husband yesterday. These two women seated next to us were finishing their lunch and one woman pulled out her phone. It was almost as if she were saying to her lunch date, this lunch is now over and I have more important things to look at. The lunch date pulled out her lipstick and mirror vs. her phone. And I thought; good for her, because that was so rude..

One of the worst examples of rude phone behavior is when walking by someone who sees you and knows you but does not want to say hello; They will pull out their phone  as a snub and pretend they are talking to some one to avoid you and a conversation with you. How much easier it would be to just smile and say hello..

We flew out to California to visit my son a few years ago when he was in college out there. The phones were relatively still a novelty but he kept looking down at dinner and I realized he was texting under the table. I quietly told him we did not fly all the way out here to watch you text and talk to everyone else..

We drove up to an ice cream place in town and I noticed three older people in their 60’s all sitting together eating ice cream. But as we got closer, I realized they were all texting on their phones to someone else.. I thought wow, it’s not just the kids that are doing this. We are all a victim of phone distraction..

Men are no better than women. I was on a boat two days ago with my brother and my husband. They both kept looking at their phones. I don’t know what they were looking for out in the middle of the ocean. Or who they needed to talk to. But I actually felt like throwing the phones in the ocean.. The idea was to get out there and get away from it all. Eventually, I took my phone out and started taking pictures with it…

I try to keep my phone out of the way when I am with other people unless I am using it to meet someone. I keep it in my pocketbook while I am driving so I will not even be thinking about it or be tempted to text from behind the wheel.

Also as a passenger, I keep my phone in my bag so I can talk to my driver and be in the conversation. 

I suggest you all start trying this. It’s not very nice to always be looking over someone’s shoulder via your phone for someone better or something more stimulating.. it makes the person your with feel alienated and dismissed..

                                                                  Time, do you have any?

What is time? Most people measure it by the hours, minutes and seconds in a day when really -- they should measure it in moments..

It seems to me people started feeling like they had no time when computers entered our worlds..The machines were supposed to make our lives easier and save time.. However, I do not see the world that way at all in 2012.

I even moved to a slow farming state, 15 years ago, hoping people would have more time. And even though the days and hours seems to go much slower than in the city or the suburbs, no one ever seemed to have any time there either..

I wonder if it is just an excuse people use to avoid other people. I watch curiously as those around me continue to over schedules their lives.. Work for one things seems to dominate everyone. Even people who have a lot of money and a fantastic job do not seem to have the time..

“Climbing up your money tree you’ve got to hurry, Monkey do or monkey see, you’re on a one way street and you’re speeding, missing the signs you ought to be reading, passing things you will later be needing..”

These words are from a song titled "I believe in Love" and was sung by Kenny Loggins and Barbara Streisand.. I think this describe what we are witnessing at this very moment in time..

I know it is important to work and have a job if you need to support your family.

But if you are sacrificing interpersonal relationships and great memories for more money, then it is not time you are lacking but love and connectedness which you cannot buy -- by the way..

When sneaky People get Caught and Phonies get Found out..

“It’s time for the takers to start giving back, the givers are exhausted by your greed.”

No one can stand to be lied to, cheated on or stolen from; especially when it is from someone close, a family member or a friend. The trust you once had for the person is completely demolished when you catch them in a lie, sneaking around trying to take, constantly take the advantage..

DO they think we are stupid? When family members act sneaky about money and other things, it is so sad that they feel they must behave this way.. especially when we all have so much..

They try to come off as peaceful and good.  Meanwhile they are constantly trying to get an edge or advantage whether by not paying their due or just being cheap and always looking to take instead of give..  

I can always tell when someone is lying to me, being a sneak or being generally dishonest. It comes with the experience of being a mom.

Now that Lance Armstrong has been found out., maybe the rest of the phonies will be exposed.. Who doesn’t hate phonies, moochers or any other kind of takers out there.. It’s time for the takers to start giving back.. The givers are exhausted by your greed..

Whether you steal kleenex or someone’s idea, that is stealing. If you copy it, that is plagiarism and if you make money on it, that is just absurd.. and know that hell is eternal and is waiting just for you..

                           “It is the act of making art that heals the broken creative heart.” 

                                                                Julia Cameron

                     Real Love rises above all of the petty things people let break them down..


We hear alot about LOVE these days. Yet we see very little of it outside of our own lives.  
Bad news tends to sell more newspapers and television advertisements!! But thanks to Facebook
and all of its new authors, LOVE is starting to shine through all of the bad media and quiet down
all of the naysayers..

I was fortunate to grow up with two very loving parents who died married 55 years. They hugged, kissed and laughed alot with all of us.. and as a result I have been very spoiled with lots of loving family and friends in my youth. The love my parents gave to us and other people as a doctor and nurse had a lasting impression on me.

I saw that change as I ventured out in to the world.. When I got to high school, love was being talked about and sung about in all of the songs of the 70's.. Roberta Flack wanted to know "Where is the Love.." Olivia Newton John declared "I Honestly Love you", the Beatles taught us "All You Need is Love..." and  "Love Love Me Do.." and Barbara Streisand said "Love is ageless and ever green seldom seen by two.."

With all of this talk about love, people still have a hard time with it. The divorce rate has skyrocketed in America in the last 30 years with the first marriage having a 75% chance of breaking up and the second a 68% chance.. Why is there so much confusion about love.? We have more information, more access, more communication, counseling, and more choices for self improvement..

So why are people struggling so much with love, commitment and marriage?? I think it may just be the reasons I mentioned..more information, more access, more communication, more out there..

My heart aches for the many people I know who are all alone or split up..Not every marriage is perfect..even the perfect ones are not perfect.. But when you listen to those words and promises you repeated at the altar or in front of a judge, they have a lot of power and meaning..

In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in good and in bad, for better or worse .. Isn't that what love is about? Accepting that person for whatever experience comes to pass and working through the issues rather than just tossing the whole relationship..

Til death due us part.. Were you not listening?

I am sorry I just don't get this trashing of the family thing..and it does affect the whole family, not just the family of the divorcees.. If you have children, you are never going to be rid of your spouse. so why not just work it out and find the love that started YOUR family. The alternative is the train wreck of a life and a community created by all of this cheating, division and unhappiness. I lived in a town where divorce was more popular than staying married.. it sucked..

I think there are alot of selfish people out there and maybe they are incapable of love..Maybe they put too much emphasis on stuff instead of time which will never make them happy. The stuff takes over and reduces the amount of time and in that scenario, there is little room for love..

I may not know exactly what love is But I do know what LOVE ISN'T..It isn't dumping your spouse for someone younger, better looking, more interesting, richer, or thinner.. It isn't cryptic emails or Facebook statuses or games of hide and seek.. It isn't sneaking around on your spouse or flirting with everyone who comes to call. It isn't trying to control someone so much that you drain their love away..

No -- Love is a feeling for someone that is so strong that it never goes away.

It is all of those things you said and promised when you were getting married.. Those words represent love not just to your spouse but to your entire family; your Mother, your Father, your sisters, your brothers and all of your children and your grand children you will have in your future.

Real Love rises above all of the petty things people let break them down..

On Pets

Pets brings out the child and the best in everyone.


My brother called me last week and told me his cat Louie had passed. My heart skipped a beat because he has had Louie for about 14 years.. They were roommates. When pets die, a flood of life’s memories come rushing forth.

Louie and Rick lived through a lot together. He works in the emergency room at the local hospital on twelve hour shifts.  So Louie had the job of watching the cabin.. And he was a big cat. I am sure his departure made Rick realize how much they had shared as pet and man.

When we were teenagers, I used to hear my mother in the kitchen talking out loud having a conversation. And I would think; who is here so early in the morning? There are no more milk men or Charlies’ Chips deliveries. Who is she carrying on with at 7 a.m.??? Our dog.

She would talk to Winston von Weedenhof, our St. Bernard, like he was another one of her children.. And in fact he was like our little brother.. He went everywhere, and anywhere he wanted.. all 155 lbs of him. People stopped to talk about him or to him on most of our adventures.. He was one of the family.. Everybody loved Winston..

Since I have been married, we have had lots of dogs..And each time they died, I was filled with incredible sadness and a huge void.. So much so that when we got our last set of dogs, I tried
not to get too attached in the beginning ..

But over time those two beautiful labs took me for incredible walks in the Vermont woods .
And I was talking to them also.

Dogs are people’s friends. In our town, they even created a quiet path so people could take their dogs for walks.. Dogs and cats are truly the best addition to any family or household. There is something magic about the relationship of a pet and a child.. And a pet and an adult because;

Pets brings out the child and the best in everyone..

I live on a beach now and after Labor Day, it becomes open to the dogs.
It is a beautiful parade of people walking dogs and dogs walking people.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

                                                October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

My journey of breast cancer awareness began in 1979. At that time, I was a college senior and knew very little about cancer except that; mostly old people were beginning to die from this insidious disease. 

In 1979, my mother was diagnosed with a very small tumor in her right breast. At the time, chemo-therapies and radiation were not being implemented as treatment. And I believe this saved her life. The doctors performed a masectomy without reconstruction as it was early in the breast cancer business.. 

My mother lived another 30 years without any re-occurrence.. She did develop diabetes 2, which her father had, but managed to play golf, travel  and live a full life without any visits to the hospital related to breast cancer. She died at the age of 82 of sadness and heart failure after she watched my sister and dad struggle through their illnesses and die..

My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40. She tried every treatment available; chemotherapy, radiation, the shunt, and numerous pharmaceutical drugs that are now being recalled and taken off the market because they do not work and they KILL people.. After 7 years of constant doctor appointments, hospital visits, rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, my sister drew her last breath at the young age of 50. 

It is heart wrenching to watch someone you love die of this disease and to have it keep happening is hard to keep up with. We lost another sister this week to breast cancer after a hard fought battle..When God wants you, you should not fight it, you should go with the flow like my momma did..no drugs, no radiation just live with it and see what happens..

She lasted 30 years by just living with it and controlling her diet and alcohol intake..alcohol intake is a key factor in this disease, I believe.. as is sugar, flour and all processed refined carbohydrates and soda..

I pray for all of the women that are suffering from this disease and I know I am going to live my life a lot differently than most-- because I have lost so many people in the last 9 years to their untimely death assisted by the medical community trying to fight their “diseases”.. 

I don't believe there is a magic pill to cure all ills.. But I do believe in proper nutrition, rest and exercise and not too much of anything or anybody..

Except maybe prayer and spirituality...Another subject for another time..

Remembering all of our mothers, sisters and friends who have passed.. forever you'll stay in my heart.

Some days our lives are like ordered kaos -- especially if you are raising a family, running a business, taking care of; a home, parents, children or even grand children.. :) :) :)

This is one of my fun paintings of sailboats on a stormy, windy, and wild ride..

Some days are just like this
and we must focus and be present
and work through whatever
to weather the storm..

Painting Happy Thoughts

I have set up the easel and today we will dig out the canvas and paints. I have no idea what I am going to paint which makes it even more fun..sometimes its better if we just let these things come out.. But usually I start with some kind of concept, like a landscape, or the sea, or a vase of flowers-- and then it takes on a whole new meaning-- once I start to paint it. It is almost like something takes over and does the painting for me..wow I just typed that without looking. 

When I was in 8^th grade or maybe it was 7^th, I used to type and do 5 research reports a night with covers, pictures and everything, I was the extra credit queen ... I wanted to publish so badly.. and the tools were so pathetic compared to now. But I would go home and read things out of the encyclopedia and type 2-3 pages of information, transcribed from what I read, on a manual typewriter. Of course the nuns loved it --  the classmates not so much.. 

But I always liked to get information and present it. Seemed like a fun job and a natural thing for someone who loved writing and making pictures.. Today I am working on painting happy thoughts. Hopefully when you look at this picture, the bright colors make you smile..

Happy to be painting happy thoughts..

No Man is an Island

                                                   No Man is an Island

When I was a young girl in high school, we learned this song. Often when I am alone, I find myself singing or humming this tune. I never knew it was by Joan Baez. It is a beautiful song written for all of humanity.. and if we can believe these words and sing them when we feel alone, they will certainly help to soothe the feeling of being an island in a sea of confusion..



No man is an island,
No man stands alone,
Each man's joy is joy to me,
Each man's grief is my own.


We need one another,
So I will defend,
Each man as my brother,
Each man as my friend.


I saw the people gather,
I heard the music start,
The song that they were singing,
Is ringing in my heart.


No man is an island,
Way out in the blue,
We all look to the one above,
For our strength to renew.


When I help my brother,
Then I know that I,
Plant the seed of friendship,
That will never die. 
©

GIGO

We must learn to take care of our world and our bodies. In computer terms GIGO means GARBAGE IN GARBAGE OUT. This applies to many things in our world.. The ocean for one, the air we breathe and our human bodies. 

I have always heard "you are what you eat" and I don't mean your body/fat image. This means your body as a human machine and what you need to power it.. 

Water, air and primal foods that's it.. We need to get rid of all of the harmful foods on the shelves that are making us all sick. Read the article below from one of the best cancer fighting organizations on the planet.  

                                                               Eat well and Live healthy!!

http://www.naturalnews.com/036724_toxic_foods_additives_avoid.html

These flowers I painted for Lilli..who inspires me everyday to BE HAPPY and so GRATEFUL..

While travelling last February, I found this dish towel in St. Lucia which is an island in the Carribean. The words from Promise Yourself are so inspirational  coming from such a very poor place that I want to share them with everyone I know. 

St. Lucia

PROMISE YOURSELF

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. 

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. 

To make all of your friends feel there is something in them. 

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. 

To think only the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best. 

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. 

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. 

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile. 

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. 

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. 

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds. 

To live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

These are great words. Promise yourself to read them as often as you need them.. :)

The Mustard Seed

The Mustard Seed or the Story of Kisa Gautami is a great story for anyone who is experiencing terminal illness or death in their family. After losing 4 family members in a pretty short time, I came across this story and I kept it close to my heart.  Suffering comes to all of us in life as does death. And we must realize we are not alone on this journey. We are all undergoing many similar experiences and we must love and respect one another as we deal with these days of our lives..

I hope this story helps you as much as it has made me realize that gratitude each and every day is a great way to deal with loved ones illnesses and death. Try to focus on the positives in life as we are only here for a short time and we are all here for a purpose..and try to take a walk each and every day to take in the beautiful nature that has been provided to us all..

Kisa Gautami was a young woman from a wealthy family who was happily married to an important merchant. When her only son was one-year-old, he fell ill and died suddenly. Kisa Gautami was struck with grief, she could not bare the death of her only child. Weeping and groaning, she took her dead baby in her arms and went from house to house begging all the people in the town for news of a way to bring her son back to life. Of course, nobody could help her but Kisa Gautami would not give up. Finally she came across a Buddhist who advised her to go and see the Buddha himself. When she carried the dead child to the Buddha and told Him her sad story, He listened with patience and compassion, and then said to her, "Kisa Gautami, there is only one way to solve your problem. Go and find me four or five mustard seeds from any family in which there has never been a death." Kisa Gautami was filled with hope, and set off straight away to find such a household. But very soon she discovered that every family she visited had experienced the death of one person or another. At last, she understood what the Buddha had wanted her to find out for herself — that suffering is a part of life, and death comes to us all. Once Kisa Guatami accepted the fact that death is inevitable, she could stop her grieving. She took the child's body away and later returned to the Buddha to become one of His followers.  Copyright 2008 BDEA/Buddhanet Buddhist Studies for Secondary Education, Buddha Darma Education Studies..

Art and the Unconscious

Art and the UnConscious

To quote Karl Jung "often the hands know how to solve a riddle with which the intellect has wrestled in vain." Karl Jung, like the Buddhas, believes in two levels of consciousness; the conscious and the unconscious. He believes the only way for the collective unconscious to be assessed is through dreams or art.

"The collective unconscious shows no tendency to become conscious under normal conditions nor can it be brought back to recollection by any analytical techniques since it was never repressed or forgotten." If anything in our conscious life is devalued and perishes -- so runs the law there arises a compensation in the unconscious."

According to Jung, "That is the secret to great art and its effect upon us. The creative process, so far as we are able to follow it at all, consists in the unconscious activation of an archaetypal image and in elaborating and shaping this image into the finished work."

Thus by giving it shape we are able to understand how the artist translates it into the language of the present which helps us to find our way back to "our deepest springs in life."

Jung believes "the social significance of art is constantly at work educating the spirit of the age, conjuring up the forms in which the age is most lacking." The artists relative lack of adaptation turns out to be to his advantage; it enables him to follow his own yearnings far from the beaten path and to discover what it is that would meet the unconscious needs of his age.

What is the relationship between art and psychology? The close connections that exist arise from the fact that the practice of art is a psychological activity. "Analyisis of artists consistently shows not only the strength of the creative impulse arising from the unconscious but also its capricious and willful character."

"The biographies of great artists make it abundantly clear that the creative urge is so often so imperious that it battens our humanity and yokes everything to the service of the work, even at the cost of health and ordinary human happiness."

Jung believes "the unborn work in the psyche of the artist is a force of nature that achieves its end either with tyrannical might or with the subtle cunning of nature herself, quite regardless of the personal fate of the man who is its vehicle." The creative urge lives and grows in him like a tree in the earth from which it draws its nourishment.

Joseph Campbell, author of The Portable Jung, believes we would do well therefore to think of the creative process as a living thing unplanted in the human psyche.

The psychological interests of the present time is an indication that modem man expects something from the psyche which the outer world has not given him. Perhaps that is why so many people turn back to their art or develop their art in the afternoon of their lives..40 years and beyond..

Why Stream

Why Stream ..

because that is how IDEAS, ideally, should flow..I have heard that it is important to unleash your creativity in any manner that you can. Creativity is the gift from the heavens that we all must use in order to feel fulfilled emotionally.. and if that cup is full, all else will flow..

Some feel the process of writing will bring out our creative self as we get to know our inner self through the writing process. The physical act of writing or drawing also increases our happiness somehow; the actual movement of writing, drawing, painting, creating makes us all happier.

Get cooking, baking, gardening, writing, painting or draw just for a few minutes each day

and it may just be the thing you need to cheer you as well as spark your creative juices!

I will be writing positive thoughts to fill our wells.. and will leave you with a beautiful quote for the day

"Love is like a butterfly, It goes wherever it pleases and pleases wherever it goes."

jmc

ART THERAPY

Art Therapy, or art as therapy, allows modern man to turn his attention from the outer world to his own inner processes. The exercise of art has great intrinsic value as it is truly a healing method.

The American Art Therapy Association believes "through creating art and reflecting on the art process and product, people can experience increased awareness of self and others, can better cope with distressing symptoms, stress, traumatic experience, enhancing cognitive abilities and enjoy the life enhancing process of art."

Margaret Naumberg, facilitator of the Art Therapy undergraduate program at New York University and founder of the Walden School in New York City, viewed art making as a "technique equal to verbal therapy in its natural and evocative power to unlock repressed material."

Feelings and thoughts expressed through images may flow more freely than words.

Influenced by John Dewey and Karl Jung, Naumberg felt "that the art can become a bridge between the self, the outer world and one's relation to the world."

With time and reflection, one's art brings a deeper understanding of the emotional state, the self perception and perhaps even the pain.

Thomas Merton, the American Catholic Writer, summed it up best when he said "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time."