(Note: This post is about a formal Workshop that was held in the past. For information about the ongoing weekly Book Study at the New Orleans Healing Center, click here.)
Last night, during the third session of our six-week Artist's Way workshop, we came dressed as one of the imaginary lives we had listed last week (or another imaginary life that sounded cool). The purposes for this exercise are manifold. We want to reclaim parts of ourselves we have discarded over the years as being impractical. I mean, you discard so many elements of yourself and pretty soon you can feel empty and flat. We're trying to reinvigorate the fullness of our beings.
Also, we want to have fun playacting. It's fun to make stuff up! And we want to learn how to think differently about our own lives. So much of the time, we live the story we tell ourselves about who we are. So why not tell a different story?
I came dressed to the nines (for me, anyway), wearing my Anne Klein shoes (right) and my name badge said I was Katerina, a wealthy and eccentric real estate investor. Another participant asked what the "eccentric" label was all about and I said that gave me permission to be colorful and "out there." But on reflection, eccentric can be a word that tells us we're not to be taken seriously. So I don't need that label.
In our group, imaginary lives included a travel journalist, a New York art dealer, owner of a equestrian riding academy and a world-famous dancer.
To get further into character, we answered 13 questions such as: How did you get started in this field? What natural talents do you have that made you so successful? How do you use your wealth to help others?
We also made collages to illustrate the imaginary life we are inhabiting for the evening. Mine, left, was all about making homes nurturing.
And then we made our presentation to the group and answered questions. I found it fascinating. For me, I realized that being a real estate investor that buys distressed properties in New Orleans and rehabs them with love and concern for the future inhabitants is totally possible. It's something I'd been wanting my husband to do. But why not me? How many times do we think others should do the very thing we need to do?
Other participants also loved the exercise for its sense of possibilities, which is the theme of chapter 5 in The Artist's Way book, the chapter we are on (along with chapter 6, on abundance). One person said she felt sad about lost opportunities in life. And so sometimes an Artist's Way course will bring up deep feelings, not all of them pleasant. Anyone thinking of engaging in the book, process or a workshop should be aware of that.
Meanwhile, I'm seeking out a starter property. I might just make my imaginary life a reality.
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