Utah Posts Addendum

I found something I thought was really awesome in rereading the fourth week's chapter in The Artist's Way (I'm supposed to reread it to complete the very last task of the course). It really hit me, because it basically described and foreshadowed my experiences of going back to Utah (weeks nine and ten) and my artist date on USU campus (week eleven). That period was all explained!

"Shifts in taste and perception frequently accompany shifts in identity...By tossing out the old and unworkable, we make way for the new and suitable...When the search-and-discard impulse seizes you, two crosscurrents are at work: the old you is leaving and grieving, while the new you celebrates and grows strong. As with any rupture, there is both tension and relief...Long-frozen feelings thaw, melt, cascade, flood, and often overrun their container (you). You may find yourself feeling volatile and changeable. You are.

"...Think of yourself as an accident victim walking away from a crash: your old life has crashed and burned; your new life isn't apparent yet. You may feel yourself to be temporarily without a vehicle. Just keep walking (83).

"...Many of these [changes and shifts] will not be recognizable at first as healing. In fact, they may seem crazy and even destructive. At best, they will seem eccentric...You may well be experiencing a sense of both bafflement and faith. You are no longer stuck, but you cannot tell where you are going" (84-85).

Interesting stuff for that obvious period of change and seeking the new. I see it reflective of other times of change in my life, as well.