In 2010 a book fell off of a shelf and on my head - I snobbishly dismissed it because it had a really cheesy cover and I put it back. After it fell on my head for a third time, a voice, I'd done an excellent job at keeping quiet, said: "OK, I get the message".
I opened the book and read the chapter: Jealousy as a map. In Julia Cameron's book The Artists Way she shifts perspective and gives the reader the opportunity to take potentially crippling emotions and use them as a tool to help themselves. After my father passed away in June 2010 I binged on this book, when I quit my job and moved cities I injected Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss, after my partner left me for another woman and a bigger city I inhaled The Power of Now by Ekhart Tolle and when I discovered that my ex had moved his girlfriend into our house I snorted Deepack Choprah's Synchrodestiny.
I took a sabbatical and became a self-help addict.
It's just that I am very competitive and I feel fundamentally that the hard - knock me off my course - times don't get to take over my life and get to win. They don't get to have my future. I knew that from the bottom of my heart that I had to learn how to live with grief, truly understand forgiveness and how to let go. I just didn't know how to get there. I was angry and bitter and stuck in grief. I used the books as a leverage, a crutch to keep me upright to help me to not become someone stuck who constantly repeats the same story again and again missing out on what's happening in front of them.
The grief didn't win in the long run. I took the anger and jealousy and made a list of desires and it helped me to take the anguish and use it as a fuel.
It's easier than it looks and it's not secret knowledge. It's simple. I have decided to start sharing my story and my experience with whom ever out there needs it so take-it-from-me
© Monique Pelser 2022
https://www.instagram.com/moniquepelserstudio/
Drawing is by it's very nature process orientated. You start with a mark which becomes a line and develops into an image. Making drawings you are therefore processing. Hi my name is Monique Pelser I am a South African artist, producer, researcher, educator, creative recovery coach and Chi Gong practitioner.
I teach drawing as a skill as well as a wellness practice to children as well as adults. https://www.facebook.com/doodlesdailydrawings/
On this channel I share the experiences and insights I have gained in my life and research process.
The methods I use are breathing, drawing and writing and are used to support self-awareness, mindfulness, self-development as well as creative problem solving. I am the co-founder of The Art Of Wellbeing, an organisation working with multi-disciplinary researchers focusing on well-being practices for individuals as well as the corporation.
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