Nature as Muse, Healer, and Guide

Creative Visualization: Nature as Healer

Close your eyes. Picture yourself in a forest of tall pines. You come to a large clearing and stand in the center, facing West. You raise your arms to the sky, seeking what was lost, and singing. When your song is done, take a deep breath. You begin to walk, heading into the shadows beneath the trees. You walk and walk… and when you can walk no more, you stop and look around.

Focus on one thing — the first thing you see. Picture it clearly. It will be different for everyone — some will see a stone, others a grove of trees, a raven, a bear. Know that, whatever it is, you remain safe. For all things in the forest are one; the thing you see before you is a missing piece of yourself, lost and gone wandering, longing to be found. A missing piece that wants nothing more than to be taken into your heart to make you whole. Open your eyes.

Without speaking, begin to write, sketch, or create a collage based on what you saw during your walk through the forest.

NOTE: This visualization was inspired by a short hike I took during my residency at Mancos State Park. I came to a clearing in the woods, and waited there. When I found the right direction, I began to walk quickly, seeking a sign. I found a huge pine tree. Her branches were burned and broken on one side, near the ground. Her trunk was scarred by fire, and she was magnificent, beautiful. Not in spite of her wounds, but because she had survived them to grow taller, seeking the Sun year after year. I realized that I am that tree — scarred and broken, and vibrantly alive. I have survived storms that I thought would break me, stop my heart, turn me cold and dead inside. Yet each morning, I rise to greet the Sun. I am made stronger by these storms, these scars. I know now that no mere storm can break me; no fire can steal my soul and leave me with ashes where a heart should be. I seek to show you these scars, yours and mine: to make them shine, to make them sing; to transform them into something beautiful. I seek a way to show you that you are stronger than you ever dared to dream.

Creative Visualization: The Sacred Wild as Guide

Animals have much to teach us. As I write this, a blue-bird lands on the picnic-bench outside my door. He looks straight at me and hops down to the ground, fluttering wings the color of the sky. What strikes me most is that he is totally unafraid, fierce and fearless for his size. I can learn much from this. When I confront something large and strange and scary, it might benefit me to get a closer look at it. To walk forward, face it, and find out what my fears are made of.

If you wish to seek a guide from the animal kingdom, I ask you to again close your eyes. Now, think about a problem you need to solve; a question you're seeking the answer to, or a goal you want to achieve. When you're ready, write it down in the form of a question. Close your eyes when you are finished. Return to the clearing in the tall pines. Ask your question to the forest. As soon as you finish speaking, an animal guide will appear. When you see it, open your eyes again.

Create a quick sketch or poem about your guide, or simply write a brief description of it. Now, think a little more deeply about the guide you have chosen. What qualities, characteristics, or memories do you associate with this animal? Do a little free-writing about this guide from the animal kingdom. Try to link it with different words, phrases, emotions, or actions. Then, ask yourself, "How would this animal guide answer my question?" Write down the answer, or create a sketch or collage of yourself taking the actions suggested by your guide.

NOTE: My question was, "How can I succeed as an artist and writer, with no day-job to steal time away from my real work — in the studio?" When I closed my eyes, I saw a big brown grizzly bear, a female. She grinned at me, then walked away through the forest. I followed her quickly. She paid no mind to obstacles, making a wide path through brush and bracken. She did not hesitate, nor did she look back.

I followed her far, until we reached a bee-tree. Rising to her hind legs, she scooped out sweet sticky gold, offering it delicately to me from her huge claws. As I tasted that wildflower honey I knew the answer to my question. Walk without hesitation in the direction of something wild and sweet. Do not heed obstacles — they have no power to stop you. Fear nothing, for in the wilderness of your mind, you are the biggest, meanest beast in the forest, Queen of all creatures. Do not look back; it has nothing to teach you, and it makes it impossible to move forward. Find that secret sweet thing that you most desire, and revel in it. Always share this treasure with those brave enough to follow you into the wild places of the heart.

Creative Visualization: The Wild Muse

I've discussed nature as a healer and guide. Hopefully, these visualizations can offer you some inspiration and guidance. Now, it's time to seek nature in her most glorious form: The Wild Muse. If you're ready for another visualization, close your eyes. Return to the clearing in the tall pines for a final time today, knowing you may return anytime you have need. A clear breeze is blowing from the West...

Ask your Inner Muse, that wild queen of the forest, to reveal herself to you. You hear a sweet voice calling your name. You cannot resist. You follow her into the forest, catching glimpses of her through the trees, a bare shoulder, dark hair, flashing eyes. Finally, you catch up to her in a small clearing. There stands a cottage made of rounded stones from the river of dreams. You see a blue wooden door, and round windows like portholes. You enter together, and find it is a studio, with every type of artwork represented by a variety of supplies — stone and clay, drums and bells, easels and paints, paper and pens of all colors and sizes, glue and beads and glitter for gorgeous collages, and more.

Your Inner Muse smiles. "You need no key to enter this place, Artist. But if you would return, you must first create a portrait of me, in this magical place where all dreams begin. Show my true face to the world!" Now open your eyes, and begin!