Wise Words: The Universe Inside Your Body

Your body is the root of all creative work. When you write or paint with the whole of yourself, you are in touch with the universe inside your body: everything you have ever felt, heard, seen, or thought - and is yet to become - exists inside you. Your skin, your bones, your breath, your liver, your heart, your hands, your sense of hearing, your eyes, the soft tissue inside your throat, the taste buds on the tongue, the barely audible sighs of the muscles inside the gut, are all resonating chambers for communication and therefore expression. By developing a deep-listening connection to your body mind it becomes possible to create paintings and words, which convey a true experience of communication. They become clear energetic templates of your conversations unfolding with yourself. Learning to use your body as the ground or originating place of your self-connection and expression, embodying your imagination as a muscle, helps to grow the innately healing and physical nature of your creativity.

(Suzette Clough, quoted in Jackee Holder, 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well: The Science and Wisdom of Writing and Journaling, Exisle Publishing: Wollombi, NSW, 2015, p. 134)