tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32674478649118559412024-03-19T01:47:46.241-07:00The Dreaming Pageswww.thedreamingpages.com
Artist and writer Louise Amelia Phelps shares her words, images, crafts and thoughts on the sacred experience of the landscape.Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-77599826314304513872012-11-28T06:29:00.001-08:002012-11-28T11:11:34.627-08:00Undercover Art Therapists<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ucD1GsX8cW9i9KngFilI9nZv069QGXeDtskfTE4boBkYcyNFgPT8-qQIRtoTiFedeXcjekjCSHAFqzjdzciqPz170LKpE61YmX1lbCBGjV_nm6nE75lB5sHyBNvzoBCX3XYXom1DD9U/s1600/putney+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ucD1GsX8cW9i9KngFilI9nZv069QGXeDtskfTE4boBkYcyNFgPT8-qQIRtoTiFedeXcjekjCSHAFqzjdzciqPz170LKpE61YmX1lbCBGjV_nm6nE75lB5sHyBNvzoBCX3XYXom1DD9U/s320/putney+river.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Putney river with leaves, water sparkles and rowers</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Sunday I had a lovely morning walking in the sun by the
Putney river (scanning for leaves to press, naturally) to have coffee with my
supervisor from my past placement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
great to see her and hear about art therapy related things. She has a way of bouncing
ideas back so that they seem clearer and somehow more exciting. So now I am
wondering if there could be more arts therapists out there or creative folk
doing other things whilst looking for work, or creative arts therapists who
have been re-employed as other kinds of (non art) therapists.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRalkYB0URnbJQnLKV6TOHqkNPj1Pc_AtvTOdmKKiGQzJcuEjG_LeTD_yWOPWqibiKHEGJCcPQSxblKrQO2343udH4luV0gs2yL02UEgnv0StBVK1llc1YEnuifmxMjHR7L3Jvh4dmCHo/s1600/tea+with+tracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRalkYB0URnbJQnLKV6TOHqkNPj1Pc_AtvTOdmKKiGQzJcuEjG_LeTD_yWOPWqibiKHEGJCcPQSxblKrQO2343udH4luV0gs2yL02UEgnv0StBVK1llc1YEnuifmxMjHR7L3Jvh4dmCHo/s200/tea+with+tracy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tea and chat</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is possible to use creative ways to engage with other
kinds of roles so that we keep our professional identity alive. It is early
days in my thinking about this but, so far, alongside my official job at the
moment as a ‘secretary’ in a mental health setting I have recreated my desk as
my ‘studio’, and looked at the office space as a whole from an artistic
perspective. I have found its potential for installation and am thinking of how
I can work with this to bring a subtle, non-intrusive art therapeutic
exhibition to the space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A computer faced robot</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In case you were
wondering, although it might seem like I spend most of the day looking out of
the window and pressing leaves, I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">am</i>
still doing my regular work. Having these projects on the go nearby helps me
work better as I feel less like a computer faced robot, and more alive and
happy.</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wondered what others do with their art/music/dance
movement/drama therapist identities whilst doing ‘other’ things? As my
supervisor said, there may well be a fair few out there. Let me know!</span> </span></div>
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</span>Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-10702798730501200502012-11-25T10:59:00.001-08:002012-11-25T13:09:31.860-08:00On the Habitat of the Creative Creature<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;">I </span></o:p></span><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"><v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> came across this piece from a long time ago. The irony is that this kind of creativity was skeeved out of me living in the UK, recovering from life traumas and studying Art Therapy. I have found creativity can be like a creature that you have to get to know. You have to get to know it and understand its habits, habitats and diet. Mine was like a freaked out deer that ran to the hills and kept going from all the difficulties, noisy traffic and greyness. I didn't even know it was there until it was gone. Now I am coaxing it back with crumbs of things that inspire me, the simplicities of leaves, music, nice curtains, colours in the house, tea, not going out and, lots of crafts. Everyone's creative creature likes a different habitat, the trick is getting to know what that is.</o:lock></v:path></v:stroke><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Anael </span></i>He went to Anael and asked her of all
that tumbled inside his heart. And she said,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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“Your troubles are like the stones tumbling in the currents
of the sea. You have strong fire within you and it will not let anything of
lesser heat be still. This will go on, but time and the unfolding of the years
will calm your fire and the stones won’t strike so heavily on your heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And one day,
remember this, one day the tumbling and turning will smooth their corners. They
will become jewels, they will shine and reveal what been hidden from you. But
this is another time for you, we have no need to speak of it yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just for now know this: your fire is strong.
Listen to it, see how it moves you, what colours does it have and what is its
song? Now is your time to learn this. Go well.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she moved
and turned her face to the sea while her eyes saw beyond the horizon. She could
hear the dreams of the whales and knew to the core of things and out again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sat a while
and looked to the ocean also.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He saw
there green currents and the dashing of foam on stone. He saw the struggle of
the birds against the wind and could not be still. The fire in him moved and he
had to follow. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9pt;">© Louise Amelia Phelps 2002<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-76289239941054080142012-11-24T10:50:00.002-08:002012-11-25T10:29:30.088-08:00On not Speed Reading Anymore AND Guerilla Art Studio's<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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Not studying anymore means I am learning 'how not to speed read everything'. We actually had a class on 'How to read a book in 10 minutes' in our first week of Art Therapy training and I was inwardly shocked. Surely this isn't what books are for? Surely this isn't what learning is? Turned out it was. <br />
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So, now, I am <em>reading</em> again. And I was reading a book by Shaun McNiff, his 'Art Heals' one. He has a chapter on how he transformed his feelings about the boredom and monotony of lengthly academic meetings by skethching, drawing and creating from the inspiration of the tensions and dynamics in the meetings. In the end he looked forward to them.<br />
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Today I realised this is a little what my Guerilla Art Studio activities have been all about: changing my perceptions of where art can live so that I can engage more happily with situations that are a bit boring. Or in university speak: questioning how an art therapist would engage with the challenges of everyday life, or in this case, how to survive an office job. Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-2513942722926827602012-11-23T12:41:00.002-08:002012-11-25T13:02:02.503-08:00Tree Watching<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So, these pictures are part of my tree and sky watching project.</div>
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It is also a kind of winter survival exercise too. With the nights </div>
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arriving so early I get to watch this amazing dusk light show happen.</div>
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This is the view from my office window. I am very lucky indeed and </div>
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it is part of the reason why I stay there. So while everyone</div>
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is moaning about the dark evenings, I am now loving them. I took </div>
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all these pictures on my phone and haven't adjusted the colours in </div>
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any way at all. Now I make it part of my daily tasks to draw every ones</div>
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attention to the beautiful sunsets and found that others secretly love </div>
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this tree as well. I have plans for these images. I want to use them in</div>
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a kind of subtle time based installation idea, therefore turning my office </div>
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not only into a studio, but also a gallery. Only, they don't know that yet. </div>
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Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-34334209577583201832012-11-23T04:30:00.000-08:002012-11-25T10:29:30.082-08:00Autumn BeautyI have been quite obsessed with autumn leaves lately. Post studying life has meant I am now more open to life’s little beauties, and can appreciate these simple things, instead of being more concerned about reading enough and referencing properly, being places on time and sounding intelligent.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RiqZmwguTD-1EpnlJqqIo4J6IrT517mIwyGTPDyhJYsROEHrkt5UzB74b8ThgBsfRvL47d-B9aWuPb1BBkMXiIQ-qI5owdSDSs2e75dQKot9olEfr9v7bJp2eiTKMbhkfDCkZEV01Pw/s1600/leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RiqZmwguTD-1EpnlJqqIo4J6IrT517mIwyGTPDyhJYsROEHrkt5UzB74b8ThgBsfRvL47d-B9aWuPb1BBkMXiIQ-qI5owdSDSs2e75dQKot9olEfr9v7bJp2eiTKMbhkfDCkZEV01Pw/s200/leaves.jpg" width="138" /></a><br />
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I have been gathering leaves, when I feel brave enough, and press them at home under books. My plan is to eventually use them in drawings and paintings which I am itching to do soon. Imagine the clear colours of auburn, orange and yellow inks on chunky paper with feathered edges…. <br />
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The best ones have been from an acer tree outside the local kebab shop, (the ones in the picture). I was very upset to come past it on my way back from work to find people ‘tidying’ and polling the tree. I am also now very unimpressed by leaf blowers. <br />
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I have combined this with my studio-desk project at work, and right now I can say I am secretly pressing leaves underneath the huge office product catalogues next to me. Work is so much more easier now I know I have such a beautiful project nearby. And again, no one has noticed. <br />
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This is my leaf press at my studio-office work,</div>
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the rainbow pages of the catalogues look nice </div>
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and the sheets of kitchen roll from the paper</div>
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dispenser in the kitchen are<em> perfect</em>.. </div>
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<img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibbYUlW59q32Y72Li9VbfN9rN7vjmbmafjhxzdq48S_A6yuUezykS0Spyc1hr6lcn1TZuZ7t8XedA5fPrFS9zg_JZ49w1dl-nBAsQCvW3V_uQCybd2Mnk1G4vzOwcjHfs-MgoThNnP2rY/s320/pressed+leaves.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are my favorite pictures. I love the layers of the leaves coming through. </td></tr>
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<br />Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-70986680570582130452012-11-22T05:45:00.003-08:002012-11-28T09:01:53.116-08:00On surviving as a round peg in a square hole. Whilst looking for art therapy job possibilities I currently find myself working more than I would like in an office, sat in front of a computer all day - in the pose, I realise, of a scuttling forest creature – see diagram 1, substitute office for forest background and you see what I mean. <br />
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It is ‘sensible’ job which I am sure any creative soul would agree is hard work. Blending in, being sensible, tucking in the colourful ribbons, beads and buttons that gravitate towards creative folk. After a couple of months, I felt so grey and square that one day I decided I wouldn’t make such an effort. <br />
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And it didn’t turn out so bad. I reminded myself that creativity, also known as ‘Art’ is essential for my health – it is another kind of food that I have to have on a daily basis and, because of that, I must bring it to work with me. So, I secretly decided that I would think of my work space not only as my desk, but also – my studio-at-the-moment. I brought in my favourite pictures, photo’s cards, designs and stuck them all about my workspace. <br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4N1Upz2X05Qjf4Qb7NfwF5a4TcbVTzgNOXqjih22wHdtYlGfZUUC76WmXgRE7VvCVmYALQxRjsybWhSLSgDQYGt3l6sTLVWmvCf7hyphenhyphen0lYgbrEdt20iu3KvTSkCf21er2HQhRyriWfuTU/s320/office+inspiration.jpg" width="211" /> …and no body seemed to notice. I have repeatedly found that non ‘arty’ visual orientated people so much more less observant about environments and changes to their surroundings. It makes me wonder what they see and what that world is like, as it seems so much less full of colours of light reflected on walls, shapes of cloud, beautiful leaves on the pavement, and chocolates arriving in the office. The good thing is I feel more creatively alive so who knows what else will arrive to be unnoticed... </div>
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P.S the red bird stamp is from noolibird.com , I love it so much. This week it has been my Bird of Inspiration.</div>
Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-54791566641729125612012-11-21T12:47:00.004-08:002012-11-21T14:13:31.044-08:00Right. So, it's been a while. And the reason for that being I studied Art Psychotherapy for 3 years. Now qualified and rediscovering the world again. I shall be back soonish with more thoughts and wonderings on the world to share with anyone who would listen, and some new art too. <br />
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<em><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Louise</span></em><br />
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<a href="http://www.thedreamingpages.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">www.thedreamingpages.com</span></a><br />
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<em><span style="color: #b45f06;">"Our hands must endeavour to know the earth</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #b45f06;"> and reach for the highest will of heaven</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #b45f06;"> It is time to shed the sadness, </span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #b45f06;"> It is time to share the secret</span></em><br />
<em><span style="color: #b45f06;"> For the Old ways live in the New"</span></em>Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-10377235988173345242009-09-05T07:36:00.000-07:002009-09-05T07:55:25.461-07:00Our Social Climate is Changing<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxNwAz32fkJnCCqkqQBZFSGdwkp9HCBxe2aP65RxkjDigAyg8MuAkYgLqbWr8l2Xz1Q2P0u-PWCgAlUqZdmSNqwJjoXscAGNgBqM95PaBI4cFohJ5yyKFcRFp8Q-RqbPusJfPdwiST58/s1600-h/sacred+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377996950034628802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 202px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 178px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyxNwAz32fkJnCCqkqQBZFSGdwkp9HCBxe2aP65RxkjDigAyg8MuAkYgLqbWr8l2Xz1Q2P0u-PWCgAlUqZdmSNqwJjoXscAGNgBqM95PaBI4cFohJ5yyKFcRFp8Q-RqbPusJfPdwiST58/s320/sacred+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>The earth is changing; the issues are global, national, local and individual.<br /><br />Change happens when there is desire to do so. I believe the desire to change comes from experience which empowers the individual to take action. Forthcoming articles will look at our willingness to change.<br /><br />Whilst acknowledging the concerns at hand, articles will be written with the attitude of positivity and possibility. They will challenge expectations of what ‘nature’ is and where it can be found.<br /><br />My aim with this series of work is to bring awareness to environmental issues and climate change by deepening personal experience of the land itself. Thus bringing an understanding of a changing earth that is inclusive and immediate, rather than distant and hard to grasp.<br /><br />‘It was creative thinking that saw the first wheel within the stone’<br /><br />Art is an important tool in the effort to change the environment. Creative thinking can find solutions, seek answers and make something from nothing. Creativity is a link to our human nature that can adapt and survive in any changing environment. This programme will help individuals acknowledge their own creative ability, even if they believe they don’t have one, to create and change the world around them for the better.Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-28335950971164609232009-09-05T07:25:00.000-07:002009-09-05T08:09:20.120-07:00Sacred Experience of the World<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU1qUdzJMG18ptGidXGbTX-axJhF4IH0sYrb7mON-zyOU8LAbyQWU-D09RRht39TPMkwuCl_st7zpzNI_0-M60jWrXfCopm6d0rmpMNE5yi1-WFreMwqTw9xEu1vrR82GB9TRh7JLUAJ0/s1600-h/sacred.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377991251898830226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 205px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU1qUdzJMG18ptGidXGbTX-axJhF4IH0sYrb7mON-zyOU8LAbyQWU-D09RRht39TPMkwuCl_st7zpzNI_0-M60jWrXfCopm6d0rmpMNE5yi1-WFreMwqTw9xEu1vrR82GB9TRh7JLUAJ0/s320/sacred.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Forthcoming Article:</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:180%;">Sacred Experience of the Land- </span><br /><em><span style="font-size:180%;">welcome to the world</span> </em><span style="font-size:180%;"><br /></span><br /></div><div>How well do we really know our environment? Do we still carry expectations from our early life that shape our experiences of the natural world and how far do these assumptions and expectations blind us from what is actually there? <em>Do we know the environment as well as we think? </em></div>Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3267447864911855941.post-84757698908327700332009-09-05T07:17:00.000-07:002009-09-05T08:15:03.424-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaqudihVOgNFdUhOCxTg1HPa6_oy6SZQ7hDXqd8u2mxqPaJ5aUHEblqSOS8AZJRIAkhD39VoS6I24ddsPBEOZujIhyNJRdW02VNFNDNwjPI1mzcP1P4EJLBBfuhr0y7_EeJUrQWIDrgA/s1600-h/paint+colour.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5378001717248698610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 277px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifaqudihVOgNFdUhOCxTg1HPa6_oy6SZQ7hDXqd8u2mxqPaJ5aUHEblqSOS8AZJRIAkhD39VoS6I24ddsPBEOZujIhyNJRdW02VNFNDNwjPI1mzcP1P4EJLBBfuhr0y7_EeJUrQWIDrgA/s320/paint+colour.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;">In a Changing Environment, Creativity </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;">is </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;">an Important </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;">Survival Tool </span><span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:180%;"><br /></span>It was creativity that saw the first wheel within the stone. How do scientists imagine the world they discover? Scientific discovery works step by step, understanding what is known, stretching it further, imagining what else it could be, then testing the quality of that dream through experiment to find out if the dream is right - will it show itself to be true.? The world complies or not, then the imagined form changes shape accordingly, does it work now. A call and response between human's and universe.<br /><br />It is imagination that makes the texts books come alive to children in school.</div>Louise Amelia Phelpshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08377771671735922961noreply@blogger.com0