In the language of Felt Sense Arts, we finally found a place that freed us from responding to linguistic social codes
Having been born into a family as the youngest and having always struggled with conforming to pre-existing linguistic codes in groups, this newfound freedom was invaluable to us in building a fulfilling Focusing life
By the time we were ready to explore the arts, we were in the process of becoming certified as a FWB practitioner (Focusing with the Whole Body). FWB was linked to our previous training in body psychotherapy, so we were happy to incorporate more bodywork into our Focusing practice. Then, we had a dream in which we were boarding a train going in the wrong direction. We knew we had to change direction immediately. Our dream force urged us to leave the familiar behind and venture into the unknown
We enrolled in the 2017 FOAT® training program with Dr Laury Rappaport. We also took training in trauma-informed Expressive Arts and Person-centred Creative Arts. Additionally, we enrolled in a university art therapy program and took practical art couses. This comprehensive training package proved to be the right way forward
Why was changing our path so important for finding our own language as a Focusing Professional?
In 2011, we visited the Saintbury Center at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK during the UEA Focusing and Philosophy Conference. In the center's art museum, there was a print of a circle divided into four parts, waiting to be assembled. Seeing this, we suddenly realized that our efforts to complete our Focusing profession were still in the form of a jigsaw puzzle
A Ph.D. at the University of East Anglia (UEA) seemed to be the perfect solution, so we prepared to pursue one with Judy Moore and Campbell Purton as our supervisors. Unfortunately, pursuing a PhD at UEA turned out to be unfeasible. As we pursued a German PhD, we realized that completion was not to be found within our linguistic culture. We left the German doctoral program with unfinished doctoral work
Since our doctoral work had focused on intermodal Focusing, we turned to Focusing with the Whole Body FWB to study the range of Felt Sense modalities in practice. Words were essential for guiding FWB practitioners. As we could not fully identify with the FWB language, we felt stuck
Years later, we developed an art training package that was indicative of the right place to develop our own language (it was the place of body-focused aesthetics). Our completion was linked to a non-native vocabulary. Processing visual and intermodal symbolization from the body sense led to a nonverbal vocabulary of unique origin that appeared in our artwork
Through trial and error, we discovered the missing piece that had eluded us throughout our career. Rather than an additional piece, it was the glue that held together and in place pieces of ourselves that were separated or in a disintegrated state. Through hands-on experiments involving experiential slow art, we discovered this glue. It was most evident in the kinaesthetic re-experiencing of artistic expression. This step of experiencing and re-experiencing was crucial for our self-directed growth and breakthrough in discovering our own way of teaching the Felt Sense Arts language
We discovered that art-making from the Felt Sense engages all the senses to prepare the next right step of the body (and so we began to study the theory of polyaesthetics). We discovered that the act of art-making itself is not inherently safe (rather, the facilitation setting is the safe place). We did not expect art-making being risky, but it was, and we were surprised by its energizing power once risks were taken. We realized that following our artistic instincs was a process of deconstruction and reconstruction visual vocabulary. There was no right or wrong outcome; rather, there was a constant layering of new kinds of meaning
We learned that art is culturally bound, yet we found out that art-making can bypass cultural structure-boundness the moment we connect with our creative instincts