Unplugged !

Imagine being tethered to a stake in the ground like a dog. You do move around some but not much and of course it is always something you must work around.
Your internal psyche is telling you that when it does a systems check that this does not belong.....disengage. It almost reminds me of the old program 'LOST IN SPACE'. If you remember the robot would go around saying..'DANGER WILL ROBINSON,Danger!'. Well that's about the way it is for me when I am on this chemo pump for three days.
My body is saying this doesn't belong here. So what does that have to do with 'Unplugged'? Well it is always a glorious day when I get this needle out of my chest and leave this pump with them....the doctor.
My system, if you will, resets itself and after little while the whole world starts to look different again and I am FREE AT LAST! THis is the day for my unplugging and then in a few days we repeat it until something changes. GOD IS GOOD!
Talk to you soon, til then get to journaling or doing your art because it promotes all types of healing.
Well I'm back and it's 4:25pm CST. My CEA test numbers were back from the lab and the tumor count went up to 9.1. They want it between 0 and 2.5. Praise God it wasn't a higher number. I'm off to draw and paint something....see you soon.

I'm BACK!

Hey fellow friends.......I'm back from a glorious vacation. WOWOW! We took off on a Friday, the day after getting unplugged from chemo. I made it to Trinadad, Colorado from Kansas City. That night, laying in bed, I said "Lord what have I done here?" I was fighting diahrhea, fatigue and wondering why I thought I could make a trip this far from home. But I wanted to go back to where we feel at home...Taos, New Mexico.
We were getting ready to move there, a little over two years ago, when I was diagnosed with this demon. So everything was put on hold and here we are today. But GOD is good and I made to Taos finally. After two of three days the chemo started to reside and I was feeling better day by day. In fact by the time we were leaving I was feeling the best I had ever felt in a long time.
This trip was the best medicine in a long time for me.
I stopped off in Cimarron and saw some artist friends and now I have to do a one or two week workshop next June for the art community there. So....God willing I will return and do this.
I sketched and took a ton of photos for painting reference in the future. You'll get to see some of these as the weeks go along.
Out of all this I found out I need to push myself more physically and HOW much you guys mean to me. You guys wrote some wonderful comments under the last two blogs and I thank each of you and especially for your prayers.
Art and journaling is such a healing gift given to us and we should all take more advantage of it.
God bless each of you and I'll start blogging again soon and welcome to all our new followers....please feel welcomed to comment because this site is about you. GOD BLESS....LOL

Learning

Learning is a growing process........so if we aren't learning we are not growing and if we aren't growing we eventually start decaying. WOW! Can you handle that statement? Are you guilty of putting off that awkwardness of trying something new?
I am talking about this process of journaling and doodling/art. Ask yourself why you haven't started yet or started and stopped? Is it to hard to start something new or is it..."I don't know that I believe what's being said here."
All of the above is a process we go through so it is all good...it is when you stop striving for the answers or process. It's hard to do something that is good for us....better food, more exercise, setting time aside for yourself, and in reality all of these not only benefit you but benefit those around you like a rock into a pond and the ripple effect it causes.
I pray you will get going with something that will help heal you mentally, spiritually and physically.
Choose you today what you will do.
God bless

Visual Language ?

I hope all are well because after another night of glorious rain the air is clean this morning....birds are so loud ........and the grass so full of chlorphyll and water I think the green could almost rub off on me. Oh well that's not all bad. What I really want to do is take my shoes and socks off and walk out in the wet grass just to feel it like a kid again.......ok?
Let's talk Visual Language because medical field has found out that words are a secondary language for us.....you heard it correct.........a secondary language.
Our primary language is visual inner imagery. This is how we communicate inside of ourselves between body and mind.....WHOOF! That's a lot to take in until you meditate on it for a while and then it starts to make sense.
This is why doodling along with journaling gets the inner language into an expressive language (writing and art) that we can start to see what our Holistice self is saying on a daily basis. In other words we are starting to listen to our bodys in a way that can HEAL us!
That's all I'm going to say today because this is very important info to digest and it will take some time.
Praying for each of you and I'm off to journal some and doodle.....are YOU?
Happy trails until we meet again........God bless.

Journaling Affirmations

Hey gang,
It's Sunday and we just got home from church....what a glorious day on my side of the planet.
The message was on saying things, rather positive or negative, that will affect us and our situations. In Proverbs 18:20 scripture says that Life and Death are in the tongue........wow! So think about that and meditate on what comes out of our mouths and what do we write in our journals is important. We must capture our thoughts to our benefit.
Dr Dwayne Dyer says we can change anything with our thinking correctly if we put belief behind it....faith some would say. As a christian I believe the scriptures to be truth so I have to agree with Dr Dyer. Many of our art therapy professionals say the same thing but maybe in different words, staying away from the religious aspects of this. But however we word it, the truth of it is not negated.
With that said let us pick up our journals and write what needs to get out of us, but then make sure we end with affirmations for ourselves about those conditions. For example I write about my treatments and may have had a rough week but end with the affirmation that I am getting stronger daily and try to describe myself healthy......then visualing seeing myself healthy, as described and going about my business. Dr Dyer saids this is most important the last 5 minutes prior to falling off to sleep. This allows the subconscious to dwell on the positive all night and not the problems. Our subconscious doesn't know truth except has we relate it to our minds. So our thoughts and affirmations should be on the positive and not the negative because soon the body follows the mind.
Don't ask me how this all works........all I know is it does and there's lots of years of proof of it even in the bible.
Hoped this was informative and not preachy.....God bless and let us hear from you.
See a picture of the little watercolor palette and brush I use for my doodling and painting.

Faith?

How many of you trust this journaling thing? Well let me talk about this for a minute. When you walk into a room and proceed to sit in a chair, you don't give it a second thought that it will hold you up.....WHY? Because of experience of sitting in chairs and they have worked for you. Now there may have been that rare instance that a chair leg has broken off or you tipped over, but other than that you trust them.
This trust did not come except for your experience in this area. The same is with journaling and art.....You must get started and build the frequency of doing it before you can take notice that there is a change starting to happen inside of you that will finally come out and change your very environment. WOW that was a mouth full.
You must motivate yourself in the beginning with EXPECTANCY that journaling is going to perform for you and others and has and is right now. Let me say it this way. Expectancy of change or hope thru journaling is the gasoline that motivation is propelled by. Out of the doing comes the experience or trust in journaling [like the chair]. After a short while the whole thing will increase you Faith in what we are trying to promote on this site....journaling for healing. Your faith then takes over and actually increases the outcome of the process.
In other words....YOU have to start pushing the car to go and the inertia you have to overcome at the beginning will be strenous...BUT...once that car is moving it doesn't take much effort to keep it rolling.
I hope all of this makes sense and I am writing on the process of journaling because of some comments that came up on another site.
While mentioning comments be sure and post yours.........what you think about the above...your experience....how is your journaling going.....any questions about the art side...??
Remember you don't have to have had cancer to comment on this site....all are welcomed....cancer is just what is in the title of this site and is my ailment at this time. There are many ailments just as bad...so weigh in with your thoughts for day or questions. Tell your story right below this blog if you want.
Now get out there and get some healing going. Next we may chat on stress and how journaling helps in this area.
God bless and I leave with a line from one of my heroes..ROY ROGERS'...."Happy Trails To YOU Until We Meet Again".

BLessing for YOU!

Just yesterday we were writing about 'Choice', basically changing our thinking and attitude in a shorter time span. WHY?, because things change when we do.
We should always be LOOKING UP for things to happen to us in a good way. Have an aire of expectancy at all times for the good in our situation and our fellow man.
I woke up this morning to a great blessing to you and me. Chris Beck, a renowned artist, wrote about this site on her blog. WOW!
Since we are a new blog this benefits us all to get the word out. So people can learn what we are about and come together as a community that shares and cares.
I personally want to thank Chris for this.As you go to her blog and look at all the beautiful things she is doing leave a comment and become a follower. To own one of her paintings and be able to sit and meditate on it daily would bring great joy to your spirit. Her colors and composition are beyond believable. The blog title is "I'm painting as fast as I can." and the article title is "Journaling Through Cancer".
Please check out the comments under the article also, they are precious. Remember again, this site is not about me but US....your participation through comments and your art. Please leave comments and again please thank Chris for what she has done here. It was no small measure.
It's a sunny day and all is well.....amen. Now get those journals out and write about whatever or how this blog and Chris' blog has affected you.....then doodle something or draw a picture. If you use color, think about what colors and temperature we would want to express a wonderful experience such as this.
Please share this site with as many people as possible. The more input the better. I'm leaving a picture of mine for today. The primary colors show how I feel.
God Bless.

CHOICE

The day is rainy and I've already received 3 inches of rain and lots of hail in just 4 hours. WOW! How gloomy can it get....my healing from cancer, stormy dark afternoon [dark as night], government is going nuts, social security and medicare is going broke, blah blah blah blah blah..........man I am really in the dumps!
Is the above you? STOP IT! You are your own worst enemy! When you are thinking this way your body is putting out enzymes and junk that poisons you and feeds that cancer. Since you have a CHOICE in how you think lets start renewing your mind....this is scriptural...Jesus talks about the renewing of your mind with the truth.
This blog is trying to share the truth with you....if you aren't employing it in your life I and others cannot help you. Journaling gives you an outlet to renew your mind and practice giving your body a BOOST at the same time by being creative. Sound familiar to you?
NOW, on with the same question in other blogs.........have you started writing down your feeling and suggesting a color [see other blogs] to go with it/them? Let's get you to your SUNNY condition faster each time you have a moment, like in the beginning of this blog.
Everyone stews in their own troubles.....this isn't new. BUT it's how long you stay in that condition that we are working on. DON"T dismiss what we are sharing with you. Now get in there and write one sentence or a paragraph. If you want, start by complaining about me and this blog of giving you a stern little push. Remember we love you and have some experience in this area.
A friend of mine has her link on this site. Her name is Chris Beck and is a cancer survivor herself and now dealing with a father who has prostate cancer. Go look at the beautiful art at her sight.
Hopefully Chris will share her story with you someday.
God bless for today. GOD LOVES YOU whether you like or not...John 3:16

Journaling

What a beautiful Saturday.....the wife and I took a day trip to check out some art. This old historic town is having artisans around the square every second saturday of the month.
Some were weaving and some painting. Not many there yet because of early summer yet but it will grow. This is there second year for it and were had a good time walking around and even going in some of the old stores.
These older towns that aren't very big have a tough time of it. It's good to be able to use the arts as a possible platform to draw people there. But people must remember to support them or they can't keep coming back.
We got back and sunshine and trip had me up and rearing to do some art. So playing around I came across a full size, 15" X 22", watercolor I did in Colorado before coming down ill. This was at about the 10,000 ft level. It was beautiful up there. So I hope you enjoy the art and think about what is written here. This is journaling....YES YOU CAN DO IT! God bless

Art Tip #3

Hey Friends,
It's another wonderful day.......had rain all night and some wonderful thunder. Thank YOU GOD for another day. Hope you all have started writing and maybe doodling.
In the future we will get into Visual Journaling. The medical field has some books out on this and I will share that info in time. But the tip for today is this.
Take a few minutes before writing and meditate on the day, your feelings, and things that are going on around you. Once this is established in your mind start to write about the most important one and then think of a color you would apply to that situation. Now ask yourself if this situation needs changing and if so, HOW?. Write that down. Having done that HOW do you see how you would feel with it fixed, write those feelings and thoughts. Now what color would it look like to you fixed? Keep this in your mind for any future thoughts toward that situation until it manifests itself changed.
This is what is called sometimes as a paradigm shift others call it visualizing the outcome you want to happen. Either way the release of healing process will start to take place in your mind, spirit and body.
Now get out their and journal and send me your comments.
I do have a separate blog of just my art and some others. That blog is to show art that you can copy style or ask questions specifically art related. Here it is... The Pointed Brush

Art TIp #2

Hey friends, Hope this finds everyone well. Did you do any journaling or doodling lately?
The medical field of art therapy has plenty of proof about journaling and imagery [doodling]. It's proven to be one of the most therapeutic we can do for ourselves.
Finding drawings on cave walls thousands of years old tell us people were using images long before words. It is proven today that images are still more expressive a language than words will ever be. Remember the saying "A picture is worth 1000 words". It's true.
So, what does this mean to you and me? We need to get off our rear ends and get to writing and doodling. Tell others about this or this website and get with the program.
Some say how do I doodle? Start scribbling....scribble the trash can..your coffee mug....a flower...chair..lamp.GO FOR IT!
Others talk about color....well think about it for a minute...umh..We get our colors from our feelings and this is why we doodle...to express your inner thoughts to the outer environment. For instance if I was going to say, 'I feel sunny today', what color do you think I would color my stick person? What about the other stick person you drew and you wrote, 'they are green with envy'. What color would that be??? RIGHT....green. You see out getting in touch with our images can express things so much better than the words sometimes. But the two work well together.
I got my chemo pump off this morning, you know the needle out of my chest. Well, what color do you think I feel right now? RIGHT ON! pretty sunny right now.
So I went out and picked a sprig of Azelea and did a quick ink pen drawing and colored it with watercolor....does it look like I feel? Sunny and all warm and happy inside from my experience this morning? You bet it shows that. This is what we want to do at any given time of our day or week is get it out there so we can HEAL on the inside and help someone else who may go through your experience.
GOD BLESS!

Journaling

How many of you have gotten your new journal books or gotten the old one out and dusted it off? This site is about the healing process that comes from journaling and doodling.
It's about you not me so start writing every thought that comes to your mind about the situation you are going through.
This site is about going thru cancer.....that can mean a whole host of different people:cancer survivors, caregivers, nurses, parents, spouses, children, pastors, neighbors and etc.. So get on board and start commenting on anyone of these blogs I have written. We need your comments to get this thing kick started. Please sign up to be a follower on the follower box and tell others. About the easiest way to get to this blog is to remember my web site and punch the correct button, Ricky's Blog. There are other buttons of my art and another where I am a correspondent for Sketching in Nature Blog.
Share with us what you may be writing about. These journals are not the same as a diary where you might confess to murder........... it's expressing your feelings and thoughts about the cancer situation and your part in it. The healing comes from the writing process.
Please remember some of you may never written before like this but please trust me and start.
I will try to get some more sketches up for those of you who want to embellish your pages with calligraphy, pictures or try your hand at doodling. Ask an art question if need be that's what this is all about.............Expressing ourselves and gaining healing and a community of like kind friends.

Face the Devil

I pray this finds all of you well. The rain keeps coming down but I have my journal to write in and doodle. Thank God for it because my buddy came by my house to tell me some news. He has been dealing with cancer from Agent Orange [Vietnam Era]. They told him there is nothing more to help him and he has a few weeks or month to live.
You can imagine how the rest of that converstion went while standing in my driveway. This is the cold reality of cancer. Again this is the reason for writing your life down for yourself and those you wish to say something to but can't face to face. Someday they will read it, trust me and you will be happy knowing it was said.
They will know your thoughts on how the day was going for you and even may see a doodle or two of something that will touch them. Cherish it , they will forever.
Please ask any questions or comments and this includes from anybody who is following this blog. You do not have to be a cancer survivor for input.
Our caregivers may want to take up journaling also to share their side of this horrible disease. God bless.

Tips on Journaling

God is so good to us. I woke up this morning and the diahrhea is gone after a week. When you have a stoma [colostomy] you just can't imagine how bad this one thing can affect you. Thank God some of you don't.
So what's the best way to start journaling or the HOW-TO? Get yourself a hardbound sketchbook at Barnes and Noble or one of those book stores. The reason I say sketchbook is the lack of lines it presents. This allows you the freedom to roam on the page if you want to doodle you won't be restricted. Size of this book really doesn't matter because everyone likes something different.
Next is to get an ink pen that won't smear with water. Most don't but double check it with a little spit on the finger. If you like color, grab yourself a small set of colored pencils. They are inexpensive and last a long time. Fun is what it is all about.
Now when you get the material the life change begins. This journal is for you.....unless you care to share. It's not something you use for writing a book but for sharing your world and thoughts through the eyes GOD has given you. Let those pent up feelings or thoughts come out. Example could be......... While sitting in the hospital waiting room describe the people around you or their conversations if it is hearable. Try doodling parts of the room or people. No one expects you to be Rembrandt or Walt Whitman, so go for it. Remember it is the process that is the healing for you and what comes out, if shared, can even heal us.
So today get your materials needed. Maybe take a marker and make it personal to you with your name. You can put stickers on it. I've even seen some that are decopaged and some that have had beautiful dress material glued to them. The sky is the limit........now go forth and have a blessed day. God bless.