Divya Marie Kato’s Blog

Women Rising. Thank you to all of you for coming and to the FEW board for a truly incredible day with incredible people. FEW. For Empowering Women. You did just that. A big thank you for joining us and entering into all activities in the spirit of exploration. With curiosity and an open mind.

Thrilled to hear that many of you wanted more time to draw! I hope your “When in doubt, draw,” pencils and canvases are with you at home (gently calling your name!). Not gifts. An invitation.

Given with all my heart. The two, simple things that have served me so well. And when you know about something SO good, you want to shout it from the rooftops!

So here’s to that very first line of yours. May it be the start of a great adventure.

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Our theme for CSS 2016 was “Women Rising” and I opened with the question:

“What prevents us from rising?”

The Weight
Where does this weight come from? We all have experiences that happen to us — the day-to-day ups and downs of being a human. These experiences get stored in our bodies as information. We often take it for granted that our bodies magically process our food — extracting required nutrients and expelling the rest. So, how do we go about processing the information too?

The Invitation
Here’s an invitation to try a way that will surprise you — and notice I said “will” and not “may!” Because of the very nature of the process putting you in a place, a space of not knowing. Putting you in the playground again. The Playground of Possibility.

Peel Off the Labels
“Who or what are you without your label, your name, your title, your qualification? And are you happy being that?”

I invite you to peel off the name of the activity I’m talking about. To peel off the labels of good and bad. Of buzz words like “creativity.” Of big words like “art” (this is a BIG one, you may need to tug a little).

Let’s dive into the space of not knowing and leave the weight behind.

Connection
In the same way Ai Futaki, diver and Guinness World Record holder, took you back and invited you to reconnect with the ocean and water, so will I. I will take you back to our beginnings — to painting in caves, to carving into rock and to our essential nature, as creative beings — back to the roots of our development, to when your chubby, child fingers first clutched a crayon.

Warm-up Exercise
“What do you need to let go of to rise?” We’re under the surface — imagine what you need to let go of so you can reach the surface — now let go of that weight!

On your paper: Take 2 minutes to write down all the things that are weighing you down — get the weight down and out of mind — e. g “I’m not creative . . . I can’t . . . I’m too . . . I’ve always been . . . I’m this . . . I’m that . . .”

Things to Notice When Drawing
Think: Not how to draw, but why draw — focus on the process, of engaging mind to hand connection. As you begin to make marks on the paper: Reflect on the organic lines you’re drawing — I always encourage people to begin drawing things from nature like flowers, leaves, trees, shells — notice how you can find similar lines in your own hand and contemplate your intrinsic connection with nature. Meditate on how you’re actively fostering connection to yourself and consider how often you make time to sit and see.

My offer to you:

Enter the space of not knowing more often. To play and discover. Make it a practice. My invitation to you: One back to yourself. To be with and better understand yourself, your experiences and your stories.

My 3-Step Process
Through a lifetime of sharing and practicing drawing, I’ve unearthed many discoveries and distilled them into a 3 step formula. This is how drawing can help us process our experiences:

Observation. Reflection. Expression.

Observation: Taking in the world around us.

Reflection: The inner work — taking time to transfer what we see onto paper and check in with ourselves. How do I feel?

Expression: The outer work — we have a way of translating our inner work out onto paper, to connect with others and show them.

This is how I feel.

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Rise Up, Women

I hope you’ll catch a glimpse of the more in you that is yet to come out. Once weight has been lifted and you’re allowed to play. Without the burden of expectation. The rest of you resting inside. Ready to help you rise.

FEW CSS 2016 Cornerstones

Knowledge: Stretching ourselves — thank you Jay Ponazecki! — aiming high and reaching to learn. How to process the weight of information that comes from our daily experiences.
Inspiration: Allowing ourselves time to play and explore. To be inspired by nature and by discoveries made in the space of not knowing.
Connection: To nature, to the bigger picture, to our place in that bigger picture, to ourselves and to others. Making time to be with ourselves, for inner reflection.
To see how this affects our connection with others so we don’t bring our weight to them. So we can help them rise, too.

Ever draws,

DMK x

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For those of you who want to dive into your drawing more at home, you can find Part 1 of my drawing guide by clicking HERE or on the pic below – for an instantly downloadable and beautiful PDF – for free. Includes my number one drawing tip. Enjoy and happy drawing friends. Let me know what unfolds when pencil hits paper.

Blossoms have given way to fresh green leaves. Nature’s changes, as ever, helping us understand the way of things. Make sense of the news. Make sense of the changes.

Joy and Heartbreak.
Open our eyes to a bigger picture.
And a bigger vision of ourselves.

In my last post I talked about stress and presenting drawing as a way to reduce it. Later I realised, I should stop telling you about drawing (although I won’t because I love it THAT much) and let you hear more from what others have to say. Art has many incredible benefits – so I’ll share a new one with each post.

Let’s start with art therapist, Cathy Malchiodi. According to Cathy, in her book, The Art Therapy Sourcebook, art therapy is “a modality for self-understanding, emotional change and personal growth.” In her own practice, Malchiodi helps clients with everything from processing emotions to personal growth. In the book, she explains her role:

“I believe that my role as an art therapist is to help people explore and express themselves authentically through art. Through this process, people may find relief from overwhelming emotions, crises or trauma. They may discover insights about themselves, increase their sense of well-being, enrich their daily lives through creative expression, or experience personal transformation. I recognize the power of art to expand self-understanding, to offer insight not available through other means, and to extend people’s ability to communicate. I also view art expressions as personal narratives conveyed through images, as well as through the stories that people attach to those images. Finding personal meaning in one’s images is often part of the art therapy process. For some people, it is one of the most potent therapeutic qualities of art expression. It is a powerful way of knowing yourself and a powerful form of healing.”

Read the full article HERE.

5 Quick Facts about Art Therapy By Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S.

All That Happens When Pencil Touches Paper

The experiences that happen to us day to day wind up as information stored in our bodies.  How do we process this information?

Through a process of:

1. INNER REFLECTION:  Understanding our feelings (about experiences)
2. OUTER EXPRESSION:  Communicating our feelings (about experiences)

Writing is one idea; thoughts and feelings are expressed in words. Extensive vocabulary or not, at times the words are hard to find. Drawing is a stage before words — more elemental — and can catch the feelings one step before.  In this way, drawing provides an easier way to tap into those feelings: Enabling us to understand them for ourselves and express them to other people. Drawing is a way for us to process our experiences and make peace with our stories.

So together with reducing stress, opening up a creative channel, nurturing community and collaboration, idea sparking, highlighting issues, celebrating events and self discovery . . . Isn’t it time you gave drawing a try?

Ok, I’m in! What’ve you got to get me started, Divya?

For those of you who’d like to try drawing (you’ll be CHO happy you did!) you can receive part one of my Online Course for free, plus my Bonus Film, “Drawing for Stories,” to get started and discover what drawing can do for you. Head over HERE.

Make sure you’re signed up for DMK news to receive all the latest on tips, treats, training and my book, ‘When in doubt, draw’.

Prince
To the rare and remarkable ones. To leaving the world a funkier place. Imagining Prince and Bowie creating things on a whole new level up there. Imagining what’s possible down here. Us earthlings can do some incredible things. Let’s go about doing them. Helping others do them too.

For you rare and remarkable ones. Yes, you!

Look out for our “Big Juicy Retreat,” an exclusive retreat brought to you by yours truly and the exceedingly rare and remarkable Sarah Furuya of Clever Rebels. One place already gone. October 1st and 2nd. Keep your eyes peeled.

Ever draws, DMK x

 

Remember? No? The 90s. The Song. Salt-N-Pepa. “Let’s Talk About Sex.” Frankness. Beat breaking taboos (Who doesn’t like a bit of taboo breakage?).

So friends, come on, why not?  It’s Spring! Let’s talk about . . .

STRESS

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Busybusybusybusybusysbusybusy . . . Ever tried typing this word repeatedly? Right hand “b,” “u,” left hand “s,” “y” busybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusybusy . . .

Expectations? Pressure? Prejudice? All things bright and beautiful?

The Environment. The News. All this and more and . . . Never. Enough. Time.

At times, physical movement. At others, mental movement (and the “other” movement . . . well, that’s the pudding proof and no mistake).

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THE EXCHANGE
I recently shared a wonderful exchange with Yoko Majima, our very own community lawyer. We talked about how we try to keep stress at bay. About having a peaceful mind. Grateful to Yoko for sharing what she did. It means a lot to me when people reach out with truth. Being open and honest about what they struggle with. It always hits home because it’s something I connect to. On a human level.

I struggle with stress too. It’s a word that comes up in conversations often. Sometimes scarily the norm.

Filing my taxes last week with Mori-san, our community tax accountant, the topic of stress came up again. Mori-san smiled. In a voice soft with warmth and crystal clear clarity, she told me how her only aim is to take as much stress out of taxes as possible. Fantastic. Her gift. Gratefully received by me and many others in our community.

“I think in today’s world, the number one reason to mediate is that we live in a world that has a lot of stress. People are constantly feeling time pressure, peer pressure, performance anxiety . . . What does this do? Physical and biological havoc…strokes..diseases..addictive behaviour…We now know that stress…emotional, psychological, physical…is the number one epidemic of our civilization” — Deepak Chopra speaking to Oprah Winfrey

(Haven’t tried their 21 Day Mediation? Try it out here — it’s free!)

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THE CHOCOLATE BOX
The good news is that there are many ways to release stress. A veritable chocolate box of treats: meditation, hiking, coloring, sex (together or alone: yes!), yoga, dancing, gardening… From “woo woo” to buzz words, meditation and mindfulness are growing and attracting people from all walks of life. What I also disregarded as “woo woo” is now essential. For creating that small, still space. A place to connect to bigger and beyond. For peace of mind. For self love and knowing that I’m enough.  What does my practice look like?

PENCIL, MEET PAPER
“Once, when I was struggling with a book, I signed up for a drawing class, just to open up some other kind of creative channel within my mind. I can’t draw very well, but that didn’t matter; the important thing was that I was staying in communication with artistry at some level. I was fiddling with my own dials, trying to reach inspiration in any way possible. Eventually, after enough drawing, the writing began to flow again” — Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic

“Play is an antidote to stress, and this is key because stress, in addition to being an enemy of productivity, can actually shut down the creative, inquisitive, exploratory parts of our brain. You know how it feels: you’re stressed..suddenly everything starts going wrong…you can’t find your keys, you bump into things…I have seen play reverse these effects in my own children.  When they are stressed and things feel out of control, I have them draw.  When they do, the change is almost immediate.  The stress melts away and their ability to explore is regained” — Greg McKeown, Essentialism

It looks very much like this: Pencil and Paper. Worth so much more than their separate parts.

Drawing for Reflection. (inner) Drawing for Expression. (outer)

Drawing is how I process experiences and the thoughts and feelings that come with them.

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I have witnessed this countless times. Sharing drawing. Watching people light up. Discover new things. Make changes.

“There’s something there that wasn’t there before…I’m much happier about how my life is going….I thought this was just an art class, it’s so much more!…one of the reasons for my big awakening”

I can’t wish you a stress-free Spring — I’m a realist and it doesn’t exist! — I can, however, wish you a happy Spring. And should things get too much, I hope this has inspired you to try drawing. With Spring springing all around, we’re spoiled for choice.

Pick up a pencil. Start and see. The flowers make the best teachers.

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Look out for my drawing workshop with over here for Part 1 of my online course, Drawing. Done Differently. – it’s free!

For inquiries: info@divyamariekato.com

Ever draws,

DMK x

“What do you value?”

(Clockwise: Bottom left to right)

“Time.  Things that take time and happen when they happen.”

“How has your style developed?”

“A drawing my school friend recently discovered when clearing out a drawer – must’ve been 11/12?? – style was already set it seems!”

“Is the aim to create a beautiful drawing?”

“The aim is to be an observer.  Observe and translate onto the page.  My drawings aren’t always finished and beautiful.  In this coffee sketch at Fuglen Tokyo, I was chasing stretching shadows across the pavement, people kept moving their bicycles; loved the light gleaming off the ashtray, bouncing off the bricks, playing between the wheels. (Bonus met two new coffee lovers from @goodcoffeeme)”

“Why pen?”

“No eraser.  More observing.”

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Divya Marie Kato

“When in doubt, draw”

Drawing.  Done differently.

Want to find out more about what drawing can do?

Check out the Inspiring Stories here to see what people are saying and sign up for my newsletters, free training and to hear about my book and online course.  See you there!

Wishing you all a good Friday and happy weekend ahead.

Ever draws,

DMK x

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To say goodbye and thank you to 2015, I hosted a celebration of community and creativity at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.  We debuted the two short films that we made: ‘Drawings for Stories’, a film honouring the exchange I initiated earlier in the year, as part of the research for my book, ‘When in doubt draw’, and ‘Who is Divya Marie Kato?’, a sneak peek behind the scenes to learn more about me, my team and the why behind the work.  For the gallery of pictures, full write up with speech and to see one of the videos, head over here or click on the lovely people in the pic below!