Healing arts is a broad term that refers to activities that incorporate art and imagination to heal the wounds of everyday life. Don’t take my word on that. What constitutes a healing art differs for every person you ask. To me, it simply means that art is used to feel better. Some of the projects people have called healing arts are:
- Mask making
- Family sculpture
- Water coloring for five year old Todd from North Dakota
Whenever art heals, it’s healing art.
The progressive farmer magazine recently published an article on an exceptionally creative and unusual healing art: Building your own fire pit. This project might sound like a tough one, but if you’re dedicated to the cause, your homemade fire pit can be blazing in just one day.
More important than the building process is what people take away from the creation of art and the admiration of the finished product. Building fire pits would be more rewarding than most art healing projects because it’s a piece of art that will continue to function and give off heat and beauty for many years to come, if maintained properly. Art that endures over the years is rewarding and inspirational to see. Fire pits are one of those art projects that will bring healing as they’re created and for many years afterward, as they are enjoyed by friends and family who take the time to stop by and see what all the art is about.
For people who aren’t skilled enough to build their own fire pit, it’s possible to enjoy the art of someone else’s homemade masterpiece. Add your own personal touches to the scenery by just sitting around the fire, enjoying its gifts to you.
The healing arts are healing because they are interactive. It allows people to create their own vision of what art is so that they are happier and more fulfilled than before. The tasks aren’t always easy but the payoff is reward enough for the work. Like life, the process of creation is difficult, but the results justify all the hard work. At the end of it all, there’s nothing to do but sit back and marvel at how much beauty there is in the finished product.
To learn more about building your own fire pit, or about other projects from the healing arts, do a Google search on topics that might interest you.