The Role of Art in Serving as Tool for Understanding, Changing and Creating Awareness about Human Relationships - Term Paper Example

 Difficult Relationships Introduction Consider these scenarios. History tells us that it took many centuries for the first man on earth to discover and learn to speak, create the first words, effectively use them to express his feelings and produce a comprehensive language to convey all his thoughts and emotions. A child takes a few months to learn and apprehend the language used by his family. Thousands of people are living on the planet as dumb and deaf, unable to speak and hear. For all the above-mentioned people and situations, variables and elements like words, languages, speeches, and voices have never been enough. In short, the human race, in any point of time, has not relied completely, on words and languages as a medium of expression. Experts believe that human expressions, feelings, emotions, knowledge, behaviors, and communication are so diverse, wide ranging and dynamic that no language and word can confine them or give you a clear picture to understand them. When words fail to express and serve as means of communication, art has always been there to help us in this regard. This explains why the human race has been inclined towards using art as a form of expression and understanding of human behavior, feelings, and emotions. It is common to see any one expressing their feelings to their loved one with singing a song, acting something, giving a card, which has some beautiful drawing or painting or some touchy lines and others. Therapists and experts believe that art has a unique power with which creation of many learning, neurological processes have became possible, and at the same time, it can stimulate sensory, emotional and cognitive development. Therefore, art is more than an merely what it appears to be, it has the power to create awareness about human feelings, facilitate change in human relationships and links, serve as a medium of communication and others with all cultures, nationalities and races. Art in its various forms has been a blessing for us. The rest of this paper would try to explore the role of art, in its various forms, expressions, and varieties in serving as tool for understanding, changing and creating awareness about human relationships, emotions, and feelings. Moreover, this paper would accomplish this task using the personal experiences of the writer and linking them with the expert opinions, theories, sayings, and works. Discussion Sand play, body movement/dance, art and music, have demonstrated to me to be the most effective means for my exploration into my personal awareness, working with the past and present enabling the beginning of communication and change for now and the future. Sand Play Sand play was the first arts therapy I worked with and learnt about. The sand tray offers a safe, contained, and frees space to play by showing how the unconscious and conscious send messages to one another. It is a calm place where one can experience both inner reality and outer life situations. It is where the imagination can play, often life’s dramas can be unraveled, and the little figurines used i.e., people, animals, objects and so on can be moved around and sometimes get a life. Quite interesting is note that, throughout my whole life, my careful observation has led me to conclude that unconsciously I have always expressed my inner feelings, disruptions, and happenings through the shapes and figures that I made on the sand. It was like that all these shapes were talking to me after their creation and telling me that we are a part of you and have come inside you. The following quote is a song from a boy called Dibs who made very creative use of sand play to help him heal and re-integrate his world while in therapy with Virginia Axline. “Oh, I hate-hate-hate,” he sang. “I hate the walls and the doors that lock and the people who shove you in. I hate the tears and the angry words and I will kill them all with my little hatchet, hammer their bones, and spit on them. He reached down in the sand, picked up a toy soldier, and pounded it with the rubber hatchet, spit on it. I spit in your face, I spit in your eye. I gouge your head down deep in the sand,” he sang. His voice rang out, sweetly and clearly. And the birds do fly from the east to the west and it is a bird I want to be. Then I will fly over the walls, out the door, away, away, away from all my enemies. I will fly and fly around the world and I will come back to the sand. I will play in the sand. I’ll count all the grains of the sand and I’ll be a baby again” (Axline, pp. 30-45, 1990). When I worked with sand tray, we were asked to choose one or two objects and write a story about them. ‘The Pink Feather and the Dolphin’: Once upon a time, there lived a pretty pink feather, which flew in the wind. Today the pink feather landed in the middle of the sand on a small-secluded beach. The feather consists of a strong spine/core with soft, fluffy feathers at the bottom and gradually strengthening as the feathers reach the top. Besides the feather is a beautiful dolphin bobbing up and down in the sea noticing the feather as it pops up. The feather was happy to be on its own and did not feel it needed company today, but the dolphin did not get in its way so the feather remained happy. The feather flying describes my happiness for freedom and exploration and my love for life. The feather described as a strong core that is my grounded side and the soft, fluffy feathers showing the soft and fun side of myself. The feather was happy to be on its own, showed me that over the term, I had become more confident, and secure in my surroundings helped by a wonderful group of women whom have formed a close friendship. “Perhaps it’s when we experience confidence and faith and hope that we see materialize before our eyes this builds up within us a feeling of inner strength, courage and security” (Axline pp. 37, 1990). I have become a lot happier in my own company and do not always have the need to be with other persons/people. It shows me that I have a lot more inner peace and tranquility and am content to be in my own company. This was something that I was never very good at in the past; it meant too much time to think of painful thoughts instead of talking, sharing and dealing with uncomfortable situations and painful times. Sand play was able to provoke “transactional analysis” within my self. Before this extensive sand playing, I would have described myself as “angry and rebellious child” in the light of transactional analysis. However, with this art of sand playing, I was able to develop the adult portion or adult role within that actually sees things with a materialistic and objective perspective. Moreover, I also find myself acting as a “nurturing parent” about the external happenings. For example, the same situations about which I used to became angry and reactive, now I try to see those things with a more rational, logical and friendly perspectives. Interestingly, an important example of the same remains my perspective of looking at the homework and assignments that I used to get. Initially, like any other students, I would also react angrily and I would get irritated with the excessive assignments that the teachers used to give but now I try to acknowledge the fact that the excessive assignments are a cause of course requirements. Moreover, this has also helped me at other lifestyles as well since now I try being more rational, understanding and sympathetic towards things than usual. Furthermore, I have also learned how to shift between these roles when needed. For example, now I realized that if I were facing a person who is acting as a “controlling parent,” I would have to become a child in order to make sure that the things keep on running smoothly (Berk, pp. 112-129, 2006). Moreover, becoming a nurturing parent with others would help me in gaining the trust of others. Music Therapy Music therapy helps people to maintain their health in all aspects like physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and others. Moreover, with music therapy, therapists also achieve the targets of improving the observing skills, behavioral and social skills, and cognitive and emotional development of their clients. In addition, music can treat and benefit individuals either directly or indirectly. It is also important to note that music therapy is a therapy, which is useable for people from all ages, backgrounds, races, castes, disabilities, disorders, and interpersonal problems. One element of music that is relevant to music therapy is the impact “the effective side of our minds” (Blair, 1987, pp. 5). Quite understandably, music has all the power to affect an individual’s moods, feelings, thinking, perceptions, and decisions and can relieve stress and tension effectively. More since music at most occasions are merely words but “strong words, therefore, they possess the power to evoke powerful “imagery of many kinds- realistic, fanciful, or even hallucinatory- which may enable him temporarily to escape from the unacceptable world or reality” (Blair, 1987, pp. 5). Music has always been an important part of my life. I have always played the piano and experimented with other instruments during my childhood, as well as listening to all types of music from jazz, soul, pop to classical. Music has always held and holds very strong memories for me, in my past and present; memories are provoked good and bad, happy and sad. My late father loved music with a passion, particularly classical music and our house was always filled with its beautiful sounds. Quite often, my father from a young age would take me to The Royal Festival Hall. I soon found myself delighted in the enchanting sounds coming from the various instruments, as well as observing the orchestra, conductor, and I quickly became a fan. Since my father passed away, listening to any classical music, at first, was extremely painful and mostly I found it too hard to listen do. Working with music in arts therapy has made me aware of how powerful and potent it is for me. I have found comfort and peace in listening to music, exploring the difficult times and good times in our relationship. Many types of music heighten my feelings, so I find that this helps in releasing the built up emotions and blockages, thus enabling me to cry easily in the past have found difficult. As Alice Miller says that “the child in me--condemned to silence long ago--abused, exploited, and turned to stone-- who finally found her feelings and along with them her speech" (Miller, pp. 15-18, 2006). Music was able to provide me with my speech. Working with music and instruments in various different ways within college workshops has taught me to explore my feelings in a much deeper way, observing and questioning my reactions and behaviour within relationships but particularly my relationship with my father. I understand the role of music in my life and its relation with the experiences that I had in my childhood with the object relations theory. In the simplest possible words, object relations theory is of the view that life is a drama and obviously, we are actors. Every actor has a script and role, which has to be predefined, pre-decided and pre-assigned (Davies, pp. 15-28, 2004). However, this assigning, deciding and defining happens in the childhood of every individual and he or she spends the rest of their life playing that role. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the script is changeable but again it is difficult to change. Let us hold the point of changing this script for the discussion that would happen in a while. There is another way of looking at this same theory but the approach would be the same, to look at with the example of a theater. For example, a person named George is on the stage of this theatre. Behind him is the real world and environment in which he interacts with the outside people and in front of him are the persons sitting with which George has had significant experiences and relations in the past. Technically speaking, on stage it is not George but George’s ego and in front of him are not the people but his representations of the people. These representations would depend on the experiences that George had with these people in the past. For example, the second grade teacher that used to scold George a lot for his untidy work, George would have her memory or presentation as frightening and scary one. Moreover, George has further classified these people on the basis the experiences. For example, all the people similar to his second grade teacher, with which George’s experience was kind of aggressive and violent, George has placed all of them on the left side. In addition, all the people with which George has had good, pleasant, and memorable experiences, George has placed them on the right side of the theater. Examples could be George’s best friend, mother, family, supportive teachers, and others. In the center of the theatre are sitting the neutral people. Things get complicated when we acknowledge the fact that a person can play multiple roles which means that the person could be sitting on either sides of the theatre. For example, George’s first girl friend can sit on the right side of the theatre because of the fact that she supported George and stood by her side, made him learn how to dress and talk to girls, helped him with his assignments and they both enjoyed a good relationship. However, she can also sit on the left side of the theatre as well because George also has the memories of that when his girlfriend left him unexpectedly at the time when George needed her, the most. Therefore, George is in constant interaction with the world and this interaction is causing shifts of these people all the time. According to experts, the more mature the person would be the more likely he or she would be able to see full picture of the people sitting in front of him. Therefore, maturity helps people transform those representations of people to complete human pictures. Moreover, maturity also helps to fix the places of the people or avoid multiple representations of the audience in your theatre (Huston & Ripke, pp. 52-59, 2006). Now, the most important part of the discussion comes. Experts say that maturity can help doing in the above-mentioned things and for me the maturity that I have gained in this regard has come mostly from the mentioned art forms like sand play, dance, and music. Specifically, music has been able to bring the element of adaptability; tolerance and adjustment into me, which has, lead me to maturity. I find myself viewing things with a more objective rather than subjective view, which leads me to becoming more rational and logical. Moreover, let us also resume the point related to “changing of the script of life” which he had put on hold, earlier in the discussion. Research proves that music has the capability of motivating people to the utmost levels. Music has been my motivation throughout my life. Whenever, I have missed my father to the extreme or any old memories have made me cry, some beautiful music has served as motivation for me to stand up and fight back. There are numerous times when I had a fight with one of my colleagues and listening to a good hip-hop or rock track helped in claming down my self and helping me in returning to my normal mode. Dance/Body movement Therapy My passion and interest in dancing goes back to my childhood when I was just three years old. I still have those memories of my mother teaching us dancing since she was a dance teacher. I still the remember the times when she used to leave the place to teach dance and I was the incharge of my place. I took classical ballet classes that I loved with a passion, taking part in shows and undertaking child ballet exams through to adult. In addition to ballet, I delighted in tap and modern dance also. Therefore, I find dance in my genes and in my blood right from the very beginning. For me dance is even more than a mode of communication or expression of feelings but an inseparable part of my mine. “I was astonished to find out that I had been a misused progeny, that from the very starting of my life I had no alternative but to completely obey with the desires and sentiments of my mother and to disregard my own” (Axline, pp. 8, 1990). These lines from Axline made me reflect about my own personal feelings regarding obeying my father’s orders and wishes and sacrificing mine. The latter lines have the description regarding my wish. As I grew up, my desire for making dance my profession became more and more stronger but sadly my father did not agree to my opinion since he thought that I should focus more on my education. In a way, he was right because despite the fact that I was not a bad student but I was not very good at grasping things, understanding them and picking them up quickly. In short, my ability to work with theoretical work has been bad but on the other hand, I have proved my self as a bright student as far as the practical and real life work is concerned. “This means tolerating the knowledge that, to avoid losing the ‘love’ of our parents, we were compelled to gratify their unconscious needs at the cost of our own emotional development” (Miller, pp. 23, 2006). My experience with body movement within the two workshops has been very interesting. In my mind, I knew straight away, as with music therapy, that I embrace and delight in this type of arts, as a way of expressing my emotions. However, it has taught me to be in touch with my body by listening to it, recognizing where I hold my tension, pain, anger, excitement, pleasure and so on. Conclusion In conclusion, working with the arts, particularly sand art, music, art, and body/dance movement have proven to be a most potent tool for my awareness as well as the finest way of communicating and revealing my true self. I have also experienced other types of arts therapy, such as, clay, puppetry, and drama. I came to realise that I am a more practical person and am more comfortable expressing myself through creativity, having found this to be the way I can access and express my emotions. Mostly, it has assisted in my understanding with various difficult relationships. In particular, my relationship and consequently my grieving process when my father died was very difficult, I did not know how to grieve, and release blocked emotions. Arts therapy has demonstrated to me a way of expressing myself, where words would not come. Moreover, at the end of this paper, I have also realized that childhood experiences and happenings affect the mind and the future of any person to the extreme possible levels. I also found that even my childhood experiences had a significant impact on how I dealt with art, what remedies I tried to find from art, how I viewed other things or my perception of the world. As Alice Miller (pp. 23-30, 2006) says “The reason why parents mistreat their children has less to do with character and temperament than with the fact that they were mistreated themselves and were not permitted to defend themselves.” At another place, she (pp. 23-30, 2006) says, “those children who are beaten will in turn give beatings, those who are intimidated will be intimidating, those who are humiliated will impose humiliation, and those whose souls are murdered will murder.” I would like to say that I was doing the same, which I was programmed in my childhood to do until and unless I discovered the power of art. Without any doubts, art in its all forms is a strong tool to deal with human nature, human relationships, their problems, and others. Moreover, it is also important to mention that even after writing some much about art and the benefits that I have received from art, I still believe that there is still a long way to travel. Because every time when you engage yourself in art, you engage yourself in creativity and creativity have no limits. References Axline, V. (1990). Dibs: In Search of Self. Ballantine Books. Berk, Laura E. (2006). Child development. Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Davies, Douglas. (2004). Child development: a practitioner's guide. Guilford Press. Huston, Aletha C., & Ripke, Marika N. (2006). Developmental contexts in middle childhood: bridges to adolescence and adulthood. Cambridge University Press. McNiff, S. (1992). Art as medicine: creating a therapy of the imagination. Shambhala. Miller, A. (2006). The Drama of Being a Child. Virago. Read More