Life is process, change inherent in all we do. All is changing and we are a part of an evolving experiment, an unfolding process from birth to death and the mystery of before and after. Yet we become attached to something or someone and want to freeze frame moments. We hope to hold on to the good and yet hurry the difficult away. Joan Stanford loves the quote, “Sometimes the best thing to do when it is raining is it to let it rain.” We cannot change that about ourselves but it is helpful to remember everything is always moving. Our intentions matter and our responses to what arises as well. And it is helpful to recall that joy in process.
For Joan, playing with art materials allows that. She does try to play freely accepting “mistakes” letting the process lead her.
Valeria interviews Joan Stanford the author of “The Art of Play: Ignite Your Imagination to Unlock Insight, Healing, and Joy.”
At forty-two, Joan —a busy mother, innkeeper—discovered, to her surprise and delight, a creative process for insight and healing that allowed even her, a self-proclaimed “non-artist,” to start making art. In The Art of Play, Stanford shares her journey through art and poetry as an example of how taking—or, more appropriately, making—time to pay attention to the imagery our daily lives presents to us can expand our awareness and joy, and she offers readers suggestions for how to do this for themselves, inviting them to embark on their own journey.
Joan Stanford, MA, ATR-BC, created a high school class “Alternative Mirrors,” addressing body image and self-esteem issues, for which she was awarded the Soroptimist’s “Making a Difference for Women” award. Joan is also the author of “Dining At The Ravens.” She offers imagination playshops and creativity retreats at the Mendocino Center for Living Well which she and her husband started in 2008 at the Stanford Inn Resort in Mendocino, CA which they have owned and operated since 1980. She believes in the power of art-making to heal individuals and communities.
