Blog – Julia Fry

Reconciling Capitalism

Yesterday, in my creative writing group, I wrote this piece called Reconciling Capitalism. I have been influenced by a couple of journal articles I’ve been reading for my research proposal, and also current and past political climates. I have recorded myself reading it and here it is:

Reconciling Capitalism is a 3 minute recording of a piece of creative writing

Want to explore the affect of Capitalism on you in a coaching session? I’m offering half price coaching sessions during Lockdown. Contact me to find out more.

References

CLOUSTON, T.J., 2014. Whose occupational balance is it anyway? The challenge of neoliberal capitalism and work-life imbalance. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77 (10), pp. 507-515.

OLIVIER, B., 2018. Pathoanalysis of the subject of capitalism. Psychotherapy and Politics International, 16 (3), p. e1467.

WINNICOTT, D.W., 1986. Playing and Reality. Aylesbury: Penguin Books.

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Heart Womb Room

“Seriously,” said Sandra, “if you feed it, it will grow.”

“What shall I feed it?” Said I. I didn’t quite believe her yet.

“You’re the only one who can answer that,” she smiled and a tiny dimple stroked her cheek briefly.

“But I don’t know the answer!” I felt hot and the words left me quickly. She smiled again. I shook my head, then stared at her.

Silence.

Then, “what?” She laughed.

“If I don’t know the answer how can I feed it?” My stare intensified. If I could, I would pull the answer from her.

“You do know!” She tossed her head and lay down; the grass was warm but the earth was still damp. I stayed upright. I closed my eyes and wondered where I might know.

I saw my heart.

A door glimmered in and out of view, like a mirage.

It had a crystal door handle and I touched it with my finger just to see how it felt; warm, but before I could take hold the door creaked open.

A pinky glow invited me in and so I got down on my knees and crawled to the centre of the room.

Womb.

Heart womb room.

Pink.

Warm.

Safe.

I lay on the soft, pink cloud and looked up at the myriad sparkly, twinkly eyes looking at me.

Gazing at me.

Loving me.

How could this be?

So much love in me for me.

These eyes could see.

And they knew.

Everything.

And I could ask them.

Anything.

“What shall I feed it?” I asked them and I heard tinkly giggles.

I knew the answer immediately.

It’s different every day, every moment.

It’s nurture.

Feed it nurture and it will grow.

I opened my eyes. I lay down on the grass in the sunshine, feeling the warmth caress my cheek. Sandra giggled, “I knew you’d know.”

Case Study: What is the Experience of Mindful Movement and Expressive Art Like?

I’ve created this image over 4 sessions of mindful movement and expressive art with Julia.
Amy

Psychological freedom

Amy has been attending Mindful Movement and Expressive Art drop in since March 2020, attending the first one in person. She then switched to online when Covid-19 disrupted our lives. She chose to keep working on the same image at each session. Amy notes that she’s able to feel psychologically free to be creative during the sessions:

Locus of Evaluation Part 1

Perhaps the most fundamental condition of creativity is that the source or locus of evaluative judgement is internal.
Carl Rogers (1998)

When I was thirteen my art teacher told me I wasn’t good enough to do art at ‘O’ Level and I believed him. Perhaps what he actually meant was, “you enjoy making art too much. You don’t take it seriously.” I used to sing and make noises and talk during my mark making. I once drew a still life that had the words, “ahhh, shit!” in it (I drew what I saw). Perhaps he disliked my enthusiasm because he’d lost his own. I didn’t take art seriously. It was fun. Until he told me I wasn’t good enough. I stopped making art and began journalling instead.

Using a journal is a great way of externalising what’s in your head and helping you move forward in your thinking. I invite my coaching clients to keep a journal during their coaching journey as it can help them reflect on various aspects of themselves and their relationships to people, events, things… It can also be used for creative writing and drawing. There are many ways of journalling and it can be as unique as you are.

Being With Trauma Memories Without Shame

There’s something about the conditions of lock down that reflect the conditions of childhood and, therefore, trauma, for me at least. In fact last weekend I had a trauma memory emerge during my meditation. It was a small child part of me that was sexually abused and I was able to hold it and listen to it and respond to it.

Painting black lines and dots on this work in progress abstract painting helped me to process some of my feelings about the childhood sexual abuse memory that emerged. Using arts is a way of expressing something creatively that cannot be expressed in words. The process of using arts can be soothing.

Coronavirus Could Help Us Stop Polluting The Planet

Capitalism Feels Crazy When Contrasted with Experiences in Nature

Soft, beautiful moss in Stanmer Park, Brighton

Moss is so beautiful. The other day, when I was walking, I saw moss blanketing the ground beneath a huge tree. The moss looked so soft. I felt a strong urge to touch it so I wandered off the path, bent down and it was incredibly soft. I felt so happy in that moment, surrounded by trees, feeling that soft, natural substance beneath my finger tips. In that moment capitalism and Coronavirus didn’t exist. No-one demanded payment for me to have this experience. How crazy capitalism is in contrast! And yet I still have bills to pay and need to eat and my whole existence, right now, depends on making money. Thanks to Coronavirus, it’s really hitting home how wrong this system is. What are the alternatives?

What New Systems Can We Create That Feel Whole, Supportive and Collaborative?

How to Stop Beating Yourself Up and Feel Happier

I’m late writing this blog post because I had writer’s block. When I delved deeper into why I couldn’t begin writing I found a critical inner voice saying, “no point in writing because people will be like, ugh! Oh shut up!” I asked myself what it was protecting me from and I realised I didn’t want to feel disappointment that people might not read or comment on my blog post. Now I know this I can accept that fear: yes, maybe they will not read or comment, and I will have learnt a bit more by writing, and now I can write. My example highlights one of the purposes of self-criticism: to avoid potentially painful feelings. In this post I’ll share more about why we self-criticise, how self-criticism is linked to the fight/flight system, and how we can stop beating ourselves up and feel happier.

I drew this image in 2018 as a way of externalising that critical voice that beats me up. This is just one of the forms I’ve given it over the years.

How Trauma Gets in the Way of Your Goals and What You Can Do About It

Trauma is not the event(s) that happened to you, it’s how you are affected by those events.

Every noise, every touch, the stones beneath my feet, the splash of fountains from a window, crept evilly upon my senses. The air had a stinging weight like ocean waves. I felt myself a stranger to the world.
Circe by Madeline Miller

Can Vision Boarding Help Your Mental Health?

The traditional way of creating a vision board is to create one that contains images and affirmations for your future self. If, however, your Inner Critic is likely to beat you up for not doing the things on your vision board, or even tell you you’ll never do those things, it might be better to create a different kind of vision board. In this article, I’ll show you the one I made and I’ll share some different ways of using vision boards.

Here’s a Vision Board I Made Earlier

Clarity and Purpose With the Heart’s Desire Mandala

Julia Fry’s completed Heart’s Desire Mandala

The Heart’s Desire Mandala is a one page worksheet with five simple steps that help you:

gain clarity about your heart’s desire (purpose) and
identify actions to get closer to your heart’s desire