Photo by Adam C. Smith

I didn’t know exactly what to expect of Healing Hamlet, but I did understand the value of art and healing in my own life.  This project has always felt bigger than me, because it is. 

Seventeen months ago, Healing Hamlet launched with its first post: an interview of my very talented artist friend, Staci Thompson Adman.  But the idea for this blog surfaced months before then, sprung from life events that had shaped the preceding years.  Thoughts became plans and plans turned into lists, outlines and sketches of web pages.  I took web design courses so that I could dive into the HTML entrails of my WordPress theme.  Long hours were spent in the soft glow of my laptop screen, tweaking and revising, changing and modifying.  After a few what happens if I do this…, several oopsies, and a couple omigod- I’ve ruined everything, I massaged the thing into a format somewhat resembling my original vision.  Now the real fun could begin: the search for content.

Staci was gracious enough to grant me an interview.  In her studio, I watched her create beautiful glass beads while I learned about the role of art in her life.  Later, when the post was complete, I hit publish with a slightly shaky hand and sent a link to all my email contacts and Facebook friends.  Then I took myself to the theater to watch Life of Pi (an amazing movie, btw) so that I wouldn’t be staring at my website counter for the next three hours.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect of Healing Hamlet, but I did understand the value of art and healing in my own life.  This project has always felt bigger than me, because it is.  When you create a platform where artists can gather, you meet the painter shaped by the labor camps of China; the geophysicist whose first novel won the Bellwether Prize for Fiction, the gifted songwriter from Ottawa who showed us how to stand up for ourselves; a Pakistani woman who creates art for social change; the man who sculpts snowy landscapes; the musician/songwriter who knew all The Doors lyrics by the age of 2; the writer who weaves her novels through patterns and verse; the father of the spiral-horned, winged cheetalope; and the teen who left us with the lasting gift of music.

I made a point to post regularly.  Since I didn’t receive the submissions I had hoped for, it became a treasure hunt: seeking out contacts and following internet threads.  Every single painting, sculpture, poem, quote, book, song, story, interview and photo that I shared was like a gem to me.  Creative Commons opened up an amazing world of gorgeous photographs.  I used these to accompany written works while giving credit to the photographer.  Each post was a small gift that fed my soul and gave me joy.  I’m continually amazed that there is so much beauty and wisdom just within our grasp.

Now that the days are turning warmer and (hopefully) sunnier, it’s with mixed feelings that I’ve decided to take a sabbatical from Healing Hamlet. Instead of sitting in front of the computer screen working on this website, I’m going to be sitting in front of the computer screen working on my book.  (And you thought I was going to say I’d be out in the sun soaking in some much needed Vitamin D!)  I still plan to post the occasional story or interview, so be sure to “like” the Healing Hamlet Facebook Page to stay updated.

Healing Hamlet has given me a space to find healing through art.  I’m grateful to all who have shared the journey with me thus far: the talented artists, musicians, writers and photographers; the Healing Hamlet followers and Facebook friends.  As always, your comments are welcome!

I’ll leave you with a few remarks by some of Healing Hamlet’s contributors.

Thank you!  It’s been a great ride!

-Anita

I’d be happy to have my writing on your blog. As an actress and writer with a disability I think healing and the arts is a very interesting focus. –Katie Calahan, www.disabledmom.com

Your blog is wonderful, thank you for sharing it with us. –Emily Randall, Playingforchange.org

I believe very strongly in what you are doing and in the power of the arts to heal. –Naomi Benaron, Naomibenaron.com

I’d be honored to have an excerpt featured on your blog! It felt so cathartic breaking up with ‘Worry’. Personifying these crippling emotions can lead to healing, even if it’s in small doses. –Anka, Goldenstateofgrind.com

What an amazing site, thank you for including us! –Mike Notter, Hannaleesong.com

Thank you so much, art therapy is a beautiful thing. –Liese Chavez, Liesechavez.com

I have been enjoying reading your blog since your first note.  You provide such lovely food for thought! –Aisling, Quietcountryhouse.blogspot.com

I’d be delighted for an excerpt of ‘Robbed’ to appear on your blog. I’ve had a look at it and it is a truly lovely collection of things.  I think proper curatorship on the internet is rare, and Healing Hamlet is a marvelous achievement. –Xtin, Xtinpore.blogspot.com

I think you’re doing something extraordinary and necessary. –Peter Goetzinger, Artistbrothers.com

The mission of your blog is fantastic. Just beautiful. –Lauren Roedy Vaughn, Laurenroedyvaughn.com

Deeply grateful to be featured here in this healing place….we are all in need of that. I love to write, it is a pleasure for me, that I haven’t afforded myself in months. Knowing my stories are considered a healing thing…..well, that makes a world of difference. –Jennifer Valentine, Sacredcake.blogspot.com

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Photo by Ryan Wick

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. — Marcel Proust

The post Healing Quote of the Day appeared first on Healing Hamlet.

 It had arrived a little damaged. Imperfect. But he didn’t care, this was all he’d wanted. Something to hope for, and he’d found it.

Find Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

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Ain’t no gift like the present tense
Ain’t no love like an old romance
Got’sta make hay when the sun is shinin’
Can’t waste time when it comes time to dance

Find The Heart

More by NEEDTOBREATHE

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Photo by Ed Brownson

The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,

is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can’t breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.

More about Margaret Atwood

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Photo by Ashton Pal

Installation of Forever Bicycles at the Nuit Blanche Event in Toronto, October 2013, using 3,144 interconnected bicycles.

We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something. –Ai Weiwei

Learn more about Ai Weiwei

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Photo by Adrian Mathurin

When Mr. Sulaiman from Jordan play he pipe and the band join in – two musicians from Liverpool, a’ Egyptian beatin’ drums with he hands, a German drummer, and a German guitarist – I thought about children in a’ open-land, running wild and free.

Me an’ Bhoy, assistant to Fazal (gardener-tree-trimmer-grass-cutter), examine the ground.  Every crack was a thirsty mouth.

“Look, eh, you would never think so much rain did fall…” Bhoy say in he slow-w-w-w way.

“Yeah, four an’ a half months o’ rain and now look!”

Fazal say he does have to finish work soon before the sun blister he.

Every day, the heat rise, if you coulda hear it, you woulda hear a scream in the sky, I swear.

I don’t know if it was the heat or me, but I been feeling like a desert too.  All me words been panting like them flowers, h-h-h-h.

Read the full post on Guyana Gyal’s Blog

The post When Sami Yusuf Came to Town appeared first on Healing Hamlet.

Photo by Timo Mistler

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it. –Confucius

The post Healing Quote of the Day appeared first on Healing Hamlet.

What gave me hope in the midst of my pain and loss was not another antidepressant or another hour in my therapist’s office, but the smiles and giggles and hugs of five precious little girls.

Find The Invisible Girls

Visit Sarah Thebarge’s Website

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Everyone I know is looking for protection
Trying to pull your hometown ‘cross a telephone wire
‘Cause that was the real you standing there in the shape of your body
Fear don’ know no love when we’re all the same
That was the real you looking back across the water
Tears falling like rain, drops rippling against the shame
That was the real you singing hallelujah, looking down a barrel
Hey brother, we’re all learning to love again
Hey brother, we’re all learning to love again

Find Learning to Love Again

More music from Mat Kearney

Youtube Post by Papa Pallas

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