- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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‘The 1977 White House climate memo that should have changed the world’
Frank Press, left, with President Jimmy Carter. Photo: Via The Guardian
'Years before climate change was part of national discourse,this memo to the president predicted catastrophe...it was prescient in many ways. Did anyone listen?'
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
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‘Through effects on the autonomic nervous system, oxytocin regulates blood flow and oxygen to the brain, thus further supporting human cognition, culture and eventually civilisation.
'Thus oxytocin-vasopressin effects on the autonomic nervous system are likely a critical component of the healing power of love. The autonomic nervous system is one portal through which the peptide systems and love may be accessed and influenced…’- Love as healing power
“There’s power in love. Love can help and heal when nothing else can. There’s power in love to lift up and liberate when nothing else will.”-
‘That’s what love is. Love is not selfish and self-centred. Love can be sacrificial, and in so doing, becomes redemptive. And that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love changes lives, and it can change this world.
If you don’t believe me, just stop and imagine. Think and imagine a world where love is the way.
Imagine our homes and families where love is the way.
Imagine our neighbourhoods and communities where love is the way.
Imagine our governments and nations where love is the way.
Imagine business and commerce where this love is the way.
Imagine this tired old world where love is the way.’-
Most Rev. Michael Curry, St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, 19 May 2018
'The Healing Power of Love in Mental Health.'
Photo:futurity.org
‘The one ingredient on which any recovery from serious mental illness depends is also one which, curiously and grievously, never makes an appearance in any medical handbook or psychiatric diagnostic, namely love. The word is so fatefully associated with romance and sentimentality that we overlook its critical role in helping us to keep faith with life at times of overwhelming psychological confusion and sorrow. Love – whether from a friend, a partner, an offspring, a parent – has an indomitable power to rescue us from mental illness.
'We might go so far as to say that anyone who has ever suffered from mental illness and who recovers will do so – whether they consciously realise it or not – because of an experience of love. And, by extension, no one has ever fallen gravely mentally ill without – somewhere along the line – having suffered from a severe deficit of love. Love turns out to be the guiding strand running through the onset of, and recovery from, our worst episodes of mental unwellness.
'What then do we mean by love, in its life-giving, mind-healing, sense?...Click the link below and continue reading this fascinating article:
THE ROLE OF LOVE IN MENTAL HEALTH
On Mental Illness: A Must- read Book
‘A compassionate and hopeful guide to achieving emotional wellbeing.’
'We accept without shame that most organs in our bodies might at some point develop problems – and could need a bit of help. We should not make an exception of our minds. Our lives are so complicated and so filled with burdens, we should be completely unsurprised if, at some point, we felt a need to pull up a white flag and ask for help with our minds.
'This is a guide to how to cope with a variety of forms of mental pain and unwellness, from the very mild to the more severe. It explains to us how and why we might become ill, how we can explain things to friends and family, how we should take care of ourselves – and how we might adjust our view of ourselves and our future so as to live wisely alongside our difficulties.
'Throughout the tone is humane, encouraging and rich with experience. A central idea is that there is no need for any of us to suffer alone with our condition and that the best way to mend is to reduce shame, accept our troubles as very normal – and seek out understanding and friendship. It’s by exploring and discussing what has happened to us that we can heal and reduce our sense of isolation.
'Written with kindness, knowledge and sympathy, and drawing upon the experience and knowledge of The School of Life therapists, this book is an essential tool to help us on the way to our recovery.’-The School of Life
Read an extract HERE
Buy the Book HERE
Love is Life’s Greatest Gift
'Love is the Bridge between you and Everything.'- Rumi
The symphony of life is all about love and loving, inspiring peace, justice, fairness and the hope for a better life.
All my life I have had the choice of love or hate. I chose love.
When I chose hate, I suffered pain and anguish.
When I chose love, I flourished and found peace and contentment.
Give thanks, be grateful, project love, empathy and hope: Values to make you truly human
How To Survive The Modern World that Has Become An Anxiety Machine?
Photo: Aarón Blanco Tejedor/Unsplash
Rumi tells us that the art of survival lies in letting the beauty we love be what we do.
How To Survive The Modern World
A pick from our GCGI archive
How to lead our lives, function and prosper in an increasingly polarised world?
‘It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again.’- Dave Grohl
'Weaving the Tapestry of Love'
'Weaving the Tapestry of Love'- Photo:Pinterest
We all want to make sense of this journey we call life, of who we are and why we are, why we love and why we are loved.
Thus, when better than today, to reflect on these questions by Weaving the Tapestry of Love, and discover how to work love out that can last a lifetime of compassionate companionship with all that matters, the entire web of life
“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again , come , come.”- Jalaluddin Rumi, The Persian Sage of Beauty, Wisdom and Love.
Wow! What a sermon that was: 'love is the way'. Amen
A Book All About Celebration of Love, What is Important, What is Meaningful.
A Touching Story of Love, Friendship, Commitment and Loss
In search of beauty, wisdom and love? Then, come, come, whoever you are come
The man who taught me about war and peace, hatred and love, despair and hope
Christmas in the time of COVID: Let Love and Kindness be Your Everlasting Gifts
Weaving the Tapestry of Love on Valentine’s Day in the Time of COVID
Labours of Love: A Humbling Book about Care
The Number One Message of Lockdown
Compassion, kindness, hope, courage and joy: The Path to a More Loving World
Rediscovering the art of healing ourselves and all that is around us
University students are crying out for mental health wellbeing modules
An Open Letter to University Leaders: Students’ Mental and Emotional Wellbeing Must Be Our Priority
It’s All in The Mind: Focus on Mental Health
Life, Living and the Journey: The Vision that Speaks to You
Love and the common good to heal the wounds of the coronavirus crisis: Pope Francis
The Art of Persia: The Everlasting Magnificent Story of Beauty, Wisdom and Love
The Pandemic and the forgotten Love Story
A reflection on true love on Valentine’s Day
The old , frail professor, a former student and the insights on life’s biggest question
Is it time for love in economics?
Is it time for love in economics?
Why Love, Trust, Respect and Gratitude Trumps Economics
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 915
Healing power of art, an illustration by Fayez Barakat, via College of Medicine
The healing power of art became the inspiration for a portable museum dedicated to beauty and consolation, a unique book about art which is also about psychology and healing: a true piece of art therapy.
Art Against Despair:Pictures to Restore Hope and Healing-A Must-see and read book
‘One of the most unexpectedly useful things we can do when we're feeling glum or out of sorts is to look at pictures. The best works of art can lift our spirits, remind us of what we love and return perspective to our situation. A few moments in front of the right picture can rescue.'
Photo: The School of Life
‘This is a collection of the world’s most consoling and uplifting images, accompanied by small essays that talk about the works in a way that offers us comfort and inspiration. The images in the book range wildly across time and space: from ancient to modern art, east to west, north to south, taking in photography, painting, abstract and figurative art. All the images have been carefully chosen to help us with a particular problem we might face: a broken heart, a difficulty at work, the meanness of others, the challenges of family and friends… We’re invited to look at art with unusual depth and then find our way towards new hope and courage.’
Read Extract HERE
Buy the book HERE
Nonverbal therapy helps people work through trauma and build resilience.
BY GIRIJA KAIMAL
Photo:AmericanScientist
‘One-fourth of the global population is at risk of developing a mental health challenge in their lifetime, and one-fifth of children and adolescents could develop mental health problems, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Wars, adversity, discrimination, natural disasters, and illnesses such as COVID-19 further exacerbate these unmet needs for psychosocial support.
'Oscar Wilde once said, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” Art provides a way to communicate experiences when individuals lack verbal skills or when words are insufficient. Humans evolved artistic expression as an imaginative tool for adapting to changing conditions and solving problems. Other scholars and I have asserted that art making is an integral part of human functioning, and that it helps humans survive. As an art therapist, I have spent decades trying to understand the role of art making as a therapeutic tool…’- Continue to read
Artists Who Experience Their Own Healing Process Through Art
By Renee Phillips
Painting by Tara Moorman
‘When we announced our call for artists for our Healing Power of ART 2020 exhibition, we asked artists to let us know if they create art as a modality for healing. We are honored to introduce you to several artists who not only create outstanding works of art, they are artists who experience their own healing process through art.
This website was created based on our belief that art serves as a positive catalyst for enhancing the well-being of individuals, society and the environment. We believe that art has the power to heal, inspire, provoke, challenge and offer hope. We will continue to share healing art and articles about art and healing…’- Continue to read
‘Colours help my heart and mind to heal’:
Hiromi Tango, the artist using rainbows to cheer up the world
Hiromi Tango in front of her piece Red Moon at her studio in Tweed Heads. Photo: David Maurice Smith/Oculi/The Guardian
'From her studio in Tweed Heads, in the New South Wales northern rivers region, artist Hiromi Tango has become well-known for making rainbow art to aid her mental health and that of others. Yet for the two years prior to the pandemic, she wore only white: her way of grieving humanity’s environmental impact, evidenced in reef coral bleaching.
The grief was also personal. Tango wanted to metaphorically “cleanse” her spirituality, genetics and memory. So, she covered herself in white housepaint for Bleached Genes, a photographic series that was “based on my father being bedbound and going through dementia, and him not realising who I am sometimes”.
When we speak, the 46-year-old Japanese-born artist is in Hobart to unveil her new work Rainbow Dream Moon Rainbow: a vibrant playground and meditation space inside a graffitied Hobart warehouse, as part of Dark Mofo festival. The rainbow panels, platforms and human-sized mouse wheels were painted and fabricated by freelance artists and craftspeople on the apple isle; they’re scattered in multiple rooms amid projections of rotating rainbow spirals. It is an Instagram-ready space for immersive selfies; at its peak so far, there has been an hour-long queue outside to enter...'- Continue to read
Ocean Mandala by Sumit Mehndiratta. "Ocean Mandala" was inspired by the Pacific Ocean. Mandala is a Sanskrit
word meaning 'circle' and is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the Universe.
GCGI is our journey of hope and the sweet fruit of a labour of love. It is free to access, and it is ad-free too. We spend hundreds of hours, volunteering our labour and time, spreading the word about what is good and what matters most. If you think that's a worthy mission, as we do—one with powerful leverage to make the world a better place—then, please consider offering your moral and spiritual support by joining our circle of friends, spreading the word about the GCGI and forwarding the website to all those who may be interested.
Related/similar articles: A pick from our archive
World in Chaos: The Healing Power of Gardens
Interfaith Spiritual Music to Heal the World, GCGI 1st Conference, Oxford 2002
Compassion, kindness, hope, courage and joy: The Path to a More Loving World
‘Hope is a thing with feathers’
New Year calls us to hope beyond despair and light beyond darkness
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Times and the Healing Powers of the Four Es
Build a Better World: The Healing Power of Doing Good
Healing the world as if the web of life mattered: In Praise of Ancient Wisdom
Rediscovering the art of healing ourselves and all that is around us
Spirituality and Environmentalism: Healing Ourselves and our Troubled World
One who dreams is called a prophet
We are not the Masters, We are the Servants: Time to Reassess our Relationship with Nature